BLOG 2 - ITALY & TECTONIC PLATES

Tectonic plates, quite literally, make up the surface of our Earth. A result of broken-off pieces of lithosphere, tectonic plates are responsible for forming everything from ocean basins, continents, and mountains (Keller & DeVecchio, 2015, Pg. 33). Over time, these plates have slowly drifted away from one another due to seafloor spreading. Every major tectonic plate includes both part of a continent and ocean basin, and all plate tectonics have boundaries. There are several different types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent (ocean-continent), convergent (ocean-ocean), convergent (continent-continent), and transform.

Image result for italy plate boundaries

The country of Italy happens to sit on top of one minor plate, the Adriatic plate, as well on the boundary of two major plates, the African and Eurasian plates. It is a convergent ocean-continent type boundary, with the African plate diving underneath the Eurasian plate and forming a subduction. Seismic technology used by a team of European researchers found that this subduction remains active, and thus explains why Italy has been so prone to natural catastrophes such as volcanic eruptions and massive earthquakes over the years (Hays, 2017). 

Hays, Brooks. “Active Plate Boundary Explains Earthquake Risk in Southern Italy.”UPI, UPI, 24 Jan. 2017, www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/01/24/Active-plate-boundary-explains-earthquake-risk-in-Southern-Italy/1681485273861/.

Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Pearson Education Limited, 2015.

Comments

  1. Ginnette HamelinFebruary 6, 2021 at 11:17 AM

    Hello Meghan-

    My country for our semester project, Belgium, is also a part of the Eurasian plate. However it is distant from the major boundaries, despite being a nearby neighbor of Italy. However, seeing as that these boundaries can cause major natural hazards I believe it still maybe possible for an natural hazard occurring in in Italy in some way.

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  2. Ana GGFebruary 8, 2021 at 11:18 AM

    Great tectonic post! Congratulations. The map is really useful to visualize the material. Let's see what you find about earthquake hazards this week.

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