Definition and meaning of plate tectonics:

plate tectonics - the theory that the Earth's lithosphere consists of large, rigid plates that move horizontally in response to the flow of the asthenosphere beneath them, and that interactions among the plates at their borders cause most major geologic activity, including the creation of oceans, continents, mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes

(Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )

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This is a sitemap for Oceanography - P . Click on a link and you will find multiple definitions and articles related to the word. The sitemap(s) covers over 5.184 different Oceanography terms.

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Oceanography, Coral Reef, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change,

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A continent (Latin continere, "to hold together") is a large continuous land mass. There are several conceptions of what a continent is, geographic, geologic, and tectonic. Continent - Geographic continents. Since geography is defined by local convention, there are several conceptions as to which landmasses qualify as continents, and which might be termed supercontinents (e.g. Africa-Eurasia), microcontinents (e.g. Madagascar or New Zealand), or subcontinents (e. ...

Including:

• Continent - Geographic continents
• Continent - Geologic continents
• Continent - Tectonic plates

Read more here: » Continent: Encyclopedia - Continent

An earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earth's surface. Earthquakes result from the dynamic release of elastic strain energy that radiates seismic waves. Earthquakes typically result from the movement of faults, planar zones of deformation within the Earth's upper crust. The word earthquake is also widely used to indicate the source region itself. The Earth's lithosphere is a patch work of plates in slow but constant motion (see plate tectonics). Earthquakes occur where the stress resulting from ...

Including:

• Earthquake - Characteristics
• Earthquake - Earthquake Size
• Earthquake - Causes
• Earthquake - Preparation for earthquakes
• Earthquake - Specific fault articles
• Earthquake - Specific earthquake articles

Read more here: » Earthquake: Encyclopedia - Earthquake

Accretionary prisms grow by frontal accretion, whereby sediments are scraped off, bulldozer-fashion, near the trench, or by underplating of subducted sediments and perhaps oceanic crust along the shallow parts of the subduction decollement. Frontal accretion over the life of a convergent margin results in younger sediments defining the outermost part of the accretionary prism and the oldest sediments defining the innermost portion. Older (inner) parts of the accretionary prism are much more lithified and have steeper structures than the youn ...

See also:

Oceanic trench, Oceanic trench - Geographic distribution, Oceanic trench - History of the term trench, Oceanic trench - Modern understanding of trenches, Oceanic trench - Morphologic expression, Oceanic trench - Filled trenches, Oceanic trench - Accretionary prisms and sediment transport, Oceanic trench - Water and biosphere, Oceanic trench - Empty trenches and subduction erosion, Oceanic trench - Controls on trench depth, Oceanic trench - Major oceanic trenches

Read more here: » Oceanic trench: Encyclopedia II - Oceanic trench - Accretionary prisms and sediment transport

It is common to categorise sedimentary basins according to the perceived method of formation, creating such groups as foreland basins (caused by lithospheric flexure), back-arc basins (caused by lithospheric stretching) and pull-apart basins (caused by strike-slip deformation of the lithosphere). Mechanisms for formation of sedimentary basins are numerous and often fundamentally linked to the concepts of plate tectonics. See also:

Sedimentary basin, Sedimentary basin - Methods of Formation, Sedimentary basin - Lithospheric stretching, Sedimentary basin - Lithospheric flexure, Sedimentary basin - Strike-slip deformation, Sedimentary basin - Ongoing development of sedimentary basins, Sedimentary basin - Study of sedimentary basins

Read more here: » Sedimentary basin: Encyclopedia II - Sedimentary basin - Methods of Formation

Given that strain results in the deformation of a body, it can be measured by calculating the change in length of a line or by the change in angle between two lines (where these lines are theoretical constructs within the deformed body). The change in length of a line is termed the stretch or absolute strain, and may be written as . Then the (relative) strain, , is given by where is the original length of the material and is the extension. The extension is positive if the material has gained length (in tension), and negative if it has reduced length (in compres ...

See also:

Strain materials science, Strain materials science - Quantifying strain, Strain materials science - Engineering strain vs. true strain

Read more here: » Strain materials science: Encyclopedia II - Strain materials science - Quantifying strain

Since geography is defined by local convention, there are several conceptions as to which landmasses qualify as continents, and which might be termed supercontinents (e.g. Africa-Eurasia), microcontinents (e.g. Madagascar or New Zealand), or subcontinents (e.g. South Asia). Seven landmasses and their associated islands are commonly reckoned as continents, but these may be consolidated. For example, North and South America are often considered a single continent, and Asia is often united with Europe. ...

See also:

Continent, Continent - Geographic continents, Continent - Geologic continents, Continent - Tectonic plates

Read more here: » Continent: Encyclopedia II - Continent - Geographic continents

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. Informally, it can also include a few years at the end of the preceding decade or the beginning of the following decade. The Sixties has also come to refer to the complex of inter-related cultural and political events which occurred in approximately that period, in western countries, particularly Britain, France, the United States and West Germany. Social upheaval was not limited to just these na ...

Including:

• 1960s - Events and trends
• 1960s - Technology
• 1960s - Science
• 1960s - War peace and politics
• 1960s - Economics
• 1960s - Culture
• 1960s - Others
• 1960s - Big changes during the Sixties
• 1960s - In the United States
• 1960s - In other Western countries
• 1960s - In non-Western countries
• 1960s - People
• 1960s - World leaders
• 1960s - Writers and intellectuals
• 1960s - Sports figures
• 1960s - Entertainers
• 1960s - Further Viewing

Read more here: » 1960s: Encyclopedia - 1960s

Within scientific philosophy, uniformitarianism is the principle in which one assumes that the same processes that shaped the Universe occurred then as they do now, unless there is good evidence otherwise. Or in other words, certain natural laws are unchangeable. Although most synonymous with geology, other sciences on a similar timescale also employ this principle, such as astronomy or evolutionary biology. Uniformitarianism science - Geology. Uniformitarianism is one of the most basic principles o ...

Including:

• Uniformitarianism science - Geology

Read more here: » Uniformitarianism science: Encyclopedia - Uniformitarianism science

An orogeny is underway when mountains begin to grow in the collision zone. There are other modes of mountain formation and orogeny but certainly continental collision is one of the most important. Rainfall and snowfall increase on the mountains as these rise, perhaps at a rate of a few millimeters per year (at a growth rate of 1 mm/year, a 5,000m tall mountain can form in 5 million years, a time period that is less than 10% of the life of a typical collision zone). River systems form, and glaciers may grow on the highest peaks. Erosion accel ...

See also:

Continental collision, Continental collision - Subduction zone: the collision site, Continental collision - Orogeny and Collapse, Continental collision - Far-field Effects, Continental collision - Fossil Collision Zones

Read more here: » Continental collision: Encyclopedia II - Continental collision - Orogeny and Collapse

Just as the level of water in a bathtub is controlled by the size of the person in the bath, sea level is controlled by the depth of the seafloor (neglecting complications resulting from glacial ice and temperature effects). The relationship between seafloor depth and sea level can be expressed as follows: The mass (M) of water on the earth is a constant = K1, where K1 = M(seawater) + M(freshwater) + M(ice) + M(atm. water) We can ...

See also:

Supercontinent cycle, Supercontinent cycle - Effects on sea level, Supercontinent cycle - Relation to Global Tectonics, Supercontinent cycle - Relation to climate, Supercontinent cycle - Relation to evolution, Supercontinent cycle - External link

Read more here: » Supercontinent cycle: Encyclopedia II - Supercontinent cycle - Effects on sea level

Many of the trends of the 1960s were due to the demographic changes brought about by the baby boom generation, the height of the Cold War, and the dissolution of European colonial empires. The rise in social revolution, civil rights movements, human rights movement, anti-War movements, and the Counterculture movement are only some of the characteristics that defined the 1960s. Many experts attribute the 1960s "counter-culture revolution" as being the result of the major social and political factors that rose in the 1950s like brinksmanship, ...

See also:

1960s, 1960s - Events and trends, 1960s - Technology, 1960s - Science, 1960s - War peace and politics, 1960s - Economics, 1960s - Culture, 1960s - Others, 1960s - Big changes during the Sixties, 1960s - In the United States, 1960s - In other Western countries, 1960s - In non-Western countries, 1960s - People, 1960s - World leaders, 1960s - Writers and intellectuals, 1960s - Sports figures, 1960s - Entertainers, 1960s - Further Viewing

Read more here: » 1960s: Encyclopedia II - 1960s - Events and trends

The giant impact hypothesis (or Big Splash or Big Whack; cf. Big Bang) is the now dominant scientific theory for the formation of the Moon, which is thought to have formed as a result of a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body sometimes called Theia. The original hypothesis was first proposed in a paper published in Icarus in 1975 by Dr. William K. Hartmann and Dr. Donald R. Davis. 4.533 billion years (4.533 Ga) ago, shortly after the formation of the Earth, a Mars-sized planetesimal hit t ...

Read more here: » Giant impact hypothesis: Encyclopedia - Giant impact hypothesis

Alfred Lothar Wegener (Berlin, November 1, 1880 – Greenland, November 2 or 3, 1930) was a German interdisciplinary scientist who had early training in astronomy. (Ph.D., University of Berlin, 1905). He became interested in the new discipline of meteorology and as a record-holding balloonist himself, pioneered the use of weather balloons to track air masses. His lectures became a standard textbook in meteorology, The Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere. Wegener was part of several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation, when the existence of a jet stream itself was highly con ...

Including:

• Alfred Wegener - Awards and honors

Read more here: » Alfred Wegener: Encyclopedia - Alfred Wegener

Click image for description Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is named after the Roman goddess Venus. A terrestrial planet, it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet", as the two are very similar in size and bulk composition. Although all planets' orbits are elliptical, Venus's orbit is the closest to circular, with an eccentricity of less than 1%. As Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth, it always appears in roughly the same direction from Earth as the Sun (the greatest e ...

Including:

• Venus - Physical characteristics
• Venus - Atmosphere
• Venus - Surface features
• Venus - Venus' moon
• Venus - Aspects
• Venus - Observations and explorations of Venus
• Venus - Lowest distances to earth
• Venus - Cultural references

Read more here: » Venus: Encyclopedia - Venus

A virtual globe is a 3D software model of the earth. Depending on its technology, a virtual globe may be as simple as an inexpensive globe sitting in a typical school class room, or as sophisticated as an integrated interface that provides intuitive access to multiple GIS databases. Virtual globe - Types. Most earlier computerized world atlases were not detailed or only had limited area coverages. Today's virtual globes are connected to satellite image servers. These virtual globes are capable of rotation a ...

Including:

• Virtual globe - Types
• Virtual globe - Offline virtual globes
• Virtual globe - Online virtual globes
• Virtual globe - Literary References
• Virtual globe - Features
• Virtual globe - Comparisons

Read more here: » Virtual globe: Encyclopedia - Virtual globe

The concept of continental drift was first proposed by Alfred Wegener. In 1912 he noticed that the shapes of continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean seem to fit together (for example, Africa and South America). Francis Bacon, Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, Benjamin Franklin, and others had noted much the same thing earlier. The similarity of southern continent fossil faunae and some geological formations had led a relatively small number of Southern hemisphere geologists to conjecture as early as 1900 that all the continents had o ...

Including:

• Continental drift - Various data
• Continental drift - Evidence for continental drift
• Continental drift - Permo-Carboniferous
• Continental drift - The debate over continental drift

Read more here: » Continental drift: Encyclopedia - Continental drift

The Codex Leicester is a collection of largely scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. It is named after Thomas Coke, later the 1st Earl of Leicester, who purchased it in 1717. The Codex provides a rare insight into the inquiring mind of the definitive Renaissance artist, scientist and thinker as well as an exceptional illustration of the link between art and science and the creativity of the scientific process. The manuscript does not take the form of a single linear script, but is rather a mixture of Leonardo's obser ...

Read more here: » Codex Leicester: Encyclopedia - Codex Leicester

Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere - or average weather - over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can come from internal processes, be driven by external forces or, most recently, be caused by human activities. In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term "climate change" is often used to refer only to the ongoing changes in ...

Including:

• Climate change - Climate change factors
• Climate change - Variations within the Earth's climate
• Climate change - Non-climate factors driving climate
• Climate change - Human influences
• Climate change - Interplay of factors
• Climate change - Examples of climate change

Read more here: » Climate change: Encyclopedia - Climate change