Source: Steven Earle (2015) CC BY 4.0. Modified after U. S.

 Geological Survey (1996) Public Domain 

Plate Tectonics – part b 2018-19 Term 2

GEOL 108 & GEOL 121
Dr J. McBeth
Ore Gangue
• Usask’s geology
student society
• Oldest student
society on campus!
• Regular gatherings
and events
• Friendly! Fun! You
don’t have to be a
major in Geo, all are
welcome.
• Room 208,
Geological Sciences
• oregangue@gmail.com
Exploring class rules collaboratively
• I want your input on things that other students do in class to
help you learn, and things they do that hinder your learning
• I posted homework on Top Hat today where you can give
me feedback on what you think we should have for class
rules
• I am especially curious how you would prefer I deal with it
when there are problems (e.g., people talking loudly in class
and distracting you and others)
• All answers are anonymous
• I’ll review your responses in class sometime next week
Lecture capture
• Last lecture audio fixed now
• Where to find the videos:
Student question from after last lecture:
• Why is the interior of the Earth
so hot?
• Radioactive decay
• “Primordial heat” – heat
remaining from when the Earth
formed

Source: Karla Panchuk (2018) CC BY 4.0, 
modified after Steven Earle (2016) CC BY 4.0
Last class
• Lithosphere – crust + uppermost
mantle, rigid, divided into plates that
move over the asthenosphere
• Continental drift hypothesis and
evidence for it
• Fit of continents, similar rocks and
fossils across matching points on
continents, palaeoclimate data
• Missing info on process – how did
it work?
• Plate tectonics evidence
• Seafloor spreading evidence –
mid-ocean ridges, heat
distribution, types of rocks and
sediment thickness,
palaeomagnetism, presence of
asthenosphere
Where are the boundaries of the plates?

More than 100 years of earthquakes glow on a world map.
Credit: John Nelson, IDV Solutions. 
The Plates and Their Boundaries

Note red arrows showing movement of the plates relative to each other
Source: Steven Earle (2015) CC BY 4.0. Modified after U. S. Geological Survey (1996) Public Domain 
Plates and Plate Boundaries
• The “Ring of Fire” is the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the
world.

Image Source: USGS (1996) Public Domain. 
Test yourself (workbook Chapter 4 review
questions):
• Identify the tectonic plates labelled from 1 to 15 in the figure.
• Practice your geography - can you name all the continents
too?
• Work through the review questions in the workbook
Types of Plate Boundaries
1. Divergent Boundaries
a) Oceanic plate separation
b) Continental plate separation

2. Convergent Boundaries
a) Ocean-ocean convergence
b) Ocean-continent convergence
c) Continent-continent convergence

3. Transform-Fault Boundaries
• Mid-ocean ridge transform fault
• Continental transform fault

Image source: USGS (1996) Public Domain 
 Continental vs Oceanic Lithosphere
• continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust
• When continental crust and oceanic crust meet at a
convergent continental margin, the less dense
continental crust will move up over the denser oceanic
crust

0 (km)
10 Continental crust Oceanic crust
20 (2.8 g/cm3) (3.0 g/cm3)
30 Mantle
40 (3.4 g/cm3)
50
Divergent, convergent, and transform plate
boundaries: spot them on the map!

Source: Steven Earle (2015) CC BY 4.0. Modified after U. S. Geological Survey (1996) Public Domain 
Divergent Boundaries
• Continental plate separation
• New plates forming from one
plate splitting (or extension of
previous plate boundaries) Image Source: Wikimedia user Lichtspiel (2011) CC BY‐SA 2.5. 

• New lithosphere forms

• Rift valleys, mountains,
volcanoes, and earthquakes
• E.g., the East Africa Rift
valley

Image Source: USGS (1999) Public Domain
 Divergent plate
boundaries

Image Source: Wikimedia user Lichtspiel
(2011) CC BY‐SA 2.5. 
Divergent Boundaries
• Oceanic plate separation
• Extension of boundaries; new lithosphere generated
• Submarine rift valleys, mountains and volcanoes, and earthquakes
• E.g., the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Source: NASA (2004) Public Domain 
Convergent Boundaries
• Ocean-ocean convergence
• Subduction zone
• Oceanic trench, volcanic island arc, and deep earthquakes

e.g. Mariana islands and Mariana trench Image source: USGS (1996) Public Domain 
Convergent boundary
• Ocean-continent
• Trench, volcanic arc
• Earthquakes

Image source: USGS (1996) Public Domain 
 Convergent Boundaries
• Continent-continent convergence
• Crustal thickening, folded mountains,
and earthquakes
• E.g., Himalaya Mountains

Image source: USGS (1996) Public Domain 
Himalayan Mountains
Convergent boundaries involving oceanic
plate(s) – subduction zones
• Angle at which down-going plate subducts determines
characteristics of convergent boundary
• Generally moderate (30–70°)

• Steep-angle (>70°)
• Characterized by deep trenches,
volcanic arcs, marginal seas
>70°
• E.g., Mariana trench

• Flat-slab (<30°)
• Creation of wide mountain belts
• Inland deformation, volcanism
• E.g., west coast of S. America; <30°
Laramide orogeny (The Rockies)
Transform Plate Boundaries
• Also known as
transform-fault
boundaries
• Conservative:
lithosphere neither
created or destroyed
• Lateral (transform) fault
and earthquakes
• E.g., the San Andreas
Fault in California
Transform-Fault Boundaries
• Mid-ocean ridge transform fault
• Lithosphere neither created or destroyed
• Lateral (transform) faults and earthquakes
Mid-Atlantic Ridge: divergent and transform boundary

Source: NASA
A Plate Boundary: the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• Divergent Boundary
with transform faults
• ~16,000 km in length
• Spreads 1 to 10 cm/year
• Rift currently spans
80 to 120 km
• Volcanoes, earthquakes,
hydrothermal fields
• Mostly underwater

Source: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Iceland • Located on Mid‐Atlantic Ridge
• Geologically young and active
• Rift valley, volcanism, 
hydrothermal fields

Source: Karla Panchuk (2018) CC BY‐SA 4.0. 
Photo: Ruth Hartnup (2005) CC BY 2.0
Rift Valley Thingvellir, Iceland

Image Source: justanotherpilot (2016). http://www.dronestagr.am/thingvellir‐national‐park‐iceland/
Volcanic Eruptions
Bardarbunga volcano, Iceland

Credit: Eidar Gudmann/Barcroft Media

Columnar Basalt – form as the cooling
rock contracts Selfoss, Iceland

Credit: University of Liverpool 
Hydrothermal Fields
Geyser

Image source: https://www.icelandtravel.is/attractions/geysir/ 
Convergent, divergent, and transform plate margins

Image source: USGS (1996) Public Domain 
 Divergent plate boundaries and palaeomagnetism
• Two plates pull apart
• Mafic magma rises through rift
zone forming new basaltic rock
on either side of the rift.
• Like conveyer belts, the newer
crust travels away from the centre
on each side.
• Oceanic crust records reversed
and normal polarity episodes

Image Source: Wikimedia user 
Chmee2 (2012) Public Domain. 
Magnetic Striping
RIDGE
.

•. There is symmetrical Magnetic

striping on either side of an oceanic
ridge
• Rocks can be divided into two
groups:
• normal polarity - magnetic polarity
(same as today)
• reversed polarity - magnetic polarity
(opposite to today)
• The magnetic polarity of the sea floor
rocks can be measured using a
magnetometer towed behind a ship.
AGE‐DATED MAGNETIC REVERSALS 
(NOTE SYMMETRY ON EITHER SIDE OF RIDGE)
Seafloor Isochrons: lines of equal age

NOAA (2007) CC BY‐SA 3.0 
How does plate tectonics work?
Theory: Mantle Convection
• Mantle convection drives movement of lithospheric plates.
Spreading Centres
• Plates are pulled apart
• Magma erupts from mantle
• New rock added to plate
margin

Subduction Zones
• Plates recycled into mantle
• Characterized by deep-sea
trenches
• Denser plate subducts
beneath less dense plate

Plate divergence is driven by mantle convection
Plate Movement Mechanisms
Four Hypotheses:
a) Plates pushed away from
spreading centers

b) Plates pulled down into

trenches

c) Plates dragged along by

mantle convection friction

d) Plates driven down the

slope to ridge by gravity
Review of plate tectonics, one of the main “big ideas” in
geology:
• Lithospheric plates move over the surface of the Earth
• Three types of plate boundary: convergent, divergent,
and transform
• Mechanisms for plate movement: mantle convection
friction, pulling at subduction zones, gravity pull down
slopes, pushing out from spreading centres

Why does plate tectonics 
matter? We probably 
wouldn’t have mountain 
chains, nearly as many 
volcanoes, maybe even 
Image source: USGS (1996) Public Domain  life on Earth without it!
 Plate Movement
Powers the Rock Cycle
• Rocks are composed of minerals
• We will learn about minerals next, in 
order to prepare us to learn about 
the types of rocks
Image Source: Steven Earle (2015) CC BY 4.0 
Suggested Readings: Minerals
From Physical Geology 1st USask Edition (Panchuk)
Chapter 5:
• Section 5.1: Electrons, Protons, Neutrons, and Atoms
• Section 5.2: Bonding and Lattices
• Section 5.3: Mineral Groups
• Section 5.4: Silicate Minerals
• Section 5.5: Formation of Minerals
• Section 5.6: Mineral Properties