What does the Mantle-Plume hypothesis explain that plate tectonics cannot explain?

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: Hot spots are areas of prolific generation of igneous rocks not explained by plate tectonics. Some hot spots are present within plates, whereas others are areas of unusually intense volcanic activity at or near divergent plate boundaries. Extinct volcanoes are progressively older at greater distance from many active hot spot volcanoes. The plume hypothesis suggests that hot spots mark places where hot mantle convectively rises to the base of the lithosphere from the core-mantle boundary. Conclusive evidence has not yet been found to demonstrate narrow plumes of mantle rising through the entire thickness of the mantle. However, most hot spots are located above large upwelling superplumes in the lower mantle.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

You might also like to view...

What minority population, located in western Burma, is often referred to as the "most persecuted ethnic group in the world"

A) Shan B) Karen C) Rohingya D) Tamil E) Khmer

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

A heavy block is suspended at rest by a vertical rope. When you accelerate the block upward by the rope, the rope tension

A. equals its weight. B. is zero. C. is less than its weight. D. is greater than its weight.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Genetic engineering allows scientists to transfer genes between different species that would not interbreed in nature.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Which of the following is the largest part of the hydrologic cycle?

A) Evaporation and transpiration B) Runoff C) Underground water flow D) Evaporation from the ocean surface E) Soil moisture

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences