Convection Currents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Convection Currents - Essay ExampleThis is known as a thermal. Figure 1cloud formation, which may produce a thunderstorm. A cumulonimbus cloud, or thunderhead, is a particularly dramatic example of a convection cell. Eventually the heated cell is cooled by the touch air, begins to fall, and the cycle is repeated.Whereas the Suns electromagnetic energy is the energy source for atmospheric convection, asthenospheric convection is fueled by radioactive chemical decomposition re action in the earths core. The convective cells form in the asthenosphere, a region of extremely high school pressure at a depth of about 60-200 miles where rocks are deformed and become melted by enormous pressures. In the asthenosphere, the molten literal rises in a convection current until it hits the bottom of the amphetamine layer of Earths interior consisting of the crust and the mantle. Here, it deal not rise any farther and begins to move horizontally.Figure 2 depicts the movement of the convection cells in the asthenosphere. The rose-cheeked areas are the heated molten material rising from the earths center and moving toward the bug out. As the material reaches the surface it Figure 2Eventually the material cools and as it does it becomes denser. This material then slowly sinks through the visible radiation material until it is again heated by the earths core. It forms a new convection cell and repeats this same process.In some(prenominal) the atmosphere and the asthenosphere material is moved from one region to another. Lower air levels rise to become the upper air, and as the tank upper air cells fall they become ground level air. Within the Earth, unrhythmic convection cells within the mantle transfer heat from the core to the surface of the planet. This process is the driving extract place both heat transfer and plate tectonics (The Restless Earth). The effect of the rising material also forms mountain ranges.This process also transfers energy from one area to ano ther. This transfer of energy female genitalia result in violent activity if the transfer happens abruptly. In the atmosphere we see it form high winds and thunderstorms. In the asthenosphere, energy is usually transferred by heating the earths crust. In other cases, it may result in a volcano or an earthquake.The hydrosphere is also an active medium that is powered by convection. The movement of convection cells is the force behind the naval currents. Circulation patterns in the oceans are driven by density differences between warmer and colder hydrospheric cells. As the water circulates, material and energy are transferred. The oceans water is heated by the sun as well(p) as undersea hot air vents. It is cooled by the polar ice caps.Convection is also responsible for the action of the water cycle. As the sun heats the surface water on the earth, it evaporates and becomes water vapor. This warmed vapor rises until it encounters the cooler air at higher altitudes. Here it condens es back into water and returns to earth as precipitation (The pissing Cycle).Convection takes place anytime there is a mass of gas or liquid on the earth. It causes our weather, winds, and ocean currents. Convection heats our air and creates our mountain ranges. It results