Earthquake –Resistant

Structures

Plate Tectonics

Dr. Anis Shatnawi

Dept. of Civil Engineering
Lecture # 2

Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes

 “Rigid” Plates and Plate Boundaries.

 Major Plates of the World.

 “Intra-plate Tectonics” From

deepest through to the highest
mountains.
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 Continental Drift
Theory that continents and plates move
on the surface of the Earth proposed by
Alfred Wegener in 1915.

Alfred Wegener
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Maps by Wegener (1915), showing
continental drift:

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Global Plate Tectonics

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Evidence for continental drift

• Matching
Coastlines.

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Evidence for continental drift

• Matching
mountain
ranges.

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 Evidence for continental drift

• Matching
rock types
and ages
of rocks

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Evidence for continental drift

• Matching glacier
deposits 300
million years ago
(‫)األنھر الجليدية‬

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 Evidence for continental drift
• Fossils and
Remnants
( ‫األحافير والبقايا‬
‫ )األثرية‬of
Mesosaurus
(aquatic
reptile)
( ‫الزواحف‬
‫ )المائية‬found
on both
sides of
Atlantic
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Evidence for continental drift

Matching coastlines.

Matching mountains.

Matching rock types and rock ages.

Matching glacier ((‫ ) )األنھر الجليدية‬deposits.

Matching fossils (‫)األحافير األثرية‬.

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6 continental size
14 sub-continental size 37

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Theory of Plate tectonics

The theory of Plate tectonics was proposed in
1960s based on the theory of continental drift.
This is the Unifying theory that explains the
formation and deformation of the Earth’s
surface.
According to this theory, continents are carried
along on huge slabs (plates) on the Earth’s
outermost layer (Lithosphere).
Earth’s outermost layer is divided into 12
major Tectonic Plates (~80 km deep).
These plates move relative to each other a
few centimeters per year.

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Tectonic Plates Movements
Due to the temperature currents within the
Lithosphere, all portions of the crust are in
continuous movement. This movement may be as
high as 100-120 mm in a year.
Also, seismologists concluded that the continent
which exist today were one “giant” continent
called “ PANANGEA” before 200 million years.
Then before 150 million years this giant continent
became two huge continents called “Laurasia”
and “Gondwana land”
The current movement within the crust will
continue in the future generating a new
continents and canceling existing ones.!!!
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Brief History of Plate Tectonics

Idea of Continental Drift began to form in
1830’s when the shapes of the continents
across the Atlantic were known.

Alfred Wegener was the first one to

systematically expound the idea.

Lack of reliable data prevented the

acceptance of the such model until its revival
in early 1960’s.
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 Early days of Plate Tectonics
Sea-floor spreading (Vine and Mathews,
1963).
 An interpretation of magnetic stripes.

Theories concerning spreading center.

‫تخمين‬
Conjectures and proof with focal.

mechanisms regarding fracture zones

and transform faults (T. Wilson, 1965;
Sykes, 1967).
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Global Distribution of Earthquakes

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Tectonic plates of Earth

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14 sub-continental size

12 major Tectonic Plates 48

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 Tension Compression

Shear
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Types of Tectonic Plate Boundaries

Divergent (Tension) Boundary: where
plates move apart – mid-ocean rifts, rift
valleys.
Convergent (Compression) Boundary:
where plates come together – island arcs,
collision mountain belts.
Transform (Shear) Boundary: where
plates slide past each other – a fault
linking convergent or divergent
boundaries.
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Types of plate boundaries

Divergent
(Tension)

Convergent
(Compression)

Transform
(shearing)
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Types of plate boundaries

Spreading Ridge Boundary

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 Divergent Plate Boundaries
 Plates move away
from each other
(tension).
 New lithosphere is
formed.
 normal faults.
 Causes volcanism.
 not very explosive.
 Mid-Ocean ridge systems: Mid-Atlantic, SE Pacific,
Circum-Antarctica, Indian Ocean
 East Africa Rift 61

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Spreading Ridge

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Convergent Plate Boundary

Plates move toward each other

(compression)
Lithosphere is consumed
reverse/thrust faults and folds.
Mountain building.
explosive volcanism.

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Convergent Plate Boundary

Subduction Zone

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Ocean- Continent Convergent
Margin
 Ocean-continent
plates collide.
 Ocean plate
subducts below
continent.
 Forms a subduction
zone.
 Earthquakes and
volcanoes.

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Ocean-Ocean Convergent
Margin
 2 oceanic plates collide.
 One plate dives
(subducts) beneath other.
Heavier (older) plate
subduction.
 Forms subduction zone.
 Earthquakes and
volcanoes.

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 Ocean-ocean convergent margin

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Continent-Continent Convergent
Margin: (Collision Zones)

 2 continental
plates collide.
 Neither plate
wants to subduct.
 Collision zone example: Himalayas
forms high
mountains.
 Earthquakes, no
volcanoes.
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 Continent-continent convergent
margin

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Himalayas: Continents collide

Millions of years ago India and an ancient
ocean called the Tethys Ocean were sat on a
tectonic plate. This plate was moving
northwards towards Asia at a rate of 10
centimeters per year. The Tethys oceanic crust
was being subducted under the Asian
Continent. The ocean got progressively smaller
until about 55 milion years ago when India 'hit'
Asia. Because both these continental
landmasses have about the same rock density,
one plate could not be subducted under the
other. The pressure of the impinging plates
could only be relieved by thrusting skyward,
contorting the collision zone, and forming the
jagged Himalayan peaks

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 Continent-continent convergent
margin

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Convergent Boundaries
Wadati-Benioff zone. [(also
Benioff–Wadati zone or Benioff zone or Benioff
seismic zone) is a deep active seismic area in a
subduction zone. Differential motion along the zone
produces deep-seated earthquakes, the foci of which
may be as deep as about 670 kilometres (420 mi). The
term was named for the two seismologists, Hugo
Benioff of the California Institute of Technology, and
Kiyoo Wadati of the Japan Meteorological Agency who
independently discovered the zones.]. The Benioff
zone earthquakes develop beneath volcanic island arcs
and continental margins above active subduction
zones.

Subduction zone. Diagram of Wadati-

Benioff zone, from the
Focal Mechanisms of earthquakes in
United States Geological
W/B-subduction zones. Survey
Convergence and collision of plates.
Collision and mountain building. 78

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‫حمم‬

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Transform Plate Margin

 Two plates slide past
each other.
 strike slip faults.

 Lithosphere is
neither consumed
nor destroyed.
 Earthquakes, no
volcanoes.
 Responsible for most
of the earthquakes.
 Transform Fault is one that connects two segments of any
combination of convergent and divergent boundaries.
 They are commonly referred to fracture zones, especially
before its role in plate tectonics was fully understood.
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Transform Boundary

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Transform Boundary

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Rates of Plate Motions
The relative plate motion rates vary from
about 2 cm up to 10 to 12 cm/yr.

Average rate: about 5 cm/yr or as fast as

your finger nail growth.

San Andreas – average rate (4 to 6 cm/year).

Pacific Plate near Japan – avg rate 10 cm/year

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Relative vs. Absolute Motions

So far what we have talked about are

the relative motion of plates.

Absolute motion is harder to determine.

Hot spot and absolute motion.

GPS to determine absolute motion.

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Driving Mechanism of Plate Tectonics
What drives plate movement?
Excess heat in the interior of the Earth that
needs to get out.
 Ultimately: heat transported from core and mantle
to surface.

Conduction and Convection. Convection

can drive plates.
 Heat transported by convection.
 Core is ~5,000°C to 6,000°C and surface is ~0°C.
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Driving Mechanism of Plate Tectonics

What drives plate movement?
Where mantle rises: rifting.

Where mantle dives: subduction zones.

Also the ridge topography can assist in

the drive.

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Mechanism of Plate Tectonics

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Summary: Results of
Tectonic Plate Movements
Spreading Centers: Portion of the melted rocks
are injected from the lithosphere generating a
new crust.
Usually the spreading centers located within the
oceans and the famous example on spreading
centers are the spreading zone at the “middle
Atlantic Ocean”.

Faults: to be discussed in details !

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 Summary: Results of Tectonic
Plate Movements
 Collision Zones: due to the movement “drifting” of
continents, various plates may collide with each other or
pass by each other. The collision may be divided into two
types:
(a) Subduction zone: the ocean crust with the heavier
density collides with the continental crust with lighter
density. The ocean crust dives beneath the
continental crust. e.g. is Indias mountains ranges
and Western coast of south America.
(b) Collision zones: when two crusts with the same
density collide with each other, then new mountain
ranges are formulated with no subduction zone. e.g.:
Zagaross and Taurus mountain ranges.(the two
plates are not traveling in exactly the opposite
direction.
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