GENERAL GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the earth sciences by explaining how the movement of geologic plates causes mountain building, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Earthquakes in California are due to transform fault motion. Geologists have hypothesized that the movement of tectonic plates is related to convection currents in the earth’s mantle.

Detailed explanation-3: -Earthquakes are the result of sudden movement along faults within the Earth. The movement releases stored-up ‘elastic strain’ energy in the form of seismic waves, which propagate through the Earth and cause the ground surface to shake.

Detailed explanation-4: -Faults are cracks in the earth’s crust along which there is movement. These can be massive (the boundaries between the tectonic plates themselves) or very small. If tension builds up along a fault and then is suddenly released, the result is an earthquake.

Detailed explanation-5: -Most earthquakes are caused by the release of stresses accumulated as a result of the rupture of rocks along opposing fault planes in the Earth’s outer crust. These fault planes are typically found along borders of the Earth’s 10 tectonic plates.