Transcript EPSC233ArcheanPart2

The plates are pulled and pushed, created and
recycled, by convection currents within a solid
but hot, plastic mantle.
Left: Oceanic crust is
formed where hot rising
magma pushes plates apart.
100 km
Below: Plates are
destroyed through
subduction back into the
deep Earth (taking craters
with them)
This recycling is not uniform for continents and oceans. On
average, oceanic crust is much younger than continental
crust. On this colour-coded map, ages go from recent
(red) to 180 m.yrs old (blue)... Where is old oceanic crust?