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USGS CMG InfoBank: Gravity Drives Convection


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Comment: 12:44 - 13:14 (00:30)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 6. Plate Dynamics

Keywords: convection, gravity, "plate tectonics", viscosity, mantle

Our transcription: The fundamental force driving convection whether on the stove top or inside the Earth is gravity.

Cool matter is more dense and, therefore, heavier than warm matter.

Under gravity it will sink displacing the warmer material beneath.

It may seem surprising that rock should act like a viscous liquid and flow even on the most slow moving time scale, and yet this is precisely what happens in the Earth's mantle.

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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/school/moviepage/05.02.18.html Page Contact: InfoBank staff Page Last Modified: Fri Sep 18 02:36:12 PDT 2009 (wcs)