Plate Tectonics

Pre-drift reconstruction
The seven major and several minor plates of the Earth. Ocean ridges (double lines),
trenches (lines with teeth on the overriding plate), and transform faults (single
lines) mark the plate boundaries. In a few places, plate boundaries are ill-defined. These
boundaries are marked by dashed lines.
The nature of plate boundaries.
(a) The basic kinds of plate boundaries.
(b) Cross section of a divergent boundary.
(c) Cross section of a convergent
boundary.
 Ophiolite Obduction

• Possible evolution of the Coast Range ophiolite in a backarc setting offshore of California and its subsequent
emplacement in a forearc setting (after Wakabayashi & Dilek, 2000, with permission from the Geological
Society of America). (a) Coast Range ophiolite forms behind a Mesozoic island arc. (b,c) Island arc collides with
the continent and a new east-dipping subduction zone initiates, capturing the ophiolite in forearc. (d) Ophiolite
obductionoccurs in a forearc setting.
 Seamount

• Seamounts are submarine mountains that are not part of mid-

ocean ridges. They typically occur in chains continuous along their
length with a chain of oceanic islands. The island at the end of the
chain may be an active volcano. A seamount originates as a hotspot
volcanic island, formed above a mantle plume. When the volcano
drifts off of the plume, it becomes extinct and sinks below sea level.
Plate Tectonic