Question

What is the difference between ridge push and slab pull??

Answer 1

➣ AnSwer :-

⟶ Ridge Push :-

• Ridge push or sliding plate force is a proposed driving force for plate motion in plate tectonics that occurs at mid-ocean ridges as the result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges.

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⟶ Slab Pull :-

• Slab pull is that part of the motion of a tectonic plate caused by its subduction.
• In 1975 Forsyth and Uyeda used the inverse theory method to show that, of the many forces likely to be driving plate motion, slab pull was the strongest.

Answer 2

The main difference between ridge push and slab pull is that the ridge push occurs due to potential energy gradient that arises from the tall topographies of the ridges whereas the slab pull occurs due to the negative buoyancy arising in the subducting plate.

• In plate tectonics, a driving force is proposed for the motion of the plate known as ridge push. It is also named as sliding plate force. This sliding plate force happens as an outcome of the rigid lithosphere at mid-ocean ridges that slides down below mid-ocean ridges in the raised and hot asthenosphere.
• Due to the weight of the oceanic plate, it falls over into the mantle and such a dense and cold oceanic plate is responsible for exerting a pulling force which is known as slab pull.

Hence, the slab pull is a pulling force that occurs due to negative buoyancy from the oceanic plate whereas the ridge push is a sliding force that occurs due to the driving force from big topographies of the ridges.