Geography: Gateway 1

Natural hazard is a naturally occurring event that threatens human lives and causes damage to
property.
- Tectonic hazard = are caused by plate movements when continental crusts and ocean floors
move
o Earthquakes
o Volcanic eruptions
o Tsunamis

- Climate-related natural hazards = are caused by severe or extreme weather and climate
conditions
o Droughts
o Tropical cyclones
o Floods


Core
- The core is the central part of the earth.
- The core is divided into the inner core and the outer core and composed mostly of iron and
nickel.
- The inner core is approximately 1200km think and is solid because of the extreme pressure
exerted on it by the surrounding layers.
- The outer core is a liquid layer approximately 2100km think.
- The temperature in the core is estimated to be between 3000

C to 5000

C.

Mantle
- The mantle lies above the core.
- It occupies 80 percent of the earths total volume.
- It is 2900 km thick and is made up mostly of solid rock that flows under high temperature
and pressure.
- Temperature in the mantles range between 800C 3000C.
- Mantle is made up of lower mantle and upper mantle.
- The upper mantle (also known as the uppermost mantle) consists of a layer of solid rock and
the asthenosphere.
- In the asthenosphere, high temperatures and pressure bring the rocks close enough to their
melting point for them to be easily deformed. Melting may occurs.

Crust
- The crust is the earths outermost surface layer and the layer on which we live.
- It makes up less than 1 per cent of the earths volume.
- The crust can range in thickness from a few km to more than 70km.
- Made up of oceanic crust and continental crust.
- Oceanic crust is between 5 8 km thick and consists mainly of basalt, which is a heavy and
dense rock formed from magma which has cooled quickly.
- Continental crust is between 30- 70 km thick and consists of lighter rocks like granite, which
is less dense than basalt.


The crust, together with the uppermost mantle, is referred to as the lithosphere.
The lithosphere makes up the earths rigid outer surface.
When the rocks in the lithosphere melt, hot molten rock known as magma is formed.

Tectonic plates are pieces of Earths crust and uppermost mantle, which together referred to as
lithosphere.






Movement of tectonic plates
- Convection currents
o Convections currents are movements of heat within the mantle. Material in the
mantle is heated by the core, causing the mantle material to expand, rise and spread
out beneath the plates
o This causes plates to be dragged along and to move away from each other
o Then, the hot mantle material cools slightly and sinks, pulling the plates along.
o The sinking mantle material heats up again as it nears the core and the whole
process repeats
- Slab-pull force
o Slab-pull force occurs when a denser oceanic plate is forced beneath a less dense
continental plate or oceanic plate in a process called subduction
o As the plate subducts, it pulls the rest of the plate along. The subducting or sinking
plate drives the downward-moving portion of convection currents.
o The mantle material which is found away from where the plates subduct drives the
rising portion of convection currents.










Divergent- the plates move away from each other
Convergent- the plates move towards each other
Transform- plates move past each other

Divergent
- E.g. Southern boundaries of the Australian Plate
- The southern and eastern boundaries of the Pacific Plate
- Only C-C divergent and O-O divergent

O-O plate divergence
- When two oceanic plates diverge, fractures are formed at the plate boundary
- Magma rises at the zone of divergence, which then cools down and solidifies, formed the
mid-oceanic ridge. This process is known as sea-floor spreading
- The newly formed rocks are closest to the plate boundaries and are therefore younger than
those further away.
- At various points along the mid-oceanic ridge, magma builds up above the sea-level to form
volcanic islands.
- E.g. North Atlantic Ocean Azores
-


C-C divergence
- When continental plates diverge or move apart, they are stretched, causing fractures to
form at the plate boundary.

- The land in between the two continental crusts sinks, forming the rift valley.

- Example:

o Nubian boundary of the African Plate & Somalian boundary of the African Plate
o Formed East African Rift
o A number of active volcanoes and earthquake fractures can be found