Proof plate tectonics is flawed?

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


Divergent faults could, potentially, increase the Earth's volume, assuming their subduction zones, on the opposite side, are slower than the rate of divergence.

Originally posted by CLPrime
reply to post by mb2591

 

I'm not sure where a plate rose 24 ft, but here's what happened...

The Pacific Plate slides under the Honshu (Japanese) Plate, and friction causes the Honshu Plate to get dragged down with it. At some point, however, the stress on the Honshu plate becomes too great, and it gives way, releasing, in this case, energy equivalent to 9.32 million Megatons. This was pretty much energy built-up through the friction between the two plates. The release of the Honshu Plate did not require any sort of 'Newton's 3rd Law' reaction.

Sorry if this isn't what you're talking about... the only "rise" in the plate that I know to have occurred was due to the release of the Honshu Plate - which, of course, is what caused the tsunami.

edit on 26-6-2011 by CLPrime because: (no reason given)

You kinda answered my question.. So.. no earth took the place of the where the Honshu plate had previously resided (I assume this is the plate that rose [I think 24 feet])

reply to post by mb2591


Where the Honshu Plate had been would be filled by material from the mantle. Of course, the Pacific Plate may have risen a little underneath it, but I wasn't there, so I couldn't say (actually, I'm kinda glad I wasn't rooting around in the fault when it slipped).

Originally posted by CLPrime
reply to post by mb2591

 

Where the Honshu Plate had been would be filled by material from the mantle. Of course, the Pacific Plate may have risen a little underneath it, but I wasn't there, so I couldn't say (actually, I'm kinda glad I wasn't rooting around in the fault when it slipped).

Ahh so does that mantle cool off and become crust or is it the start of a volcano?

reply to post by mb2591


It stays part of the mantle (contained below the Honshu Plate). The Honshu Plate wouldn't have slipped upward too much... you said 24 ft, but I'd imagine the upward movement of the plate was probably at least 200 ft, given the massive tsunami run-up heights nearer the epicenter. Even 200 ft is nothing compared to the thickness of the crust. In fact, if you were to ask the Honshu Plate, itself, it would probably deny ever having moved at all. So, the fill from the mantle would be relatively insignificant.

reply to post by CLPrime


Ahahahaha thank you for putting this in perspective... Kinda shows how small we really are