Question

What may happen if the oceanic plates stop moving?

Answer 1

Answer: B

Explanation:

For tectonic plates to stop moving, the Earth’s mantle will have to be too cold for convection to occur. If that were to happen, then it means the Earth’s outer core has likely solidified.

Normally a liquid layer, the outer core, transfers heat between the inner core and the mantle. But if that heat-transfer process breaks down, Earth either becomes a planet of ice, or a fireball.

On one hand, if heat can’t reach the mantle or Earth’s crust, then the whole planet might freeze. But then again, plate movement helps our planet regulate its internal temperature, since the convection process cools down hot molten rock from the Earth’s core. Unable to cool down, could the inner core cause our planet to combust?

Whether its a hot planet or a cold one, Earth’s topography would become a lot less interesting. Remember when Mount Everest was a natural wonder? It’s not one that will stand the test of time.

Convergent plates come together to form impressive mountain chains and terrifying volcanoes. But without plate tectonics, Earth will simply stop making new ones. The mountains we have now would erode over a few million years, turning into low, rolling hills. Our planet would eventually flatten out, with more land ending up underwater.

On the bright side, there’d be fewer natural disasters. Without subduction zones, where two convergent plates meet, earthquakes would be rare, and even then, they wouldn’t be very powerful. Volcanoes, for the most part, would be out of commission, since tectonic activity is generally what causes their eruption.

But if volcanoes are out, then so is Earth’s magnetic field. Our magnetic field is powered by convection currents within Earth’s iron outer core. But if this process fails, we lose our magnetic field. And without out our magnetic field, the earth has no more protection from deadly solar wind. The Sun would consume our atmosphere, sucking up the air we breathe, and boiling away the oceans. At that point, life on Earth becomes impossible.

Answer 2

If all plate motion stopped, Earth would be a very different place. The agent responsible for most mountains as well as volcanoes is plate tectonics, so much of the activity that pushes up new mountain ranges and creates new land from volcanic explosions would be no more. The volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire, in South and North America, Japan, the Philippines, and New Zealand, for example, would shut off, and the steady southeastward migration of volcanic activity along the Hawaiian Islands would stop. Volcanism would just continue on the big island. There would also be far fewer earthquakes, since most are due to motion of the plates.