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Of the many forces discussed above, tidal force is still highly debated and defended as a possible principal driving force of plate tectonics. The other forces are only used in global geodynamic models not using plate tectonics concepts (therefore beyond the discussions treated in this section) or proposed as minor modulations within the ...
Slab pull is a geophysical mechanism whereby the cooling and subsequent densifying of a subducting tectonic plate produces a downward force along the rest of the plate. In 1975 Forsyth and Uyeda used the inverse theory method to show that, of the many forces likely to be driving plate motion, slab pull was the strongest. [1]
Slab suction is weaker than slab pull, which is the strongest of the driving forces. When measuring the forces of these two mechanisms, slab pull in subducting plate boundaries for upper mantle slabs is 1.9 × 10^21 N. [ clarification needed ] In comparison slab suction in the upper and lower mantle totaled 1.6 × 10^21 N. [ 3 ]
Subduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics, and without it, plate tectonics could not occur. [12] Oceanic subduction zones are located along 55,000 km (34,000 mi) of convergent plate margins, [ 13 ] almost equal to the cumulative plate formation rate 60,000 km (37,000 mi) of mid-ocean ridges.
Ridge push (also known as gravitational slides or sliding plate force) is a proposed driving force for plate motion in plate tectonics that occurs at mid-ocean ridges as the result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges.
Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth.It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mountain building, volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting.
Due to the driving forces of the rock cycle, plate tectonics and the water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium and change as they encounter new environments. The rock cycle explains how the three rock types are related to each other, and how processes change from one type to another over time.
Subduction slabs drive plate tectonics by pulling along the lithosphere to which they attach in a process known as slab pull and by inducing currents in the mantle via slab suction. [2] The slab affects the convection and evolution of the Earth's mantle due to the insertion of the hydrous oceanic lithosphere. [3]