What does slab pull mean in plate tectonics?
Slab Pull: The force exerted by the weight of the subducted slab on the plate it is attached to. Ridge Push: The pressure exerted by the excess height of the mid-ocean ridge. Introduction. The history of the development of plate tectonics is centrally tied to the question of what drives plate motions.
What happens at a slab pull?
Slab pull is the pulling force exerted by a cold, dense oceanic plate plunging into the mantle due to its own weight. The theory is that because the oceanic plate is denser than the hotter mantle beneath it, this contrast in density causes the plate to sink into the mantle.
What is the slab pull force?
slab pull: the force due to the weight of the cold, dense sinking tectonic plate. ridge push: the force due to the buoyancy of the hot mantle rising to the surface beneath the ridge. viscous drag: the force opposing motion of the plate and slab past the viscous mantle underneath or on the side.
Is slab push or slab pull stronger?
As one plate subducts, it sets up convection currents in the upper mantle that exert a net trenchward pull, and acts to suck both the plates together. Slab suction is weaker than slab pull, which is the strongest of the driving forces.
What is slab pull quizlet?
Slab pull. The process that results when a dense oceanic plate sinks beneath a more buoyant plate along a subduction zone, pulling the rest of the plate that trails behind it. convection.
What is difference between ridge push and slab pull?
'Ridge Push' and 'Slab Pull' are thought to be the major forces driving the motion of oceanic plates. Ridge push is caused by the potential energy gradient from the high topography of the ridges. Slab pull is caused by the negative buoyancy of the subducting plate.
What causes slab pull?
Slab pull is a force that results from denser oceanic plates sinking beneath less dense continental plates along convergent boundaries and subduction zones. The gravitation force of the sinking oceanic plate drags the rest of the oceanic plate along with the portion experiencing slab pull.
What creates slab pull?
Slab pull is that part of the motion of a tectonic plate caused by its subduction. 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.
What is an example of slab pull?
The subducting slabs around the Pacific Ring of Fire cool down the Earth and its core-mantle boundary. Around the African Plate upwelling mantle plumes from the core-mantle boundary produce rifting including the African and Ethiopian rift valleys.
Where do slab pull occur?
Slab pull occurs at a convergent boundary and subduction zone. The force of the dense oceanic plate subducting under the continental plate and gravitationally being pulled into the mantle results in the rest of the plate being pulled along with it.
What is ridge push and slab pull quizlet?
The process that results when magma rises at a mid-ocean ridge and pushes oceanic plates in two different directions away from the ridge. Slab pull. The process that results when a dense oceanic plate sinks beneath a more buoyant plate along a subduction zone, pulling the rest of the plate that trails behind it.
Which of the following are characteristics of slab pull?
The following are characteristics of slab pull: Subducting plates move faster than non-subducting plates. Gravity is a major force in slab pull. Subducting oceanic lithosphere is denser than asthenosphere.
Is ridge push stronger than slab pull?
According to Stefanick and Jurdy, the ridge push force acting on the South American plate is approximately 5 times the slab pull forces acting at its subducting margins because of the small size of the subducting slabs at the Scotia and Caribbean margins.
Where is slab pull located?
Slab pull is that part of the motion of a tectonic plate caused by its subduction.
What is the difference between ridge push from slab pull?
'Ridge Push' and 'Slab Pull' are thought to be the major forces driving the motion of oceanic plates. Ridge push is caused by the potential energy gradient from the high topography of the ridges. Slab pull is caused by the negative buoyancy of the subducting plate.
Why slab pull is important?
One plausible mechanism is the pull of slab weight on subducting plates via guiding stresses transmitted within the slab (Elsasser, 1969). Stresses are transmitted more efficiently within stronger slabs and, hence, slab rheology exerts an important influence on the slab pull force.
What is a slab pull quizlet?
Slab pull. The process that results when a dense oceanic plate sinks beneath a more buoyant plate along a subduction zone, pulling the rest of the plate that trails behind it. convection.
Where does slab pull occur?
subduction zone Slab pull occurs at a convergent boundary and subduction zone. The force of the dense oceanic plate subducting under the continental plate and gravitationally being pulled into the mantle results in the rest of the plate being pulled along with it.
What is slab pull GCSE?
Ridge push –magma rises as the plates move apart. The magma cools to form new plate material. As it cools It becomes denser and slides down away from the ridge. This causes other plates to move away from each other. Slab pull – The denser plate sinks back into the mantle under the influence of gravity.
How does slab pull effect plate movement?
"slab pull" As lithospheric plates move away from midocean ridges they cool and become denser. They eventually become more dense than the underlying hot mantle. After subducted, cool, dense lithosphere sinks into the mantle under its own weight. This helps to pull the rest of the plate down with it.