G10 “dog jaw”

PLATE TECTONICS: it was a fast-moving carnivore with powerful

Theory of Plate Tectonics and the Formation of jaws and dog-like teeth
Continents Lystrosaurus
TECTONIC PLATES was a mammal like the reptile about the size of
 are massive, irregular slab of solid rocks that a small dog
envelope the surface of earth “the shovel reptile”
 also called lithospheric plates it was an herbivore
 Continental Crust- it is lighter than the oceanic
crust as it is composed of lower density Evidence from Glaciers
materials Today, glaciers are found nearer the poles, but
 Oceanic Crust- made of heavier basalt and these grooves and rocks marks are now found on
gabbro rocks continents near the equator. It means that glaciers
Alfred Wegener covered most of the supercontinent. Wegener believed
 a German geophysicist who noticed the same that the glacial ice was centered on the southern
remarkable South America-Africa fit continents.
 he made further examination of the shapes Evidence from Rocks
and orientations of the land masses and found Alfred Wegener found identical rocks of the
that the world’s present continents fit together same type and age on both sides of the Atlantic
Continental Drift Theory Ocean. To Wegener, these rocks had formed in the
same place but were separated when the land moved
 states that more than 300 million years ago,
apart.
continents formed one single mass which
Evidence from Mountain Ranges
gradually broke up and began to drift apart into
The Appalachian Mountains in the eastern
separate continents
side of North America are similar to the mountain
ranges in Greenland, Ireland, Scotland, and Norway.
Early ideas about continental movement, moving
Wegener believed that these mountains were one
continents
mountain range that had been split apart by the drifting
continents.
Abraham Ortelius
Types of Boundaries
the noted the noticeable fit of the South
American and African continents
Edward Suess
an Austrian geologist who suggested that there may
have been land bridges that connected today’s
southern continents
Frank Bursley Taylor
he proposed continental movement, but
without expansion
eVidences for continental drift
Glossopteris
an extinct seed fern with large tongue-shaped
leaves
fossils have been found in South America,
Africa, Madagascar, Antartica, and Australia
glossa means “tongue”
Mesosaurus
was a freshwater lightly built lizard with four
1. DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES- plates move apart,
legs, long head and snout, with nostrils near its
creating a zone of tension
eye
2. CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES- plates collide
“middle lizard”
Cynognathus
was a warm-blooded mammal like the reptile
3. TRANSFORM FAULT BOUNDARIES- plates slide
or grind past each other without diverging or
converging.
SUBDUCTION- a process by which one lithospheric
plate descends beneath another
Converging Oceanic Crust Leading Plate and
Continental Crust Leading Plate
From the diagram, it is clear that this event
gives rise to the formation of a volcanic arc near the
edge of a continental leading plate. The reason for this
is because the denser oceanic crust (Plate A)
undergoes what we call subduction process or the
bending of the crust towards the mantle. Since the
mantle is hotter than the crust, the tendency is, the
subducted crust melt forming magma. Addition of
volatile material such as water will cause the magma to
become less dense, hence allowing it to rise and reach
the crust once again and causing volcanic activities on
the continental leading plate.
For the oceanic crust, one important geologic
feature is formed, and that is the trench. Also called
submarine valleys, ocean trenches are the deepest
part of the ocean. One of the deepest is the Philippine
trench with a depth of 10 540 meters.
Another subsequent effect of the continuous
grinding of plates against each other is the occurrence
of earthquakes. The subduction of plate can cause
earthquakes at varying depths. Most parts of the world
experience occasional shallow earthquakes – where
the focus is within 60 km of the Earth’s surface. Of the
total energy released by earthquakes, 85% comes
from shallow earthquakes. Meanwhile, about 12% of
energy originates from intermediate earthquakes or
those quakes with a focal depth range of 60 to 300 km.
Lastly, are the deep earthquakes whose origin is more
than 300 km to 700 km below the Earth’s surface.
The Composition of the Earth’s Interior
The Crust
The crust is the thinnest and the outermost
layer of the Earth that extends from the
surface to about 32 kilometers below.
Underneath some mountains, the crust’s
thickness extends to 72 kilometers.
Earth’s crust, divided into two – 1. The
continental crust, and 2. Oceanic crust
CONTINENTAL CRUST
- is mainly made up of silicon,
oxygen, aluminum, calcium,
sodium, and potassium. The
thickness of the continental crust is
mostly 35-40 kilometers.
Continental crust, found under
land masses, is made of less
dense rocks such as granite.
OCEANIC CRUST
- is around 7-10 kilometers thick
which its average thickness is 8
kilometers. It is found under the
ocean floor and is made of dense
rocks such as basalt.
- The oceanic crust is heavier than
the continental crust.
The Mantle
- Beneath the crust
- It makes up about 80% of the
Earth’s total volume and about
68% of its total mass. The mantle
is mainly made up of silicate rocks,
and contrary to common belief, is
solid, since both S-waves and P-
waves pass through it.

Lithosphere
- solid, outer part of the Earth, including
the brittle upper portion of the mantle
and the crust.

Asthenosphere
- beneath the lithosphere
- soft, weak layer
- made of molten rocks
 EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD/ GEOMAGNETIC
FIELD
The Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere

Earth's magnetic field (and the surface

magnetic field) is approximately a magnetic
dipole, with the magnetic field S pole near
the Earth's geographic north
pole (see Magnetic North Pole) and the other
magnetic field N pole near the Earth's
geographic south pole (see Magnetic South
Pole). This makes the compass usable for
navigation. The cause of the field can be
explained by dynamo theory.
A magnetic field extends infinitely, though it
weakens with distance from its source. The
Earth's magnetic field, also called
the geomagnetic field, which effectively
extends several tens of thousands
of kilometres into space, forms the
Earth's magnetosphere. A paleomagnetic
study of Australian red dacite and pillow
basalt has estimated the magnetic field to be
at least 3.5
billion
years
old.
The Core
- subdivided into two layers: the
inner and the outer core
1. outer core - is 2900 kilometers below
the Earth’s surface; 2250 kilometers
thick and is made up of iron and
nickel. The temperature in the outer
core reaches up to 2000°C at this very
high temperature, iron and nickel melt.
- is mainly made up of iron and nickel
moving around the solid inner core, creating
Earth’s magnetism.
2. Inner core- made up of solid iron
and nickel and has a radius of 1300
kilometers. Its temperature reaches to about
5000oC. The extreme temperature could
have molten the iron and nickel but it is
believed to have solidified as a result of
pressure freezing, which is common to
liquids subjected under tremendous
pressure.