Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Guatemala's Volcanic Eruption

The eruption of a volcano inwards Republic of Guatemala as well as its tragic consequences accept drawn attending across the globe this week.  Some volition blame the lawsuit on the random violence of nature piece others volition come across the manus of God inwards the devastation as well as suffering.  But if y'all must bill mortal or something, blame the Atlantic Ocean.

During the Permian Period, simply about 250 1000000 years agone (MYA), the Continents had merged to degree Pangea.  By the Triassic, nearly 200 MYA, the Tethys Sea opened, separating Laurasia (the northern Continents) from Gondwanaland (the southern Continents).  Then, during the Jurassic Period (some 150 MYA), the Atlantic began to opened upward as well as the American Continents were pushed westward, a procedure that continues today.  In concert, the oceanic Farallon Plate was forced to subduct beneath the advancing Continental Plates; today, the Juan de Fuca Plate (in the Pacific Northwest), the Cocos Plate (west of United Mexican United States of America as well as Central America) as well as the Nazca Plate (west of South America) are the main remnants of the Farallon Plate as well as all decease along to subduct beneath the American Plates.

As these oceanic plates subduct, their leading border melts when it approaches the Earth's mantle, triggering the formation of volcanoes (the Cascades, the western mountains of United Mexican United States of America as well as Central America, as well as the Andes); earthquakes as well as tsunamis equally good outcome from this tectonic activity.  The electrical current eruption inwards Guatemala, releasing volcanic ash, pyroclastic flows as well as lahars, is thence a secondary effect of the Atlantic's expansion.  populace did non halt evolving when nosotros humans appeared!

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