EG208 PGYSICAL

GEOLOGY
TOPIC 1: PALEOMAGNETISM, SEA FLOOR SPREADING,
PLATE TECTONICS
14 MAY 2020
 PALEOMAGNETISM &
SEA FLOOR SPREADING
The Earth's Magnetic
Field Can Give
Us Clues

 Paleomagnetism is the study of ancient magnetic field.

 The study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field in rocks,
sediment, or archeological materials.
 Certain minerals in rocks lock-in a record of the direction and
intensity of the magnetic field when they form.
 This record provides information on the past behavior of Earth's
magnetic field and the past location of tectonic plates.
Earth’s Magnetic Field
 A magnetic field (region of magnetic
force) surrounds the Earth
 Field has north and south
magnetic poles
 Earth’s magnetic field is what a
compass detects
 Recorded by magnetic minerals
(e.g., magnetite) in igneous
rocks as they cool below their
Curie Point
 Earth’s Magnetic Field
 Magnetic reversals - times when
the poles of Earth’s magnetic field
switch
 Recorded in magnetic minerals
 Occurred many times; timing
appears chaotic
 After next reversal, a compass
needle will point toward the south
magnetic pole

 Paleomagnetism - the study of

ancient magnetic fields in rocks
 allows reconstruction of plate
motions over time
A) Some rocks are preserved a record of
earth’s magnetic field.

B) Cross section of stacked lava flows showing

evidence of magnetic reversal.
Worldwide magnetic
polarity time scale for the
Cenozoic and Mesozoic
Era. Black indicates
positive anomalies (and
therefore normal polarity).
Blue/tan indicates
negatives anomalies
(reverse polarity).
Magnetic Field Reversals
■ What causes magnetic reversals? The question is difficult to answer because no one knows
how the magnetic field is generated in the first place.
■ Computer simulations from Los Alamos (Glatzmaier)
■ Also predicted the inner core must be spinning faster than Earth
■ Picture: Computer simulation or Earth’s magnetic field reversal

Reversed magnetic polarity with Transitional magnetic field Normal magnetic field
magnetic field lines leaving the north
magnetic pole (orange) and reentering
at the south pole
Magnetic Anomalies
 Local increases or decreases in the
Earth’s magnetic field strength are
known as magnetic anomalies
– Positive and negative magnetic anomalies represent
larger and smaller than average local magnetic field
strengths, respectively
 Magnetometers are used to measure local
magnetic field strength
– Used as metal detectors in airports
– Can detect metallic ore deposits, igneous rocks
(positive anomalies), and thick layers of non- magnetic
sediments (negative anomaly) beneath Earth’s surface
Paleomagnetism and Continental
Drift Revived
 Studies of rock magnetism allowed
determination of magnetic pole locations
(close to geographic poles)
 Paleomagnetism uses mineral magnetic
alignment and dip angle to determine the
distance to the magnetic pole when rocks
formed
 Steeper dip angles indicate rocks
formed closer to the magnetic poles
 Rocks with increasing age, point to pole
locations increasingly far from present
magnetic pole positions
Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis
■ Sometimes, for reasons unknown, the
magnetic poles switch positions. North
becomes south and south becomes north.
■ During normal polarity, the north and south
poles are aligned as they are now. With
reversed polarity, the north and south poles
are in the opposite position.
■ Scientists brought these observations
together in the early 1960s to create the
seafloor spreading hypothesis.
Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis
■ In this hypothesis, hot buoyant mantle rises
up a mid-ocean ridge, causing the ridge to
rise upward. The hot magma at the ridge
erupts as lava that forms new seafloor.
■ When the lava cools, the magnetite crystals
take on the current magnetic polarity and as
more lava erupts, it pushes the seafloor
horizontally away from ridge axis.
■ The magnetic stripes continue across the
seafloor. As oceanic crust forms and spreads,
moving away from the ridge crest, it pushes
the continent away from the ridge axis.
■ Seafloor spreading is the mechanism for
Wegener’s drifting continents.
Seafloor Spreading
 Seafloor rocks, and mantle rocks beneath them, cool and become more dense with
distance from mid-oceanic ridge
 When sufficiently cool and dense, these rocks may sink back into the mantle at
subduction zones
- Downward plunge of cold rocks gives rise to oceanic trenches

Subduction zone
 Features of Sea Floor
■ A simplified profile of the sea floor shows that continents have 2 types of margin.
1. A passive continental margin (as found on the east coast of North America).
- A passive continental margin includes a continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise, and generally extends
down to an abyssal plain (flat ocean floor) at a depth of about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). It is called a passive margin because it
usually develops on geologically quiet coasts that lack earthquakes, volcanoes, and young mountain belts.
2. An active continental margin (found mainly around the Pacific rim)
- An active continental margin associated with earthquake and volcanoes, has a continental shelf and slope that extends
deeper to form an oceanic trench)
Continental Shelves
■ A continental shelf, a shallow submarine platform at the
edge of a continent, inclines very gently seaward, generally
at an angle of 0.1 degree. Continental shelves vary in width.
– Water depth over a continental shelf tends to increase
regularly away from land, with the outer edge of the
shelf being about 100 to 200 meters below sea level.
– Continental shelves are topographic features, defined
by their depth, flatness, and gentle seaward tilt.
– The continental shelves of the world are usually covered
with relatively young sediment, in most cases derived
from land.
– The outer part of a wide shelf is often covered with
coarse sediment that was deposited near shore during
a time of lower sea level.
Continental Slopes
■ A continental slope is a relatively steep slope
that extends from a depth of 100 to 200 meters
at the edge of the continental shelf down to
oceanic depths.
– The average angle of slope for a
continental slope is 4 to 5 degrees,
although locally, some parts are much
steeper.
– Because the continental slopes are more
difficult to study than the continental
shelves, less is known about them.
– The greater depth of water and the locally
steep inclines on the continental slopes
hinder rock dredging and drilling and
make the results of seismic refraction and
reflection harder to interpret.
PLATE TECTONIC
Plate Tectonic
EARTH’S TECTONIC PLATES
■ When the concept of seafloor spreading came along, scientists
recognized that it was the mechanism to explain how continents could
move around Earth’s surface.
■ Scientific data and observation now allows us to merge the ideas of
continental drift and seafloor spreading into the theory of plate tectonics.
Seafloor and continents move around on Earth’s surface, but what is
actually moving? What portion of the Earth makes up the “plates” in plate
tectonics?
■ This question was also answered because of technology developed during
the Cold War. The plates are made up of the lithosphere.
■ The lithosphere is divided into a dozen major and several minor plates.
The plates’ edges can be drawn by connecting the dots that mark
earthquakes’ epicenters.
■ A single plate can be made of all oceanic lithosphere or all continental
lithosphere, but nearly all plates are made of a combination of both.
■ Movement of the plates over Earth’s surface is termed plate tectonics.
Plates move at a rate of a few centimeters a year, about the same rate
fingernails grow.
Theory of Plate Tectonics
■ Continental Drift Hypothesis
– Originally proposed in early 20th century to explain the “fit of continents”, matching rock types and fossils
across ocean basins, etc.

■ Plate Tectonics Theory

– Originally proposed in the late 1960s
– Included new understanding of the seafloor and explanation of driving force
– Describes lithosphere as being broken into plates that are in motion
– Explains origin and distribution of volcanoes, fault zones and mountain belts.

■ Plate tectonic motions affect Earth’s rock cycle, climate, and the evolution of life.
Plate tectonics - Earth’s surface composed thick plates that move
How Plates Move??
■ Youtube video
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTRu620bIsE&feature=emb_rel_end
Key to understanding plate tectonics
 Key to understanding plate tectonics is an understanding of Earth’s internal structure,
 Earth’s core consists mostly of iron. The outer core is hot enough for the iron to be liquid.
 The inner core—although even hotter—is under so much pressure that it is solid.
 The mantle is made up of iron and magnesium silicate minerals.
 The bulk of the mantle surrounding the outer core is solid rock, but is plastic enough to be able
to flow slowly.
 The outermost part of the mantle is rigid.
 The crust—composed mostly of granite on the continents and mostly of basalt beneath the
oceans—is also rigid.
 The crust and outermost rigid mantle together make up the lithosphere.
 The lithosphere is divided into about 20 tectonic plates that move in different directions on
Earth’s surface.
Plate Tectonics
 Plate tectonics is the model or
theory that has been used for the
past 60 years to understand and
explain how the Earth works—more
specifically the origins of
continents and oceans, folded
earthquakes and volcanoes, and
continental drift.
 Plate tectonics - Earth’s surface
composed thick plates that move
 Intense geologic activity is
concentrated at plate boundaries
3 Types of Tectonics Plate Boundaries

But how
do we
know that
plates
move at
all? Transform Convergent Divergent
(strike-slip) (subduction) (spreading)
Tectonic Plate Boundaries
■ Plate boundaries are the edges where two plates meet. Most geologic activities, including volcanoes,
earthquakes, and mountain building, take place at plate boundaries. How can two plates move relative to
each other?
1. Transform plate boundaries: the two plates slip past each other.
2. Divergent plate boundaries: the two plates move away from each other.
3. Convergent plate boundaries: the two plates move towards each other.
■ The type of plate boundary and the type of crust found on each side of the boundary determines what
sort of geologic activity will be found there.

Transform boundary Divergent boundary Convergent boundary

1. Transform Plate Boundaries
 At transform plate boundaries, plates
slide horizontally past one another rather
than toward or away from each other.
- Marked by transform faults
- Transform faults may connect:
 Two offset segments of mid-
oceanic ridge
 A mid-oceanic ridge and a
trench
 Two trenches
- Transform offsets of mid-oceanic
ridges allow series of straight-line
segments to approximate curved
boundaries required by spheroidal
Earth
Transform Plate Boundaries
 Plates slide/ move sideways past one another.
 No creation or destruction of crust
 Fault zones, earthquakes mark plate boundaries.
 The San Andreas transform fault in California has
generated large earthquake.

San Andreas Fault,

Carizzo Plain, Central Ca
2. Convergent Plate Boundaries
 At convergent plate boundaries, plates move towards
one another
 Nature of boundary depends on plates involved
oceanic plate vs. continental plate
 3 types of convergent plates:
a) Ocean-ocean plate convergence
- Marked by ocean trench, Benioff zone, and
volcanic island arc
b) Ocean-continent plate convergence
- Marked by ocean trench, Benioff zone, volcanic
arc, and mountain belt
c) Continent-continent plate convergence
- Marked by mountain belts and thrust faults
Convergent Plate Boundaries
 a) Ocean-Ocean Convergence
 If both converging plates are
oceanic, the denser plate will
subduct beneath the less-dense
plate.
 A portion of a plate becomes colder
and denser as it travels farther from
the mid-oceanic ridge where it
formed.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
 b) Ocean-Continent Convergence:
 If one plate is capped by oceanic
crust and the other by continental
crust, the less-dense, more-buoyant
continental plate will override the
denser, oceanic plate.
 The oceanic plate bends beneath the
continental plate and sinks along
what is known as a subduction zone,
a zone where an oceanic plate
descends into the mantle beneath an
overriding plate.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
 c) Continent-Continent Convergence:
 If both converging plates are continental,
a quite different geologic deformation
process takes place at the plate
boundary.
 Continental lithosphere is much less
dense than the mantle below and,
therefore, neither plate subducts.
 The buoyant nature of continental
lithosphere causes the two colliding
continental plates to buckle and deform
with significant vertical uplift and
thickening as well as lateral shortening.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
 Plates move toward each other.
 Destruction of ocean floor.
 Creation and growth of mountain belts and volcanoes common
 Oceanic plates may sink along a subduction zone,
 Typically marked by a deep ocean trench India-Eurasia Collision
 Earth’s greatest earthquake and tsunamis
Continents grow during
The subduction process
Volcanoes
originate
from
subducting
plates

Press & Siever

Fig. 1.16
3. Divergent Plate Boundaries
■ A divergent boundary, involves two
plates that are moving apart from each
other.
■ Most divergent boundaries coincide with
the crests of submarine mountain ranges,
called mid-oceanic ridges.
■ The mid-Atlantic ridge, which runs for
approximately 16,000 kilometers (10,000
miles) from northeast of Greenland to the
South Atlantic, is a classic, well-developed
example.
■ Motion along a mid-oceanic ridge causes
small to moderate earthquakes.
Divergent Plate Boundaries
 Plates move apart at mid-ocean ridges where
new seafloor forms.
 Between the two plates is a rift valley. Lava
flows at the surface cool rapidly to become
basalt, but deeper in the crust, magma cools
more slowly to form gabbro.
 Earthquakes are common at mid-ocean ridges
since the movement of magma and oceanic
crust results in crustal shaking.
 As divergence occurs, shallow earthquakes
can occur along with volcanoes along the rift
areas. When the process begins, a valley will
develop such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa.
 Over time that valley can fill up with water
creating linear lakes. If divergence continues,
a sea can form like the Red Sea and finally an
ocean like the Atlantic Ocean
Divergent Plate Boundaries
 Plates move apart.
 Creation of new ocean floor with submarine volcanoes
 Mid-oceanic ridge
 Small to moderate earthquake
What Causes Plate Motions?
 Causes of plate motion are not yet fully understood, but any proposed mechanism must
explain why:
 Mid-oceanic ridges are hot and elevated, while trenches are cold and deep
 Ridge crests have tensional cracks
 The leading edges of some plates are subducting sea floor, while others are
continents (which cannot subduct)
What Causes Plate Motions?
 Mantle convection may be the cause or an effect of circulation set up by
 ridge-push and/or
 slab-pull
Mantle Plumes & Hot Spots
 Mantle plumes - narrow columns of hot
mantle rock rise through the mantle
 Stationary with respect to moving
plates
 Large mantle plumes may spread
out and tear apart the overlying
plate
 Flood basalt eruptions
 Rifting apart of continental
land masses
 New divergent boundaries may
form
Mantle Plumes & Hot Spots
 Mantle plumes may form “hot spots” of
active volcanism at Earth’s surface
– Approximately 45 known hotspots
 Hot spots in the interior of a plate
produce volcanic chains
– Orientation of the volcanic chain
shows direction of plate motion
over time
– Age of volcanic rocks can be used
to determine rate of plate
movement
– Example: Hawaiian islands