S: Is for scientific F.A.C.T.S.

Maybe it's because I originate from California that I have always know about the Tectonic Plates and the puzzle theory. It has always fascinated me. I have also always loved science, at least the hands on portion. I looked forward to blowing up the volcano and and making cyclones in jars. With the recent earthquakes and tsunami's hitting the pacific shelf and at the rate it has been happening I decided to devote this column to the information available. Tectonic Plate comes from the Greek word for "one who constructs". It is a theory developed to explain the phenomenon of continental drift, and is currently the theory accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in this area. The Earth's interior is made up of two layers, the outer lithosphere and the inner asthenosphere. I know it sounds technical but read on. The lithosphere essentially "floats" on the asthenosphere and is broken-up into ten major plates: African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, North American, South American, Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, and the Indian plates. These plates (and the more numerous minor plates) move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent (two plates push against one another), divergent (two plates move away from each other), and transform (two plates slide past one another). Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries (most notably around the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire). Plate tectonic theory arose out of two separate geological observations: continental drift, noticed in the early 20th century, and seafloor spreading, noticed in the 1960s. Paleontologists found fossils of similar species on continents that are now separated by great geographic distance. These observations indicate that the Earth's lithosphere had been moving over geologic time. Paramagnetic studies, which examine the Earth's past magnetic field, showed that the magnetic north pole seemingly wanders all over the globe. This means that the plates are moving. The fact that lithospheric plates have moved in the past and are still in motion today is beyond dispute, but the exact mechanisms of how and why they move continue to challenge scientists and is becoming a threat! Below the crust is the mantle, a dense, hot layer approximately 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) thick. At the center of the Earth lies the core, which is composed of an iron–nickel alloy. It is divided into two regions—a liquid outer core and solid inner core. As the Earth rotates, the liquid inner core spins, creating the Earth's magnetic field. In the 1950s, scientists began recognizing magnetic variations in the rocks of the ocean floor. This was not entirely unexpected, since it was known that basalt contained the mineral magnetite, and this mineral was known to locally distort compass readings. This is one of the reasons people get lost in the Bermuda Triangle. The magnetic force there is one of the strongest on earth. If new crust is continually being formed at mid-ocean ridges, and the Earth is not increasing in size, what is happening to the old crust? When two oceanic plates collide, one plate is subducted beneath the other, because the continental crust is lighter and less dense. Basically it is the domino theory. I enclose a map of the tectonic plates. 4 and 1/2 weeks ago in the Pacific, Japan experienced an earthquake and a Tsunami. Last Sunday this tragic occurence repeated itself in the Solomon Islands. What is next in this line-up. I will let you make your own conclusions but tectonic plates are a F.A.C.T and we need to be warned. Since our government fails at protecting it's people we need to become knowledgeable. Science though technical can save our lives and those of our friends.