What Is The Geology Of An Internal Platform?

The Interior Platform, underlain by Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks, is the northwestern part of the North American Craton, a stable interior region of the continent. A craton is a large, coherent domain of Earth’s continental crust that has attained and maintained long-term stability, having undergone little internal deformation. The Arabian Platform, as defined here, encloses the tectonic unit “Interior Platform” or “unstable shelf”, but reaches into the Interior Homocline and extends over the boundary between stable and unstable.

The interior environment of a platform can be divided into several environments, including beach, which includes sediments from the shore face, fore shore, and back beach. In Canada, the Interior Platform includes the prairies of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, where the rocks constitute the lower half of Western Canada.

A platform is a continental area covered by relatively flat or gently tilted, mainly sedimentary strata, which overlie a basement of consolidated rocks. The platform interior is dominated by quiet water sandy mud, sandy islands, and tidal flats. Carbonate platforms are sedimentary bodies with topographic relief and are composed of autochthonic calcareous deposits. Late Viséan platform interior carbonate strata of northern England and Wales have traditionally been interpreted to comprise shallowing-up cyclothems.

In summary, the Interior Platform, underlain by Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks, is a stable interior region of the North American Craton. It is characterized by its stability and the accumulation of sedimentary strata on platforms.

What are the 3 elements of a platform?

Platform design is a complex process that involves several factors. The three critical elements to consider are location, slab capacity, and platform use. The location of the platform is crucial as it determines seismic loading and code requirements, and the site address is essential for designing the structure. The platform’s location in the building is also crucial, as it must be designed to avoid building structure and equipment on or underneath the platform.

A building drawing and equipment layout plan can help engineers adjust framing to avoid potential clashes and interferences. Supporting slab capacity is also crucial, as platforms impose concentrated point loads on each column’s slab, requiring a larger span between columns and the number of columns required. Understanding these factors is essential for ensuring the success of each platform project.

Why is it called a platform?

A platform is defined as a raised surface that allows for human standing, such as a subway track or a viewing platform at a historic site. Additionally, platforms may be utilized for observation, the performance of work on ropes by stagehands, or for standing or bracing feet. In addition, platforms may be elevated above the surrounding area, as is the case with train platforms or narrow raised platforms situated at the side of a theater stage.

What is the interior of the earth in geology?

The Earth’s internal structure comprises layers, excluding its atmosphere and hydrosphere. It consists of an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous asthenosphere, solid mantle, a liquid outer core, and a solid inner core. Scientific understanding of Earth’s internal structure is based on topography, bathymetry, rock observations, volcanic activity, seismic wave analysis, gravitational and magnetic field measurements, and experiments with crystalline solids at pressures and temperatures characteristic of Earth’s deep interior.

What is the interior platform in geology?

The Canadian Shield, a region characterized by gentle, low-lying topography, is largely covered by flat-lying rocks from the Cambrian to Cenozoic eras. The Interior Platform in Canada includes the prairies of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and extends northward down the Mackenzie Valley and eastward across the Arctic Platform. The region also includes southwestern Ontario, down the St. Lawrence Valley, across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, through Anticosti Island, and westernmost Newfoundland. Within the Canadian Shield, remnants of the same sedimentary cover occupy the Hudson Bay and Foxe Basins.

All these areas underwent a major invasion of the sea between 550 and 450 million years ago, which lasted until late in the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago. This resulted in a gigantic inland sea covering almost the entire continent, allowing some of the earliest invertebrate life forms to flourish. The limestones deposited during this time are visible in the Rocky Mountains, Niagara Gorge, and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

What is a shield and platform in geology?

A craton is a stable interior region of a continent made up of ancient crystalline basement rock, distinguishing it from mobile geosynclinal troughs. These regions can be shields or platforms, with shields consisting of Precambrian basement rocks at the surface, and platforms having horizontal or subhorizontal sediments over the basement. The term craton distinguishes these regions from mobile geosynclinal troughs.

What is the geology of the Arctic platform?

The Arctic Platform, located under the Arctic archipelago, may contain oil and natural gas. The Bear Province, part of the Canadian Shield, is made of Pre-Cambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks, 2. 5 billion years old. These rocks are often exposed within the Canadian Shield and beneath recent geomorphic regions like the Interior Plains. The Cordillera, including the Mackenzie and Franklin Mountains, was heavily glaciated during the Wisconsin ice age and became mostly ice-free around 10, 000 years ago, leaving river terraces and alluvial fans. The Interior Platform, underlying most of the Sahtu, contains ancient fossils deposited by advancing and receding oceans after the end of the Pre-Cambrian era.

What is a platform in geology?

A platform is a continental area covered by flat or gently tilted sedimentary strata overlaid by a basement of consolidated igneous or metamorphic rocks. Platforms, shields, and basement rocks together form cratons. Platform sediments can be classified into protoplatform, quasiplatform, cataplatform, and orthoplatform. Examples of protoplatform include the Mesoproterozoic Jotnian sediments of the Baltic area, while orthoplatforms include the post-Ordovician rocks of the South American Platform.

The Carbonate platform and East European Platform are examples of shields and cratons. The Mesoproterozoic Jotnian sediments of the Baltic area are examples of a quasiplatform, while the post-Ordovician rocks of the South American Platform are examples of an orthoplatform.

What is the geology of the Brooks Range?

The 700 square mile area in the Brooks Range is a rugged and diverse geological area with a variety of rocks, including granitic pluton, low-grade metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rocks, mafic igneous rocks, and glacial features. The sedimentary rocks include the Middle and Upper Devonian (Neruokpuk Formation) Greenschist facies, quartzitic- and schistose-feldspathic graywacke, phyllite, argillite, slate, dark limestone, sandy limestone, and silicified carbonate rocks. The succession of units in the area is uncertain.

What are the 3 major interior parts of the Earth?

The Earth is composed of three principal layers: the crust, the mantle, and the core. The crust represents the outer rock layer, in which humans, animals, and plants reside. The mantle, in contrast, is a semi-solid magma layer comprising iron, magnesium, and silicon.

What do you mean by interior of the Earth?

The Earth’s interior consists of four layers: three solid and one liquid, composed of molten metal. The deepest layer is a solid iron ball, about 1, 500 miles in diameter, with high pressure that prevents it from melting. The iron is not pure but contains sulfur and nickel, and its temperature ranges between 9, 000 and 13, 000 degrees Fahrenheit. The outer core, a shell of liquid iron, is cooler but still very hot, composed mostly of iron and sulfur and nickel. It creates the Earth’s magnetic field and is about 1, 400 miles thick.

What are the Arctic geological features?

The Arctic is the northernmost region of Earth, located within the Arctic Circle, a line of latitude about 66. 5° north of the Equator. It comprises the Arctic ocean basin, northern parts of Scandinavia, Russia, Canada, Greenland, and the U. S. state of Alaska. The Arctic is almost entirely covered by water, much of it frozen, with some frozen features such as glaciers and icebergs making up about 20 of Earth’s supply of freshwater. Most of the Arctic is the liquid saltwater of the Arctic ocean basin, with some parts of the ocean’s surface remaining frozen all or most of the year.

This frozen seawater is called sea ice, which has a very bright surface, or albedo, which means about 80 of sunlight that strikes sea ice is reflected back to space. The dark surface of the liquid ocean, however, absorbs about 90 of solar radiation.

The Arctic experiences extremes of solar radiation, with the Northern Hemisphere experiencing one of the coldest and darkest places on Earth during winter months. The sun rises again during the March equinox, increasing the light and heat reaching the Arctic. By the June solstice, the Arctic experiences 24-hour sunshine.

Life in the Arctic Marine Ecosystem\nThe Arctic ocean basin is the shallowest of the five ocean basins on Earth and is the least salty due to low evaporation and huge influxes of freshwater from rivers and glaciers. River mouths, calving glaciers, and constantly moving ocean currents contribute to a vibrant marine ecosystem in the Arctic. The cold, circulating water is rich in nutrients and microscopic organisms that need them to grow.

Marine animals thrive in the Arctic, with primary consumers such as jellies and shrimp consuming plankton, secondary consumers include fish, seabirds, and a wide variety of baleen whales, tertiary consumers include toothed whales and dolphins, and pinnipeds such as seals, sea lions, and walruses. Scavengers and decomposers break down dead and decaying materials, recycling organic nutrients into the marine ecosystem.

Terrestrial Ecosystems\nThe varied landscapes of the Arctic provide for a variety of ecosystems, including the peaks of the Brooks mountain range in western North America, the enormous Greenland ice sheet, the isolated islands of the Svalbard archipelago, the fjords of northern Scandinavia, and the grassland plateaus and rich river valleys of northern Siberia. Plant life is mostly limited to grasses, sedges, and tundra vegetation, with insects such as mosquitoes and moths common. Primary consumers across the region range from tiny lemmings to enormous muskoxen.

Indigenous cultures have established communities and cultures in the Arctic thousands of years ago, developing smart, innovative ways to adapt to the unique challenges posed by the region’s severe climate. Housing and other shelter, such as Inuit bands in Canada and Greenland, were built using snow houses, tents, and permanent Sami structures. Today, Arctic cultures have access to high-quality building materials and sophisticated structural engineering plans, but buildings throughout the Arctic still rely on efficient insulation and weatherization.

Indigenous Arctic communities face significant challenges due to colonization and exploitation of land and energy resources. For centuries, European and Asian Europeans interacted with Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic, searching for the North Pole and the elusive Northwest Passage. This increased contact often came with conflict, as Inuit social structure, schools, and language were replaced with Western traditions.

Starting in the late 20th century, regional, national, and international organizations increasingly recognized the political and cultural sovereignty of Arctic peoples, with rights to land and natural resources being an important part of this sovereignty.

The Arctic has enormous deposits of oil and natural gas, with Alaska’s North Slope containing six of the largest oil fields in the United States and one of the 100 largest natural gas fields. Engineers and geographers estimate that oil and gas deposits make up 13 of the world’s undiscovered petroleum resources and 30 of undiscovered natural gas resources. The Arctic is also rich in minerals, such as nickel and copper ore, gemstones, and rare earth elements, which are used in batteries, magnets, and scanners. Mines and drilling operations are often dependent on the weather, with winter machinery freezing and frozen ground becoming too hard to drill.

The race for the Arctic has led to the claim of territory on continental shelves by Arctic nations like Russia, Greenland, Denmark, and Canada. The exclusive economic zones of Russia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and the United States extend to 200 nautical miles off their coasts. However, some Arctic nations are claiming territory on their continental shelves, not just their coastlines.

For example, Russia, Greenland, Denmark, and Canada all claim the Lomonosov Ridge, an undersea mountain chain that stretches from the Canadian Arctic, through the North Pole, all the way to the waters off Siberia.

Climate change is radically redefining the geography, biodiversity, and political units of the Arctic. The extent of sea ice in the Arctic is shrinking, with most climatologists estimating that by the year 2100, most Arctic sea ice will melt every summer. This “twilight of the Arctic ice” would devastate many habitats, including the plight of polar bears, which cannot catch enough seals to survive their annual winter fast and are less likely to produce healthy offspring over generations. Scarcer food sources also drive polar bears into closer contact with human populations, increasing incidents of conflict with human communities in the Arctic.

The shrinking Arctic sea ice provides clear shipping routes for trade and travel, with the Northwest Passage being the most lucrative shipping lane in the Arctic. Experts estimate that shipping time may be cut by 40 if the Northwest and Northeast passages were ice-free all year. These deep-water shipping lanes also allow for larger, heavier ships than the Panama Canal, which would increase trade and profit even further.

Travel in the Arctic is still dependent on icebreakers, which are powerful ships capable of breaking up kilometers of sea ice. Russia manufactures the most powerful icebreakers, making them more comfortable to travel in.