They form when magma, volcanic ash, and gases escape from a magma chamber below the surface of the planet. Tectonic plates cover the surface of the planet and are constantly moving. Volcanoes are generally found where these plates converge or diverge. Not only are volcanoes found in these areas but also where the Earth’s crust is stretching or thinning. There are volcanoes that form away from plate boundaries in areas that are called “hot-spots”. An example of “hot-spot” volcano formation is the Hawaiian
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average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have also been identified as significant causes of recent climate change, often referred to as "global warming". Scientists actively work to understand past and future climate by using observations and
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Earthquakes in the UK The UK is not thought to be associated with earthquakes, despite this around twenty to thirty earthquakes are felt by people each year, and a few hundred smaller ones are recorded by sensitive instruments. These earthquakes that are felt and/or recorded often cause minimal if no damage, however some earthquakes that have occurred in Britain have caused significant damage, but not on the scale and size as other earthquakes in other parts of the world. The Largest *
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WHAT IS EARTHQUAKE? Earthquakes are the vibrations caused by rocks breaking under stress. The underground surface along which the rock breaks and moves is called a fault plane. Earthquakes in Australia are usually caused by movements along faults as a result of compression in the Earth’s crust. The size or magnitude of earthquakes is determined by measuring the amplitude of the seismic waves recorded on a seismograph and the distance of the seismograph from the earthquake. These are put into a
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Precambrian time scale. During this period, North America was formed by different continents that were formed from the many tectonic plates over time. Most of the Precambrian rocks in the Mississippi Valley are metamorphic rocks. Before any of this, there was only one gigantic piece of land called Pangea. At that time all of the world’s continents were together, and over time the plates slowly shifted away from each other and eventually forming the different continents of what we know today. The only set
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Some people have trouble understanding the complete scope of the discipline of geography because, unlike most other disciplines, geography is not defined by one particular topic. Instead, geography is concerned with many different topics—people, culture, politics, settlements, plants, landforms, and much more. What distinguishes geography is that it approaches the study of diverse topics in a particular way (that is, from a particular perspective). Geography asks spatial questions—how and why
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Facts About Jupiter: We can see Jupiter from Earth with the naked eye. The red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has raged for 350 years. It has a very thin system of rings that are smaller than Saturn’s rings. Eight different spacecrafts have gone on missions to Jupiter. The Juno is now on its way to Jupiter and will get there next year. Future missions will focus on Jovian moons. It has 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets in the solar system combined. Jupiter is 318 times the mass of Earth
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Laura Henderson GY 102 Precambrian Period – The beginning of life Our planet formed from a cloud of dust and gas some 4.56 billion years ago. The Earth’s vast history is divided in four major eras: the Precambrian, the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. The Precambrian era covers most of our planet’s history and lasted from Earth’s inception until 542 million years ago. It was during this era that the Earth became solid, the atmosphere became breathable and life emerged. There is
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of normal atmospheric changes. Typically, climate change refers to a sustained change in weather across the globe, though it can be restricted to a region. Natural climate change may be caused by several factors, or climate forcings, including plate tectonics, ocean variations, tilt of the planet, orbital fluctuations, and changes in solar output. While scientists have recorded climate change since the 1800s, previous variations in weather must be gleaned from oral histories, written documents,
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Because this rock changes, it is called metamorphic. Remember that a caterpillar changes to become a butterfly. That change is called metamorphosis. Metamorphosis can occur in rock when they are heated to 300 to 700 degrees Celsius.When Earth's tectonic plates move around, they produce heat. When they collide, they build
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