According to our text, a plate tectonic is defined as, “a geological processes that deform Earth’s lithosphere, producing land forms such as ocean basins, continents, and mountains” (p. 33). There are different types mentioned in our lesson this week. Divergent plates separate from each other and form new ocean floor. Convergent boundaries are the loss of ocean floor when one side dips below the other. When there is no formation or loss, it is called transform boundary and this is when the two side move next to each other in opposite directions.
Located near the Australian tectonic plate is the island of Fiji. It is said that there is some of the most activity happening here on the convergent plate line. An article I found titled, Tonic Activity and Plate Boundaries Along the Northern Flank of the Fiji Platform, stated that the observational study of the plate shows that there is movement of anti clockwise rotation. When I read this I was a bit confused because I thought that the plate would only move up and down so there would be no rotation. If I am understanding this correctly though, and I might not be, the plate is not a straight line but actually a curved line. Therefore, rotation happens because the line itself curves.
On November 1, 2014, Fiji had a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Fortunately, it is said that there was not a great deal of damage and a resulting tsunami is not anticipated due to the earthquake. The quake was due to the convergent plate line and there is expected more earthquakes because of the location of the island in relation to the plate line.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01204551#page-1
http://www.earthscope.org/science/geo-events/m7.1-fiji
Hi Anna!
ReplyDeleteYour blog was amazing and I really enjoyed reading it! I had no idea that Fiji has some of the most activity happening, but is completely understandable since Fiji is on the convergent plate line near the Australian tectonic plate. What I found was really fascinating, is that the plate line is curved which creates an anti clockwise rotation. With the plate constantly rotating counter clockwise and moving into other plate lines, it would create a lot of natural disasters. I can only imagine that Fiji also deals with flooding, as well, since the span of the island isn't very big and with earthquakes can come tsunamis.
Great map (thank you all who post maps-so much easier to follow the science)...Yes, the plates are part of the Earth, which is curved, so actually the real plate movement is circular. Also, as the plates (some) are big enough, you can have two different types of movement/boundary within the same coast (example: West USA: transform at San Andreas, but convergent near Alaska)...Incredible huh?
ReplyDeleteYes, it really is interesting. I had learned when I was very young that at point point all of land was much closer together and had moves apart but I had no idea that movement was still happening today.
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