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Essay / Glass Mountains: a modified version of continental drift or plate tectonics Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. The mountains received their names from the indigenous community, but their common name (the Glasshouse Mountains) was named by Lt. Captain Cook in 1770. Many ideas have been theorized regarding the formation of the mountains, including several stories of native dreams, however, as scientific research has expanded and it is believed that the formation can be proven by the theory of plate tectonics. In order to confirm this statement, it is necessary to discuss how mountains developed over the last 32 million years, the scientific theories that led to the development of this statement, and a hypothesis regarding the activity future volcanic activity in Australia. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayTraining and DevelopmentScientists are convinced that the formation of the Glass House Mountains was not due to the subduction of tectonic plates, because the Australian continent is not near a plate boundary and therefore would not have been greatly affected if subduction had occurred. It has been established that mountain formation began 32 million years ago when the Indo-Australian plate moved over a vast hotspot beneath the Earth's crust located in the asthenosphere. The hot spot put immense pressure on the rock above, forcing magma through weak sections of the crust. As a result, many active volcanoes formed scattered across the sunny coast of Australia, now known as the Greenhouse Mountains. The hotspot and volcanic activity have covered large areas of nearby land with a thick layer of basalt, leaving the volcanoes' molten caps covered and protected. As the tectonic plate continued to move northeast, pushing the volcanoes away from the hot spot, it allowed them to cool and die out when the supply of magma ceased. The plugs hardened to form extremely hard plugs of rhyolite and trachyte beneath a layer of basalt. Over millions of years, the basalt covering the hardened plugs was weathered and eroded, exposing the plugs, which is how the extrusive mountains are known today. Scientific developments Alfred Wegener, meteorologist, developed the theory of continental drift in the years 1908-1912. . Wegener presented the idea that hundreds of millions of years ago, all the continents came together to form a supercontinent that he named "Pangaea", but over time they separated. He believed this to be accurate because the boundaries of the continents seemed to fit together like a puzzle and groups of fossils were linked together on the continents. In 1915, Wegener published a book explaining his findings and, as fascinating as it was, it was not enough to convince the world of his theory. Many people doubted his theory because not only was Wegener not a geologist, but he had made calculation errors in his published research. However, the biggest flaw in his claim was that it largely lacked evidence for how the continents separated due to the lack of technology at that time. The theory of continental drift was largely correct and although Wenger was not yet alive towitness, the theory is now partially accepted by the scientific community. The theory of plate tectonics is the modified and scientifically approved version of the theory of continental drift. Plate tectonics is the concept that the Earth's crust is divided into different plates located above the mantle. The movement of magma in the mantle (convection currents) causes plates to come into contact, thus causing subduction zones, mid-ocean ridges, earthquakes and tsunamis. There are three different types of plate boundaries, convergent (when plates move toward each other), divergent (when plates move away from each other), and transform (when two plates slide past each other). ). This theory was developed using modern technology that Wegener did not have. GPS technology was used to confirm that the continents were indeed moving, magnetic readings detected seafloor spreading, seismic monitoring found strong evidence regarding earthquakes occurring along plate boundaries, and deep-sea drills and eco-sounders have aided in the discovery of ocean ridges. However, the fossil samples used by Wegener also contributed greatly to the development of the correct theory regarding plate tectonics. Hot spot location Convection currents are the movements in the semi-plastic mantle that cause tectonic plates to move. This happens due to the uneven distribution of heat in the Earth's core, thus heating different parts of the magma in the mantle, making the parts less dense and rising, eventually cooling and gaining density, then drop back into the heated section and restart. process. This action triggers a circular motion in the mantle that pushes the plate above it forward into another. A convection current has been moving the Indo-Australian plate northeastward for more than 32 million years. Geologists have hypothesized, using satellite GPS technology, that the Indo-Australian plate is moving about 7 cm per year. Knowing that the Greenhouse Mountains ceased all volcanic activity 26 million years ago (when the plate moved them away from the hotspot), it is hypothesized that the hotspot is now located 1,820 km from the last mountain of glass. Therefore, it is likely that the eastern Australian hotspot is now located just above the Australian region of Tasmania, in the Bastrait. Hypothesis for the future: “The Eastern Australia hotspot is a volcanic hotspot that forces magma to rise in weak Indo-Australian regions. Plate to form volcanoes. The hotspot is currently located in eastern Australia. Therefore, the Australian continent will experience future volcanic activity. This statement is a valid prediction of Australia's future. Volcanic activity is likely to occur on the island of Tasmania, as previous volcanoes formed in a roughly southwest direction due to the plate moving northeast. Tasmania is aligned in the same direction as previous volcanoes formed on the main island and lies directly south of Mount Schank and Mount Gambier, Australia's youngest volcanoes/mountains, both of which erupted only 5,000 years ago . Although it is not certain that the continent will experience volcanic activity, it is possible that this activity will form on the oceanic crust on the Tasmanian side. However, lava fields have already been detected in Tasmania due to the proximity of the hotspot. If this activity
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