Plate Tectonism, Oceanic Ridges and Rises Coursework

Plate Tectonism, Oceanic Ridges and Rises - Coursework Example Similarities and differences between a continental arc and island arc will be provided. In general, oceanic ridges is referring to â€Å"a mountainous chain of young basaltic rock at the active spreading center of an ocean† (Garrison, 2010: 116) whereas oceanic rises are referring to â€Å"a long, broad elevation which can be found at the bottom of the ocean". Oceanic ridges are â€Å"sources of the new ocean floor where lithospheric plates diverge† (ibid). A good example of oceanic ridges includes the Bowers Ridge and Shirshove Ridge which can be found in the Bering Sea close to Alaska, Kamchatka, and Siberia. There are significant differences between oceanic ridges and oceanic rises. Although often mistaken as one, oceanic rises often have a gentler topography as compared to oceanic ridges. Furthermore, oceanic rises also are not characterized by the presence of wide central rift valleys which are often found in oceanic ridges (Garrison, 2010: 116). In fact, oceanic ridges reach its widest when active. The two hypotheses that laid the foundation for plate tectonism a.k.a. plate structure includes: the continental drift and seafloor spreading. To understand the theory behind plate tectonics, it is important to take note of the following features: (1) the Earth’s surface is composed of 7 large crustal plates (i.e. African, North American, South American, Eurasian, Australian, Antarctic, and Pacific plates); (2) ocean floors continuously move in different directions (i.e. vertical and horizontal movements); (3) convection currents underneath the plates causes the movement of crustal plates; and (4) heat that triggers convection currents is radioactively rooted in the Earth’s mantle.

Why Death Penalty is Right Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why Death Penalty is Right - Research Paper Example Koch presented a stronger argument than Bruck because of his strong use of logos, ethos, and pathos to support the fairness of death penalty, while Bruck failed to respond to the problem of preventing violent crimes. Furthermore, I argue that death penalty is right because the slight rise in violent crime rates justifies the need for capital punishment and anyone who murders or rapes another person has forsaken his/her right to live in a civilized society. Koch (1985) used sufficient logical appeals, through statistics and reason, to argue that death penalty is morally justifiable, while Bruck did not properly respond to the concern of resolving violent crimes. Koch (1985) used adequate statistics to prove that death penalty is suitable to the U.S. He mentioned that the murder rate increased by â€Å"122 percent between 1963 and 1980,† while the â€Å"murder rate in New York City increased by almost 400 percent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Koch, 1985, para.6). The statistics underscored that America is a unique case because of its high violent crime rate that death penalty can decrease. Furthermore, Koch (1985) persuaded the audience through the reason that, without death penalty, more people will die if these killers are out in the streets. By describing that Shaw killed people even before he was executed (para.2), Koch (1985) underlined that punishing Shaw by death penalty surely ended his ability to kill. Without the presence of these mu rderers, lives are spared in the process. Bruck (1985), on the opposite, did not respond on how to stop violent crimes. He mentioned that imprisonment is enough to stop murderers, but how about those who were later on released due to lack of evidence or poor handling of the justice system? Bruck (1985) did not satisfy the audience in finding a proper resolution that can truly end violent crimes for good.