4-3 Critical Thinking Essay 1
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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105
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Geology
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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Melissa Sanchez 05/28/2023 PHY 105: Geology Critical Thinking: Prompt 1
Plate tectonics are more important than most must think, it makes up everything we love so much about our planet, and without plate tectonics, there would be no mountains, earthquakes,
volcanoes, tsunamis, or continental drift. If the Earth did not move, there may not be any continents at all. One tectonic plate is shifting beneath another at convergence zones. Ranges of mountains emerge as the plate bends and crumples. As a result, the Himalayas are getting taller every year. Without tectonic plate movement, no individual would be able to climb Everest today. Similar processes give rise to volcanoes. Hawaii would not exist without volcanoes since all the islands were created by volcanic activity. Now let us look at 5 million years ago: a sandy beach: chemical weathering plays a significant role in forming the sand that you feel when you step on the beach many forms of water (such as saltwater & river water) produce the sandy beach. Chemical weathering refers to the intricate procedures that destroy the interior mineral and rock systems. Such procedures either release the contents into the atmosphere or change them to create new minerals. Therefore,
this weathers the sand, reducing it to tiny particles, which are subsequently dumped to create a sandy beach. Then let us fast forward to 3 million years ago:
a piece of sandstone: As the sandy beach's size grew over time, the upper section of the old sand particle—which was beneath the new sand particle—came underneath steadily increasing pressure. Thus, at that pressure, sand
particles are condensed and transformed into sandstone fragments. Sedimentary rock was
created as a result.
Let us continue to 1.5 million years ago: a piece of quartzite: The pressure exerted on the
sand particles increased as time went on, and side by side, so did the depth. Due to the tremendous temperature and pressure, it changed into quartzite, which then evolved into metamorphic rock. Now Today: a piece of granite: The two plates hit each other as the plate tectonics shifted, causing one plate to subduct beneath the other. If a piece of quartzite is subducted, it will move into a very deep region where the temperatures and pressures are extremely high. There, it will melt into magma, which will then cool in a very deep location from
the earth's surface during a volcano, forming granite, an igneous rock. This may further weather into the small particles by water and may produce a sandy beach.
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References:
Tarbuck, E. J., & Lutgens, F. K. (2002). Earth: an introduction to physical geology. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice Hall.