The rocks on Earth are much younger than the earth itself. How does this support the theory of plate tectonics

Question

The rocks on Earth are much younger than the earth itself. How does this support the theory of plate tectonics?

Answer 1

When a elemental mass was just formed it shot away from the sun and the earth was made but it was only a ball of hot gas.

Then the upper part of the earth got cooled and formed into rocks forming the lithospheric plates.

THUS THE ROCKS FORMING THE EARTH ARE YOUNGER THAN THE EARTH.

Answer 2

Vulcanism.

Answer 3

The rocks you typically find are younger than the Earth because the surface is being renewed. As plates collide, some rock is thrust under and melted while other rock is lifted up. That rock that has been lifted to the surface either by volcanic action or tectonics is considered "new". The base elements are older, but the actual cooled, formed rock is a new combination. Think of plate tectonics as a huge, incredibly slow, rock recycling system. These new rocks show that plate tectonics brings molten material up from beneath the crust and leaves it at the surface.

Also, by the way, erosion breaks down rock into sand and particles that collect and over time compress to form new sedimentary rock (sedimentary rock is also created by the stuff left behind on the seafloor by microscopic ocean life over log periods of time) which is often much younger than volcanic or igneous rock formed from plate tectonics.

Answer 4

These two things are kind of unrelated in a way.

If you are talking about the Earth as the ball of fiery gas it began as, then rocks couldn't be as old as it.

Even after the fiery ball stage, the Earth was still a ball of molten lava for millions of years. After the gases formed the atmosphere and filtered out the intense rays of the sun, the lava began to cool, forming the rocks. All rocks formed from the magma became igneous, which when exposed to extreme pressure, created other types of rocks.

All rocks are composed of minerals which are composed of steady elements. The elements were not finished off until millions of years after the creation of the Earth.

In regards to plate tectonics, Pangaea broke apart in to two big "plates" (Gondwana and Laurasia) after chillin as one big rock for a long time. These two ran into each other multiple times, breaking apart and whatnot to create Earth as we know it today.

SHORT ANSWER:

The Earth began as a ball of gas, rocks formed, and THEN they began to run into each other.

Answer 5

maybe the rocks came from outerspace