I'm feeling pretentious. Let's talk about plate tectonics.

What's a lithosphere? ?

 

What's a tectonic? ?

 

technically, a round thingy

 

There's lots of "round thingys".

IIRC, the lithoshere makes up the uppermost portion of the mantle (mostly semisolid rock and magma below the crust), and the asthenosphere (sp?) is directly below it. The asthenosphere's hot, liquid gooeyness pushes the lithosphere up, which causes volcanic activity.

Plate tectonics is essentially continental drift, although the the continents are only the minority of the plates that consitute the earth's crust.

 

Good to know, Jason. Very.

 

them things there cause earthquakes

 

OMG! I didn't know that Rachel's a seismologist!

And watch out... you don't live too far from the New Madrid fault line...

 

Don't I know it. We actually have earthquake drills at school

 

Last earthquake drill I had was when I was in the third grade.

 

We have more trouble with tornados... hence why the sky is yellowish right now

 

Last tornado I saw was in '98. It's raining cats and dogs right now, but no real threat for severe weather at the moment.

 

I'm just waiting for California to fall into the ocean from the earthquakes.

 

earthquakes and tornadoes?

I've only been through one earthquake, and it must have been pretty minor.
We just get rain and snow here

 

Rain? Snow?!

*faints*

 

and don't let me forget ice storms!

 

*blank stare*

Tectonic plates?

*blink*

 

The asthenosphere's hot, liquid gooeyness pushes the lithosphere up, which causes volcanic activity.

Mmmm...this just made me hungry for pizza.

 

Which, strangely enough, I'm having for dinner! OMG!

 

Whoa. Was it pepperoni? If it was....

 

It was!

 

Does it count that on Thursday nights we USUALLY have pizza at our house?

 

Yes. Is this some kind of vast pizza conspiracy that's wedging itself into households across Amercia every Thursday night? I think it so.

And the best part is, I've still got leftovers for lunch today. Mmmm...Papa John's.

But I digress, I've taken the thread off topic. Let's get back to plate tectonics:

Do you think, if it weren't for plate tectonics, we'd all live on Pangea? If so, that would suck, because it would be a much longer drive to an ocean vacation.

 

There's no Papa Johns where I live anymore. My town sucks.

 

If we still lived on Pangea, I bet Papa John's wouldn't have such a limited delivery area.

Maybe in a few million years, you can look forward to continental drift sending a Papa John's franchise to your neighborhood, Jason.

 

"Okay, Mom, I'm driving to Australia for Spring Break! See ya next week!"

If I lived on the coast, your theory might actually work, John.

Unless North America splits in two separate continents in that timespan.