PLATE TECTONICS

● STRUCTURE OF EARTH
CRUST
It is the Earth’s outermost layer. The crust makes up
less than 1% of the Earth’s volume and the crust
has a thickness of about 70 km. There are 2 types of
crust: Oceanic crust and Continental crust.

MANTLE
The mantle is the second layer which lies above the core. It occupies 80% of Earth’s volume
and has a thickness of 2900 km. The temperature in the mantle ranges from 800°C to 3000°C.
There is a lower mantle and upper mantle. Lower mantle is solid and brittle. Upper mantle is
solid but ductile(flows under high temperature,molten)

CORE
The core is the innermost layer which is 20% of the Earth’s volume and has a thickness of
3500 km.The temperature ranges from 3000°C to 5000°C. There are 2 cores: Inner core and
outer core. The inner core is 1400 km and is solid state. The outer core is 2100 km and is in a
liquid state.

● WHY DO PLATES MOVE ? (convection current)

➢ Convection current is the movement of heat circulating within the mantle.
➢ Magma in the mantle is heated by the core, expands, rises and spreads beneath the
tectonic plates. This pulls apart at the divergent plate boundary.
➢ Away from the heat source, the magma cools slightly and sinks.
➢ The sinking magma heats up again as it nears the core and the process repeats.
➢ The slab-pull force occurs when the denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the less
dense and pulls the rest of the plate into the mantle due to its weight of the
subducting plate. This drives the downward movement of plates at subduction zones.
● DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARIES

OCEANIC - OCEANIC
The convection current in the mantle causes two
oceanic plates to diverge. The tensional force
causes fractures to form at the plate boundaries.
Magma rises from the zone of divergence, cools and
solidifies to form a ridge of new ocean floor, mid
oceanic ridge. At various points along the
mid-oceanic ridge, magma builds up to form
submarine volcanoes. When submarine volcanoes
rise above the sea level, they are known as volcanic
islands.
➔ Example: Divergence of North America plate and Eurasian plate give rise to
Mid-atlantic ridge and Azores Island(volcano).

CONTINENTAL - CONTINENTAL
The convection current in the mantle causes 2
continental plates to diverge. As the thick
continental crust is pulled apart, it stretches thin,
causing fractures and normal fault lines to form in
the crust. Tensional forces cause sections of the
crust to extend along the fault lines.
When the central block of land between normal fault
lines sinks due to tensional force it forms a rift valley
with steep sides. Land left standing would be block
mountains.
Or
When land surrounding a central block of land sinks
along normal fault lines it forms block mountains
with steep sides.
➔ Example: The African plate diverges to form
somalian and nubian sections. They form
the East African Rift Valley. On the western branch of the East African Rift System,
Rwenzori Block Mountain in Uganda and Mount Nyamuragira as well as Lake Albert.
● CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARIES

OCEANIC - OCEANIC CONVERGENCE

Convection current in the mantle causes the dense
oceanic plate to subduct under the less dense
oceanic plate at the convergent plate boundary. A
deep oceanic trench is formed at the point of
subduction. The subducting plate melts under high
temperature in the mantle to form magma. Magma
rises through the fractures in the crust and reaches
the earth's surface as lava. With each volcanic
eruption, lava cools, solidifies, layers to form volcanic
island arcs.
➔ Example: Convergence of denser pacific plate and less dense philippine plate gave
rise to Mariana Trench, Mariana Islands (volcanoes).

CONTINENTAL - CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE

As two continental plates converge, they collide and
push against but resist subduction as both plates
are thick and buoyant to subduct. Layers of rocks to
break and slide along fractures in the crust.
Compressional force causes layers of rocks to buckle
and fold, forming fold mountains. The folding
process gives rise to a series of anticline and
syncline. Earthquakes can occur at the convergent
plate boundary.
➔ Example: Convergence of Eurasian plate and Indian plate which gave rise to
Himalayas.

OCEANIC - CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE

Convection current in the mantle causes the
dense oceanic plate to subduct under the less
dense continental plate at the convergent plate
boundary. A deep oceanic trench is formed at the
point of subduction. The subducting plate melts
under high temperature in the mantle to form
magma. Magma rises through the fractures in the
crust and reaches the earth’s surface as lava.
With each volcanic eruption, lava cools, solidifies
and accumulates to form continental volcanic
arcs. Compressional force causes layers of rocks
to buckle and fold, forming fold mountains.
➔ Example: At convergent plate boundary, denser oceanic Nazca plate subduct
beneath the less dense continental South American plate to form peru-chile
trench, Andes fold mountain, and Andean volcanic belt.
● TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARY

OCEANIC - CONTINENTAL TRANSFORM

When two plates slide past one another in
opposite directions along fault lines at the
transform plate boundary, friction and stress build
up on the rocks. When the rocks can no longer
withstand the increasing pressure, they slip,
releasing stored energy in the form of seismic
waves, triggering earthquakes.
➔ Example: Oceanic Pacific plate slides
past North American plate along the San Andreas Fault line.
 VOLCANOES
Definition:
- A volcano is a landform formed by magma ejected from the mantle onto the
earth’s surface.

➔ Volcanoes are usually found at divergent and some convergent plate boundaries
- At divergent boundaries, magma rises through the fractures at the zone of
divergence and accumulates on earth surface and form a volcano
- At convergent boundaries, where subduction occurs, the subducting plate
melts into the mantle under high temperature and pressure to form
magma. Magma rises through the fractures in the subduction zone,
accumulates and forms volcanoes.

Formation of volcanoes
● Pressure builds up within the magma chamber and forces magma onto the earth’s
surface through vents as lava.
● Lava cools, solidifies and builds up around the vent, forming a bowl-shaped
opening crater.
● In the event of volcanic eruption, the summit of
the volcano may collapse to form a large basin
depression, caldera.
● When a volcano erupts, lava and rock fragments
(pyroclastic) are released. With each successive
eruption, the layers of lava and ash will
accumulate to form a volcano
● The upward movement of the magma and gas
both into the earth’s crust and onto the earth’s
surface is known as vulcanicity.
 Stratovolcano Shield volcano

Shape Conical, steep sides, narrow base Dome shape, flat, gentle slope
Size Tall Not tall, broad
Location Found at convergent boundary Found at divergent boundary
Explain High silica lava, high viscosity Low silica lava, low viscosity
formation

Examples Mount Agung, Bali, Indonesia Surtsey Island, Iceland

Mount Ijen, Indonesia Nyamuragira, Dr Congo
Impacts and benefits of living in volcanic areas

● The benefits and risks depends on:

(1) Kind of lava and explosiveness of the eruption
(2) Frequency of eruption
(3) Population density around the volcano

● Benefits
- Fertile soil
- Precious minerals and stones
- Tourism
- Geothermal energy
● Risks
- Massive destruction by volcanic materials
- Pollution

BENEFITS

1. Fertile soil
- Many people stay near the volcanic soil which enables locals to
engage in agriculture, cultivate crops, harvest and sell them as a
livelihood. Volcanic sediments from a long history of eruptions and
breakdown to fertile soil, favourable for agriculture.
- Bali island, Indonesia where Mount Batur and Mount Agung is located.
Volcanic sediments from a long history of eruptions have broken down
to provide fertile soil favourable for rice planting and cattle farming.
Many locals depend on agriculture for livelihood. Bali harvests 5.8 tons
of rice per hectare, which is above the national average of 5 tons per
hectare.

2. Tourism
- Volcanic areas offer many activities for tourists to engage in.
Activities include hiking, hot springs and enjoying scenery. These
activities provide employment opportunities for locals. And when
tourism-related infrastructure is developed, locals get to enjoy these
facilities too.
- Mount Batur in Bali island in Indonesia is a popular tourist
destination and is recognised as UNESCO Global Geopark. Tourists
can visit Batur Geopark Museum to learn more about volcanoes,
engage locals to hike the volcano and enjoy many hot springs.
 3. Precious Minerals
- Volcanic rocks rich in precious stones and minerals, which are
excreted after millions of years.
- Mount Ijen, an active stratovolcano on Java Island, has Indonesia’s
largest sulfur mine. The mine produces 14 tons of sulfur per day.

4. Geothermal energy
- Geothermal energy is a stable source of renewable energy. When the
groundwater comes into contact with the hot rocks beneath the
surface the water heats up and erupts as hot water or steam. The
hot water or steam can then be harnessed to drive turbines and
produce electricity.
- Iceland which sits on the divergent plate boundary between Eurasian
and North American plate is one of the pioneers, taps on the
geothermal energy to generate electricity. Geothermal energy is a
stable source of renewable energy. Geothermal power facilities
currently generate 25% of the country's total electricity production.

RISKS
1. Massive destruction by volcanic materials
- Volcanic debris of ash, lava, volcanic bombs and pyroclastic
flow can lead to widespread of damage to properties and and
loss of lives
- A pyroclastic flow can destroy everything in its path with hot
rock fragments, ranging from ash to boulders, travelling at
speed greater than 200 meters per second.
- Volcanic bombs of heated rocks can fall in areas surrounding
the volcano and damage the properties.
- Low silica lava moves rapidly over long distances, causing
damage to larger areas.
- When lava is mixed with water or rain it can form a violent
mudflow known as lahar, which can flow down quickly and
destroy lives and properties.
- The 1815 Mount Tambora eruption of pyroclastic flows and
volcanic debris killed at least 10,000 islanders and destroyed the
homes of 35,000 more.
- The 2017 Mount Agung eruption released 4000m of ash clouds
into the atmosphere, forcing Bali’s International Airport to
close for 3 days, disrupting flights and leaving more than 50,000
travellers stranded which caused a decline in tourism to bali by
about 30%.
 EARTHQUAKE
Cause:
- When two moving plates along a boundary create friction and get locks,
stress builds up on the rocks along the fault line.
- When rocks can no longer withstand the increasing pressure , they slip
along the fault lines, releasing the stored energy in the form of seismic
waves from the focus causing ground vibration.
Measured:
- Using seismograph
Conditions that influence the earthquake disaster risk

(1) Magnitude
- The more seismic energy released, the higher the earthquake magnitude
on the Richter scale, the more violent the shaking, the higher the disaster
risk as the buildings are likely to collapse and trap people leading to
more injuries and deaths.A series of aftershocks will also be experienced.

(2) Depth of focus and distance from epicenter

- Deep focus earthquakes ( 70-700 km below earth surface), seismic waves
will take longer time to reach the surface and most energy would be lost,
resulting in lower disaster risks and small damages.

- Shallow-focus earthquakes ( >70 km below earth surface), seismic waves

will take a shorter time to reach the surface and less energy would be lost
resulting in greater disaster risk and greater damages. Buildings are
more likely to collapse, trapping people and leading to more injuries and
loss of lives

- The nearer the area is to the epicenter, the less energy lost and absorbed
by rocks, the stronger the seismic waves, causing greater risk and more
violent shaking. Buildings are more likely to collapse, trapping people and
leading to more injuries and loss of lives.

- The further the area is to the epicenter, the more the energy lost and
absorbed by the rocks, the weaker the seismic waves, causing lower
disaster risk and less violent shaking.

(3) Population density

- The higher the population density, the more people and buildings
exposed to earthquake shaking , the greater the disaster risk as more
buildings are likely to collapse, trapping more people and leading to more
injuries and loss of lives.
-
(4) Preparedness level
- The more prepared people are through evacuation drills and action
plans, the lower the disaster risk as people have been trained to act
swiftly.
(5) Time of shaking
- The time of day influences where people are, the activities carried out
and how they respond to when an earthquake strikes. This affects the
extent of the disaster risks.
- In the day, people are awake, more alert and able to evacuate to safety
quickly, and less likely to be trapped in collapsed buildings, resulting in
fewer injuries and deaths.
- At night, people are asleep and unable to evacuate to safety quickly, and
more likely to be trapped, resulting in more injuries and deaths.
-
(6) Soil and rock properties
- Seismic waves travel slower through loose, saturated soil and soft rocks
and are amplified, shaking becomes more violent, soil liquefaction causes
ground to become unstable and flows like liquid, buildings are more
vulnerable to collapse.
-
(7) Quality of building design and construction
- The poorer the quality of building design and construction, the greater
the disaster risks as buildings are less resistant and concrete breaks
easily under violent shaking.
- The stronger the quality of the building design and construction, the
lower the disaster risks as buildings are more resistant and reinforced
concrete is able to withstand violent shaking.
Impacts of earthquake

1. Distribution to services
- Violent vibrations can snap water and gas pipes resulting in water shortages
and cuts to gas supply
- Electricity and communication services such as warning systems and
television broadcasts
- Roads and railways get damaged, distributing transport services, making it
difficult to rescue people or supply emergency aid.
-
2. Destruction of properties and infrastructure
- Widespread destruction to buildings, homes, schools, leaving homeless. They
will need to seek temporary shelter
- Bridges and roads may be damaged, making it difficult to reach disaster-hit
areas, and may delay rescue work
-
3. Landslides
- Violent shaking can trigger loose rocks and soil to move downslope, resulting
in landslides.
-
4. Tsunami
- Plate movement in the sea causes seabed to slip or be displaced along fault
lines, releasing seismic energy.
- A large volume of water is lifted, forming waves of great waveleng\th and low
height of less than 1 meter.
- Waves travel toward the land at high speeds. On approaching shallower
waters, greater friction with shallow seabed slows the waves down , allowing
oncoming waves to get closer, pile up increasing in height, reaching a few
meters high.
- The tsunami crushes onto shoreline, with great impacts, sweeping properties
and lives inland.