Course Title

IEQ-05 Earthquake Geology and Geoinformatics

by
Dr. J. D. Das
(Dept. of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee)

Plate Tectonics (Part I)

Brief History of Plate Tectonics

Tectonics = study of the deformation of the earth’s surface and plate motions, especially
as applied to mountain building.

Ideas about and Evidence for Tectonics

The ancient Greeks (~200 BC) realized that shells found high up in mountains were
actually deposited in old oceans.

Leonardo da Vinci (~1500) came to much the same conclusion when he found some
fossil sea shells high in the mountains and reasoned that, since the shell layers were
discontinuous, the shell layers must have been pushed into mountains rather than the seas
being as high as the mountains.

James Hutton (~1750) incorporated the idea of uplift and erosion into the rock cycle
and his ideas of uniformitarianism (The present is the key to the past).

Darwin on the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle (~1850), realized that tectonic forces,
especially earthquakes, raised mountains while erosion lowered them.

By the mid 1800’s it was obvious that vertical movements of the earth took place. What
remained to be answered is what powered the tectonic forces or what caused the upheaval
of the mountains?

One of the earliest pieces of evidence that large scale horizontal movement of continents
took place was the fit of the continents, especially Africa and South America. Because
there was no mechanism explaining how this could happen the idea that continents
moved over the earth’s surface was not taken seriously.

In 1910 American geologist Frank Taylor, based on the alignment of mountain ranges,
proposed that the continents had at one time been connected.
The person who is usually given credit for starting the modern theory of plate tectonics is
German meteorologist Alfred Wegener. In 1915 Wegener published a book suggesting

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that all the continents had been connected in a single large land mass he called Pangaea.
Wegener’s proposed continent helped to explain the distribution of certain plants,
animals, and fossils. However, the hypothesis was not accepted by European and
American geologists, largely because it lacked a mechanism for drifting the continents.
Southern hemisphere geologists who were closer to the evidence accepted Wegener’s
hypothesis more readily

The locations of certain fossil plants and animals on present-day, widely separated
continents would form definite patterns (shown by the bands of colors), if the continents
are rejoined.

Present Plate Tectonic set up of the Earth and plate velocities.

™ Wegener's continental drift hypothesis
• Evidence used by Wegener
• Fit of South America and Africa
• Fossils match across the seas

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 • Rock types and structures match
• Ancient climates
• Main objection to Wegener's proposal was its inability to provide a
mechanism

New Evidence for Continental Drift and the Development of Plate Tectonics

Through much of the 1950’s and early 1960’s northern hemisphere geologists continued
to resist the idea of plate tectonics because of the lack of a mechanism.
Starting in the mid-1960’s new evidence from the fields of paleomagnetism and
seismology was developed that eventually convinced most geologists that continents
moved.

Paleomagnetism

™ Evidence for the plate tectonics model

• Paleomagnetism
• Probably the most persuasive evidence
• Ancient magnetism preserved in rocks
• Paleomagnetic records show
• Polar wandering (evidence that continents moved)
• Earth's magnetic field reversals
• Recorded in rocks as they form at oceanic ridges

The following types of paleomagnetic information is preserved in rocks:

1. Declination – direction that the compass needle points. In the northern hemisphere the
needle points toward the north pole. This is an important feature for apparent polar
wandering.
2. Inclination – dip of the compass needle that is related to latitude
3. Polarity – N vs. S seeking

More Evidence for Plate tectonics

™ Evidence for the plate tectonics model

• Earthquake patterns
• Associated with plate boundaries
• Deep-focus earthquakes along trenches provide a method for
tracking the plate's descent
• Ocean drilling
• Deep Sea Drilling Project (ship: Glomar Challenger) confirms age
of oceanic crust
Hot Spots

™ Evidence for the plate tectonics model

• Hot spots

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 • Rising plumes of mantle material
• Volcanoes can form over them
• e.g., Hawaiian Island chain
• Chains of volcanoes mark plate movement
Inside the Earth
Our planet is made up of three main layers: crust, mantle, and core. This layered
structure can be compared to that of a boiled egg. The crust, the outermost layer, is rigid
and very thin compared with the other two. Beneath the oceans, the crust varies little in
thickness, generally extending only to about 5 km. The thickness of the crust beneath
continents is much more variable but averages about 30 km; under large mountain ranges,
such as the Himalayas, however, the base of the crust can be as deep as 100 km.

Below the crust is the mantle, a dense, hot layer of semi-solid rock approximately
2,900 km thick. The mantle, which contains more iron, magnesium, and calcium than the
crust, is hotter and denser because temperature and pressure inside the Earth increase
with depth. At the center of the Earth lies the core, which is nearly twice as dense as the
mantle because its composition is metallic (iron-nickel alloy) rather than stony. The
Earth's core is actually made up of two distinct parts: a 2,200 km-thick liquid outer core
and a 1,250 km-thick solid inner core. As the Earth rotates, the liquid outer core spins,
creating the Earth's magnetic field.

Averaging at least 80 km in thickness over much of the Earth, the lithosphere has
been broken up into the moving plates that contain the world's continents and oceans.
Scientists believe that below the lithosphere is a relatively narrow, mobile zone in the

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mantle called the asthenosphere (from asthenes, Greek for weak). This zone is composed
of hot, semi-solid material, which can soften and flow after being subjected to high
temperature and pressure over geologic time. The rigid lithosphere is thought to "float" or
move about on the slowly flowing asthenosphere.

Layering of the Earth’s interior

Layered structure:
Crust

• Continental (about 35 km thick; 60 km in mountain ranges)

Granitic composition (Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K, H, Rb, Sr, Ba, U, Th, Ni)
• Oceanic (about 5 km thick)
Basaltic composition (Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K, H, Rb, Sr, Ba, U, Th,
Ni)

The crust is divided into continental plates which drift slowly (only a few
centimeters each year) atop the less rigid mantle. The crust is thinner under the
oceans (6-11 km thick); this is where new crust is formed. Continental crust is
about 25-90 km thick. The lithosphere is defined as the crust and the upper
mantle, a rigid layer about 100-200 km thick. The Mohorovicic discontinuity is
the separation between the crust and the upper mantle.

Mantle (2885 km thick)

Composition: peridotite (Mg Fe silicates), kimberlite (diamonds), eclogite
Solid that flows (rheid); plastic behavior

Mantle: Under the crust is the rocky mantle, which is composed of silicon,
oxygen, magnesium, iron, aluminum, and calcium. The upper mantle is rigid and
is part of the lithosphere (together with the crust). The lower mantle flows
slowly, at a rate of a few centimeters per year. The asthenosphere is a part of the
upper mantle that exhibits plastic properties. It is located below the lithosphere
(the crust and upper mantle), between about 100 and 250 kilometers deep.
Convection (heat) currents carry heat from the hot inner mantle to the cooler outer
mantle. The mantle is about 1,700 miles (2,750 km) thick. The mantle gets
warmer with depth; the top of the mantle is about 1,600° F (870° C); towards the
bottom of the mantle, the temperature is about 4,000-6,700° F (2,200-3,700° C).
The mantle contains most of the mass of the Earth. The Gutenberg discontinuity
separates the outer core and the mantle.

Outer core (2270 km thick)

Molten Fe with some Ni
Inner core (1216 km radius)
Solid Fe with some Ni

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Core: The Earth has a iron-nickel core that is about 2,100 miles in radius. The inner core
may have a temperature up to about 13,000°F (7,200°C = 7,500 K), which is hotter than
the surface of the Sun. The inner core (which has a radius of about 750 miles (1,228 km)
is solid. The outer core is in a liquid state and is about 1,400 miles (2,260 km) thick.

How do we know what the Earth's Interior is like?

1. Volcanic activity
Materials are brought up from below.
Xenoliths = foreign rock (pieces of the mantle in lava)
example: coarse-grained olivine (peridotite) xenoliths in basaltic lava
Only useful to depth of about 200 km
2. High pressure laboratory experiments
3. Samples of the solar system (meteorites)
4. Study of seismic waves generated by earthquakes and nuclear explosions
(More below)

Probing the Earth's Interior with Seismic Waves

P and S wave travel times depend on properties of rock materials that they pass through.
Search for differences in travel times which will correspond to differences in rock
properties.

Major layers of the Earth were detected before 1950.

Fine details were delineated in 1960's during nuclear testing.

Wave velocity depends on density and elasticity of rock.

Seismic waves travel faster in denser rock.
Speed of seismic waves increases with depth (pressure and density increase downward).

Isostasy

Isostasy is a term used in Geology to refer to the state of gravitational equilibrium

between the earth's lithosphere and asthenosphere such that the tectonic plates "float" at
an elevation which depends on their thickness and density. It is invoked to explain how
different topographic heights can exist at the Earth's surface. When a certain area of
lithosphere reaches the state of isostasy, it is said to be in isostatic equilibrium. It is
important to note that isostasy is not a process that upsets equilibrium, but rather one
which restores it. It is generally accepted that the earth is a dynamic system that responds
to loads in many different ways, however isostasy provides an important 'view' of the
processes that are actually happening. Nevertheless, certain areas (such as the Himalayas)
are not in isostatic equilibrium, which has forced researchers to identify other reasons to
explain their topographic heights (in the case of the Himalayas, by proposing that their
elevation is being "propped-up" by the force of the impacting Indian plate).

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In the simplest example, isostasy is the principle of Buoyancy observed by Archimedes in
his bath, where he saw that when an object was immersed, an amount of water equal in
volume to that of the object was displaced. On a geological scale, isostasy can be
observed where the Earth's strong lithosphere exerts stress on the weaker asthenosphere
which, over geological time flows laterally such that the load of the lithosphere is
accommodated by height adjustments.

Isostatic models
Three principal models of isostasy are used:

• The Airy-Heiskanen Model

- where different topographic heights are accommodated by changes in crustal

thickness.

• The Pratt-Hayford Model

- where different topographic heights are accommodated by lateral changes in

rock density.

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What is a tectonic plate?
A tectonic plate (also called lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly shaped
slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Plate
size can vary greatly, from a few hundred to thousands of kilometers across; the Pacific
and Antarctic Plates are among the largest. Plate thickness also varies greatly, ranging
from less than 15 km for young oceanic lithosphere to about 200 km or more for ancient
continental lithosphere (for example, the interior parts of North and South America).

How do these massive slabs of solid rock float despite their tremendous weight?
The answer lies in the composition of the rocks. Continental crust is composed of granitic
rocks which are made up of relatively lightweight minerals such as quartz and feldspar.
By contrast, oceanic crust is composed of basaltic rocks, which are much denser and
heavier. The variations in plate thickness are nature's way of partly compensating for the
imbalance in the weight and density of the two types of crust. Because continental rocks
are much lighter, the crust under the continents is much thicker (as much as 100 km)
whereas the crust under the oceans is generally only about 5 km thick. Like icebergs,
only the tips of which are visible above water, continents have deep "roots" to support
their elevations. Tectonic plates probably developed very early in the Earth's 4.6-billion-
year history, and they have been drifting about on the surface ever since-like slow-
moving bumper cars repeatedly clustering together and then separating.

Like many features on the Earth's surface, plates change over time. Those
composed partly or entirely of oceanic lithosphere can sink under another plate, usually a
lighter, mostly continental plate, and eventually disappear completely.

What drives the plates?

Models for the driving forces
The rates of plate motion through time have not been constant. What forces cause
the plates to move, and why does the rate vary through time? It can be described through

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two principal categories of model for the driving forces of plate tectonics: the mantle
plume model, and models based upon force balance calculations.

The mantle plume model holds that an important sources of convective heat
transfer from the lower to the upper mantle is plumes, which are rising columns of hot
material a few hundred kilometers in diameter that spread out into the asthenosphere like
a thunderhead beneath the lithospheric plates. The complementary return flow would
involve a uniform sinking of the entire mantle below the asthenosphere, in addition to the
more localized downflow associated with subduction zones. The lateral spreading of
material in the asthenosphere away from a plume produces a radial shear stress on the
bottom of the overlying lithosphere. If a number of plumes are aligned, then the dominant
asthenospheric flow would be laterally away from the line of plumes, and the shear stress
would act to pull the lithosphere apart, creating a spreading center along a line of plumes.
Plume model does not consider all the possible forces that can act on a lithospheric plate.

From seismic and other geophysical evidence and laboratory experiments, scientists
generally agree that the plate-driving force is the slow movement of hot, softened mantle
that lies below the rigid plates. The circular motion of the mantle carried the continents
along in much the same way as a conveyor belt. However, at the time that Wegener
proposed his theory of continental drift, most scientists still believed the Earth was a
solid, motionless body. Below the lithospheric plates, at some depth the mantle is
partially molten and can flow, albeit slowly, in response to steady forces applied for long
periods of time. Just as a solid metal like steel, when exposed to heat and pressure, can be
softened and take different shapes, so too can solid rock in the mantle when subjected to
heat and pressure in the Earth's interior over millions of years.

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Conceptual drawing of assumed convection cells in the mantle (see text). Below a depth
of about 700 km, the descending slab begins to soften and flow, losing its form.

Sketch showing convection cells commonly seen in boiling water or soup. This analogy,
however, does not take into account the huge differences in the size and the flow rates of
these cells.

The mobile rock beneath the rigid plates is believed to be moving in a circular
manner somewhat like a pot of thick soup when heated to boiling. The heated soup rises
to the surface, spreads and begins to cool, and then sinks back to the bottom of the pot
where it is reheated and rises again. This cycle is repeated over and over to generate what
scientists call a convection cell or convective flow.

Convection cannot take place without a source of heat. Heat within the Earth
comes from two main sources: radioactive decay and residual heat. Radioactive decay, a
spontaneous process that is the basis of "isotopic clocks" used to date rocks, involves the
loss of particles from the nucleus of an isotope (the parent) to form an isotope of a new
element (the daughter). The radioactive decay of naturally occurring chemical elements -
- most notably uranium, thorium, and potassium -- releases energy in the form of heat,
which slowly migrates toward the Earth's surface. Residual heat is gravitational energy
left over from the formation of the Earth -- 4.6 billion years ago -- by the "falling
together" and compression of cosmic debris. How and why the escape of interior heat
becomes concentrated in certain regions to form convection cells remains a mystery.

Force-Balance Models
To develop a more complete understanding of the driving forces of plate
tectonics, it is necessary to account for all the possible forces on a plate. Models
incorporating these factors are called force-balance models.

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 Diagram of plate boundaries with forces used in force-balance model.

The ridge-push force (FRP) represents a push from a divergent plate margin. It
originates from the topographic slope of the ocean bottom created by isostatic uplift at a
spreading center. At a given depth in the mantle above the level of isostatic
compensation, the pressure P1 at a depth below point 1 close to the spreading center is
higher than the pressure P2 at a point below point 2 farther away, because the weight of
the overlying column of rock and water is larger. The resulting horizontal pressure
gradient provides a force that tends to drive the lithospheric plates apart at the spreading
center. This force therefore depends on the average topographic slope of the ridge flank.

Cross section of a ridge-push force.

The mantle-drag force (FDF) is the shear force exerted on the base of the plate by
the relative motion of the underlying mantle. It reflects the viscous coupling between the
asthenosphere and the lithosphere. This force could either drive the plate forward or resist
its movement, depending on the direction of the mantle’s relative velocity with respect to
the lithosphere. In the plume model,

The slab-pull force (FSP) is caused by the tendency of the colder and denser
lithosphere to sink into the underlying mantle. This force should be greater for older

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lithosphere than the younger, because older lithosphere is colder and therefore more
dense. As the slab sinks, it tends to pull the surficial part of the plate behind it. Of course,
the stress in the slab is not an absolute tensile stress, but the minimum principal stress is
less than the lithospheric pressure and is oriented parallel to the slab.

Cross section of slabs illustrating dominant first-motion solutions for earthquakes in

subducted slabs. Open circles indicate down-dip contraction. Closed circles indicate
down-dip extension. Opposing arrows indicate thrust fault solution. A. Slabs extending to
shallow depths show down-dip extension. B. Slabs extending to intermediate depths
show down-dip extension in the shallower part of the slab, and down-dip contraction in
the deeper part. C. Slabs extending to great depths are dominated by down-dip
contraction. D. Segment slabs show down-dip extension in the shallow part and down-dip
contraction in the deep part.

The slab-drag force (FSD) arises from the resistance of the mantle to the slab as it
sinks. This force should be less in the asthenosphere, where the mantle viscosity is
relatively low, than below the asthenosphere, where the viscosity increases. First motions
showing down-dip contraction are characteristic of many deep earthquakes and of
earthquakes through-out slabs that are continuous to depths of 600 to 700 km.

The transform-resistance force (FTR) is a resistance to strike-slip motion along a

transform fault. The presence of seismic activity along transform faults is evidence of
friction on the fault that resists the fault motion. At deeper levels, the resistance is
associated with ductile shearing.

The subduction-resistance force (FSR) results from the shearing between an

overriding plate and a downgoing plate. This force gives rise to the many shallow
earthquakes that occur along subducting plate margins. The magnitude of the force
presumably depends on the effective coefficient of friction between the plates.

The trench-suction force (FSU) tends to draw the overriding plate toward the
trench. Its importance may be indicated by the observations that all circum-Pacific
trenches are moving towards the ocean basin, and the Pacific basin is getting smaller. The
implication of this observation is that, above the subducting slab, there is a flow of the
mantle and lithosphere toward the trench. Such a flow could be set up as a result of the
entrainment of the mantle by the downward motion of the subducted slab, which would
cause a corner flow in the overlying mantle wedge.

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Present Day Plate tectonics
™ Evidence for the plate tectonics model
ª Earthquake patterns
• Associated with plate boundaries
• Deep-focus earthquakes along trenches provide a method for
tracking the plate's descent
ª Ocean drilling
• Deep Sea Drilling Project (ship: Glomar Challenger) confirms age
of oceanic crust

™ Measuring plate motion

ª By using hot spot “tracks” like those of the Hawaiian Island - Emperor
Seamount chain
ª Using space-age technology to directly measure the relative motion of
plates
• Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)
• Global Positioning System (GPS)

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