Forces that Cause Earth Movements

How does the rock of the Earth’s mantle move?

68 Responses

  1. David says:

    I know that earthquakes are caused by movements of large masses of rocks. I also know ( at least I think I know) those large masses of rocks are called tectonic plates. I think the shifting of the rocks may be due to weakening layers in the mantle. But if i’m wrong then how do they move? Some other ideas of how I think the rock masses could move is that they are settling, or there is a thin layer of other material, but it eventually gives away, causing the large rocks to scrape against each other.

    • Kaydon says:

      I agree with you on how earthquakes are caused. I’m confused though on how the shifting of the rocks are due to weakening layers in the mantle? Could you explain more on how that could cause the shifting of the rocks. I think that the process of Earth’s movement is kinda like boiling water the warm air rises and the cool air sinks. Do you think that the process of boiling water is similar or different? Good job David!

    • hailey says:

      i think that’s right

  2. Will W. says:

    I think that the core, gravity, and pressure from the ocean moves the earths mantle, I know that when a earthquake happens its because the earths crust cracks and the rubs together. That could also move the mantle.

  3. luke says:

    one moves over the other as the mantles move the land on the top moves as well so forms a new land scape they start to stretch out so when the core switch places and the crest switch to so the earth pretty much switch the earth.

  4. Josh says:

    I think that the rocks in the mantle move really slow but with a lot of power. I also am pretty sure that the rocks rubbing against each other cause earthquakes. But I don’t really know what causes them to move

    • Carlito says:

      If you don’t really know what causes them to move how do you know that they move really slowly? And with a lot of power? I think your right about the mantles rubbing up on each other, because I think that causes the earthquakes too. Good job joosh.

  5. Violet says:

    The earth’s mantle moves because of the shift in climate,the pressure on the mantle,the movement of the oceans(rivers,bays,and deltas),gravity,the movements of earthquakes,and how warm the inner and outer core is effects the earth’s mantle.

    • Violet says:

      I still think that the earth’s mantle moves because of the change in climate,the pressure pushing against the mantle,but if the inner and outer core don’t heat up doesn’t that also effect the movement of the earth’s mantle?

  6. Kenyon says:

    I’m not so sure but i think most of the reason is gravity and pressure that moves it around which i believes help us get moved around. But i dont know much on this subject. i also think water could help too considering it brings sand and pebbles and little fossils get moved by the waves of the water.

  7. Kaid H. says:

    I think that the Earths mantle moves because of the oceans. Here me out, the large rock masses (Tectonic Plates) move constantly because the oceans water moves and its very powerful, so the water moving could be slowly moving the plates around. I mean, it could be layered rock in the mantle and thats how it moves but I’m not sure why it does exactly. What I want to know is if the mantle moves, how often does it do that?

    • the will c says:

      well kaid the ocean really doesn’t do anything to the plates, it’s what’s in the ocean, magma.

    • Josh says:

      In investigation 3 it says the the plates move at about the speed that your fingernails grow. I haven’t found anything about the mantle moving so I don’t know if it can be a documented thing or maybe it just happens randomly. Also the plates might just move with the water, I don’t remember reading about the plates moving.

  8. will carver says:

    hmmm…….well I think it has something to do with new rock being formed and other rock getting pushed up against each other and making big hills like b.v.

  9. Kaydon says:

    I don’t really know how the rock of the earths mantle moves, but if you think about when you boil water the hot water rises and cool water sinks replaces it. Then if you think if the same reaction happened and it is hot enough in the mantle maybe it could cause it to rise and then sink.

    • David says:

      Hi Kaydon. I see you got the right idea of how the mantle moves, like water convecting. When the mantle is heated by the core, it rises, like warm water, or air, but very slow. It moves about as fast as your finger nails growing, or only a few centimeters per year. After the warmer mantle reaches the surface, or when the Asthenosphere (the more fluid rock part of the mantle) meets the Lithosphere (the crust) it goes sideways, and it eventually cools down, causing it to sink back to the core, causing it to repeat, or convect again.

    • samantha says:

      i agree with you Kaydon because i get what your saying about how when you boil water the air rises and cool water sinks to replace it because i have seen water do that before when i was boiling hot water

    • Will W. says:

      I agree with what your saying, because the mantle pushes up magma. Something else could be going on while it pushes magma to cause it to move. sort of like your explanation.

  10. Mikey says:

    I think that it is because of the gravity it slowly moves it. The earth quakes may be a problem to because when that waves go though the move it a little at a time. I want to know if something bad is going to happen because of it moving.

  11. Karlye says:

    Im not completely sure but my prediction is that the mantle moves due to gravity, and the pressure of the ocean currents. The pressure of the ocean currents can extremly affect the mantle because more more pressure on the mantle, the easier it is for the matle to break.

    • Karlye says:

      Following up on my last post, I now know that there are many things that can cause movement. I know that one example of the mantle moving would be Mid-Ocean Ridges, which is caused when the magma is formed and rises up to form volcanos (but it can only occur when the mantle is heated).

  12. Anna says:

    I think that the rock of mantle moves slowly and sometimes ends up rubbing together. I feel like the mantle’s rock is part of the cause of earthquakes. The rubbing of the rocks would cause vibrations, if I’m wrong then I have no idea on what causes the vibrations. The vibrations would then create waves that then cause a earthquake.

    • Cameron Brown says:

      Anna good explanation this really helped me learn about this better. But do you think that if the rocks fell and crashed into each other would cause the vibrations? But good explanation this was a really good one!

    • Anna says:

      I would like to add on to my original post. The earth’s mantle has waves that travel through it called compressional and shear waves. Knowing that compressional waves travel through solids, liquids, and gases and that shear waves only travel through solids, the earth’s mantel and core has to be made up of solids. Although the mantel is made up of many different solids like iron, magnesium, and aluminum. The mantel is at-least part of the cause of mid-ocean ridges. When the mantel’s rock heats it rises toward the mid-ocean ridge, as it rises some of it melts. The melted portion of the mantel’s rock is called magma. The magma is less dense than the neighboring rocks, so it rises to form volcanoes around the mid-ocean ridge. The temperature stays the same but pressure decreases because there isn’t the weight of the rock on top any more. Once the magma hits the exterior it hardens to a rock called basalt.

  13. Payton says:

    If there was a earthquake it would move a lot cause of the earthquake. But if there wasn’t any at the moment. And maybe rain just came? It would slowly will go away?

    • Lizzie says:

      Payton, I kind of see what your getting at with the whole earthquake. A good example would be boiling water because the mantle is heated , it rises, like water but very slow. It only moves a few centimeters per year. After the warmer mantle reaches the surface the fluid rock of the mantle gets to the the crust it goes sideways, and it cools down, causing it to sink back to the core, making it repeat. Payton, I would like to know where you got the idea about rain and why?

  14. natalie says:

    i dont know if im right or not but i know that is rocks moving at a slow pace i dont know much on this topic or i just forgot.

    • Anna says:

      I agree the the mantle’s rock would be moving slowly! I was wondering if you could explain your idea a little bit more. I would like to know why you think that it moves slowly.

  15. Hailey says:

    I think it moves is because the heat in side the core?..I am still a little
    confused on how the Earth’s mantle moves..

  16. Lizzie says:

    I think that the earths surface plates move because of the intense heat in the Earth’s core that causes molten rock in the mantle layer to move.

  17. mason says:

    i am not sure but i think it has to do something with how earth quakes move through earth by large masses of rock moving and i am guessing that when the rock is moving that after it moves enough that the rock will all have moved over a little bit at a time.

    • Vinny says:

      I was thinking this too in the beginning of the Investigation. If they push towards each other it causes a crack in the Earth, If they are on each other it causes an Earthquake, when they push outwards its growing? I still kind of don’t get this.

  18. Jayson says:

    The rock moves because it’s getting pushed.

  19. Jerricho says:

    I think maybe earthquakes because when one happens it sends the waves move causing the other places feel it but I’m not quite sure. what do you think causes it to move?

    • jerricho says:

      it has changed because I thought that earthquakes caused it but the mantle and ocean moving causes it to move and when the magma rises and mixes with ocean water making mid ocean ridges.

      • Luke says:

        Jerricho I agree with that the earthquake caused it but the mantle turns into magma and mixes with the ocean then hardens up into basalt and making the ridges in the ocean.

  20. mya says:

    i think the movement of earthquakes and the temperature of the inner and outer core affect the movement of the earths mantle.

  21. Vinny says:

    Well I don’t know the answer to that question, but I think the rocks are up against each other and they slide down? Like I said I don’t know and I don’t know about the mantle that much.

  22. Shai says:

    I think rocks move due to the force of the seismic waves and maybe some layers break creating more shifting of the other layers. Perhaps the pressure of the oceans also break weak spots in the mantle.

    • Karlye says:

      Great job Shai! I love how you explained why thats your prediction instead of just stating it. I also think its a great idea to use evidence from our past investigation. I do not think there was anything I disagreed on besides maybe next time you could go into more detail on why thats you prediction. Other than that you did a great job!

  23. Alera says:

    I don’t exactly know how to respond to this, but I know that Earthquakes are caused by movements of large masses of rock. I also know that as you get closer to the inner core, it gets warmer, and that the Mantle has a very thin layer protecting the outer core. Rock slides can cause Earthquakes (I think). But what causes large masses of rock to move? What is the Scientific name for it?

  24. Carlito says:

    I think they move because it’s tight space and they wanna stretch. Just kidding, umm.. I actually don’t know, but if I had to guess I guess that the earthquake would probably cause it, because of the waves, because the waves go in different directions once it reaches the inner core.

  25. Nick says:

    i all know is when plates at our surface move because of the intense heat in the earths core that causes molten rock mantle layer to move

  26. Jayson says:

    The liquid in the earth has currents that push the rock

  27. Payton says:

    I think it’s where Plates at our planet’s surface move because of the intense heat in the Earth’s core that causes molten rock in the mantle layer to move. Because in our books we read about that. Which it also moves in a pattern called a convection cell that forms when warm material rises, cools, and eventually sink down. As the cooled material sinks down, it is warmed and rises again. I think that’s how it works.

    • Kenyon says:

      i agree with you payton it circulates because of the heating so for more to come up the older stuff moves and as it does it rests and more moves up and it continues to do that.

  28. Cameron Brown says:

    I think earthquakes are formed when two large objects crash into each other they make massive vibrations which causes earthquakes. i also know that as you get closer to the inner core it gets warmer.

  29. george says:

    The reason I think the mantle moves is because of heat and convection of the inner cores.632Z48

  30. Mya L. says:

    The cause of the earth’s mantle moving is convection, when the mantle gets heated it rises very slowly, only a few centimeters per year.

  31. Bodi says:

    I know why the forces that cause the Earth’s mantle to move do that.One of the reasons are the force of the gravity on the earth. Another reason is because of the intense heat from the magma which spews up from the earth underwater areas and because the magma is spewed in water the water then cools it and it forms more rock that will eventually become land

  32. Kaid H. says:

    I’ve learned that the Earth’s Mantle moves because of convection, heat rising and the cold sinking. So when the convection occurs, it moves upwards and out sideways causing the mantle to move and also create sea-floor-spreading which is the ocean bottom splitting and going out. Also, there are certain kinds of waves that can travel through the mantle which is further evidence of convection in the mantle, But I want to know where in the entire mantle does convection occur?

  33. Priscilla says:

    I think the earths mantle moves(mainly on the mid-ocean ridge) because underneath the lithosphere there is magma and when it heats up to a certain point the magma starts to rise as it becomes less dense. The closer it gets the earths surface the cooler it will become causing the rock to harden and form a crust( the lithosphere). The magma continues to heat up and more of it rises up pushing the old crust to the side. Also it gets pulled down by gravity.

    • Alera says:

      I like how you included Gravity at the end of your conclusion to make it more understandable. The mantle has a thin crust protecting the inner and outer core. For example, if you were to dig a hole to Japan, it would be hard because of all the pressure underneath and would have to dig pretty far down to get under the ocean. The further you go down, the warmer it becomes, and once the Magma pushes its’ way through the rocks, it becomes less dense.

  34. Rosey says:

    The Rock of the earths Mantle moves due to convection, the heat rising and cooling sinking. This action of convection occurs in the mantle which is under the crust which then causes the earths crust to move due to the cycle.

  35. Shai says:

    The Earth’s mantle is heated and melted forming the rock into magma. The magma goes through convection meaning that the heated magma pushes up and cools. The cooler magma gets more dense and sinks to the bottom repeating the process. Eventually the convecting magma pushes through the crust and breaks into the ocean creating a mid-ocean ridge.

  36. Adam says:

    Well i am assuming they move very slow,because that how the earth moves(slow).But i think it moves with very intense power because of how big everything actually is,and because they cause huge earthquakes.I imagine it like these huge rocks,that are grinding on each other,but eventually one grinds of (slides)another causing them to shift.

  37. mya says:

    After reading this investigation i have learned that the earths mantle moves when heat rises and cool air sinks down, also convection, causing the ocean floor to split.

  38. Marissa says:

    The rock of the Earth’s mantle moves due to convectional waves occurring inside the Earth’s mantle. Convection is kind of like a lava lamp. When a substance heats up it rises. At the top, the substance cools down and when that said substance cools down it floats back down only to repeat this process again. The substance only gets warm at the bottom because this is the only way convection can occur. With a heat source beneath. Convection not only happens in lava lamps but also in the Earth’s mantle. When convection occurs in the mantle, it causes sea-floor spreading. This is when the mid-ocean ridge splits open.

  39. Jayson says:

    I learned that the mantle has currents that move plates on the surface.

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