Week 2 Blog: Plate Tectonics

Welcome back to my geology blog! This week I will be writing about plate tectonics and which tectonic plate Finland is located on, as well as, the hazards that Finland faces from its location.

But first let's go over plate tectonics and what they do...

The rigid outer shell of the Earth, the lithosphere (creating land formations like oceans, continents, and mountains), is made up of huge rigid pieces, which are called lithospheric plates (continental and/or oceanic plates). In addition to the seven major plates, namely the Pacific, North-American, South-American, Eurasian, African, Australian-Indian and the Antarctic plates, several minor plates can be detected in the lithosphere. Even though the minor plates are smaller in size, they are no less important to the shape and formation of the Earth. For example, the tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the Untied States. "Circulating currents in the molten rocks below, propel the plates along like a jumble of conveyor belts in disrepair" (National Geographic). Most of the structure of Earth's crust stems from the relationship where plates meet or divide.  

The plate boundaries, (is the boarder between two tectonic plates) are seismically most sensitive and, therefore, the majority of earthquakes occur at these sites. "An earthquake occurs where there is stress in the rock masses that have accumulated to the point where they exceed the strength of the rock material, leading to a sudden burst of the energy along a fracture" (National Geographic). The main part of the stress results from the relative motion of the plates. Plates either move apart from one another, collide with or slide past one another. Tectonic earthquakes occur due to the release of the stress caused by relative plate motion. The most destructive earthquakes are always tectonic. The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent - where plates move into one another, divergent - where plates move apart, and transform - where the plates move sideways in relation to each other.

Now let's take a look at Finland and see where it is located on lithospheric plates...

- Finland is located on the Eurasian Plate. -

- Finland has multiple plate movements and plate boundaries surrounding the country. -

- To the south of Finland, there is a convergent boundary that transitions to a transform fault (along the Atlantic Ocean), and to the west of the Atlantic Ocean is it framed by a divergent boundary, with a plate that moves inward to the country. -

Finland's location in the middle of the continental plate, is beneficial with regards to earthquakes, since it is far away from the plate boundary areas. This means that the ground is stable and when shaking, from earthquakes, is weak. "The strongest earthquakes recorded in Finland, have been 4.7 on the Richter scale." (Korhonen). The majority of earthquakes occur in northern Finland.

"Finland is located on fairly firm ground although several minor earthquakes occur annually." (Korhonen)

Maps:

Learn.org,. "Interactives. Dynamic Earth. Plates & Boundaries". N.p,. 2016 Web. 9 Feb 2016. Retrieved from www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/plate.html.

E-education.psu.edu,. "W. Jason Morgan | Earth 520: Plate Tectonics And People: Foundation Of Solid Earth Science". N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. Retrieved from www.e- education.psu.edu/earth520/content/l2_p14.html.

Work Cited:

Korhonen, Nina. "Universitas Helsingiensis 1 01". Helsinki.fi. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. Retrieved from http://www.helsinki.fi/lehdet/uh/101c.html.

National Geographic,. "Plate Tectonics, Tectonic Plates Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic". N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. Retrieved from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/plate-tectonics-article/