Geology2020

Chapter 4

The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Nov.26th, 2020.
 Geology2020

Locations on Earth where tectonic plates meet.

Identified by concentrations of earthquakes.
Associated with many other dynamic phenomena.

Fig.4.4@P.94
 Geology2020

The Mosaic of Earth’s Plates

The plate tectonics theory explaining the movement across the Earth's surface
of the rigid plates that make up the Earth's lithosphere.

Fig.4.4@P.94
 Geology2020

The Slow Dance of Our Planet's Plate

The puzzle pieces of Earth's lithosphere are always in motion, slamming against each other
and grinding past one another

Divergent

Convergent

Overriding plate
Subduction

Transform

Tectonic map of the Earth. (USGS)

4
 Geology2020

Plate motion and boundaries

Divergent Convergent Transform

Fig.4.5@P.95 Overriding plate

Subduction
 Geology2020

Divergent Boundaries
(a) Oceanic plate separation

rifting, volcanoes, and earthquakes

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

a n
m eric Eu r
th A asia
Nor te Pla n
Pla te
 Geology2020

Divergent boundary : Mid ocean ridge

https://www.accessscience.com/content/mid-oceanic-ridge/424750

Paired lines on either side of the axis show the amount of crust generated
in the last 10 million years at the current opening rates.

7
 Geology2020

Divergent boundary : Mid ocean ridge

As the plates move apart from the axis of the mid-oceanic ridge
Fig.4.7@P.97
system, the new volcanic material welling up into the void forms
a ribbon of new material, which gradually splits down its center
as the boundary of plate separation continues to develop
 Geology2020

Divergent boundary : Mid ocean ridge

As new material divides and moves away from the ridge axis, it cools, contracts, becomes denser, and subsides.
Subsidence is fastest for newly generated oceanic crust and gradually decreases exponentially with time.

Fig.4.6@P.96
 Geology2020

中洋脊 中央為突起的頂峰區
中央斷裂谷常有類似地塹的構
造，乃因岩石圈受到張裂作用
拉張變薄，產生正斷層。拉張
減壓也使岩石熔點下降，部分
物質熔融為岩漿。
枕狀⽞武岩
 Geology2020

Divergent boundary : Mid ocean ridge

Homework Bonus
How does oceanic crust form at a Mid-Ocean Ridge? Reading the paragraphs @P.96-P.97

枕狀⽞武岩 Black smoker plume at a hydrothermal vent. Black smoker vents are
Fig.4.8@P.98 distinguished by the presence of such large quantities of minute mineral
particles that the plumes become virtually opaque. The minerals solidify
as they cool, forming chimney-like structures. (Credit: NOAA)
 Geology2020

Divergent Boundaries
(b) Continental plate separation

rift valleys, volcanoes, and earthquakes

East African Rift Valley

Soma
a te li Sub
an Pl plate
A f r ic

Fig.4.18@P.108
 Geology2020

Convergent boundary and subduction

Because the Earth is neither expanding nor contracting, the increase in lithosphere
created along divergent boundaries must be compensated for by the destruction of
lithosphere elsewhere. The rates of global lithosphere construction and destruction must
be equal, or the radius of the Earth would change.

Fig.4.12@P.101
 Geology2020

Convergent Boundaries
(a) Ocean-ocean convergence
oceanic trench, volcanic island arc, and deep earthquakes

Mariana Islands Marianas Trench

n e Pacif
ip pi ic Plate
Ph il
t e
Pla
 Geology2020

Convergent Boundaries
(b) Ocean-continent convergence

volcanic mountain chain, folded mountains,

and deep earthquakes

Andes Mountains

Peru-Chile Trench

South
a Pla te
Nazc American
Plate
 Geology2020

Convergent boundary and subduction

Convergent (destructive) plate margins

The downgoing slab is usually oceanic because the relatively buoyant continental lithosphere cannot be
subducted beneath the relatively denser oceanic lithosphere

https://www.accessscience.com/content/plate-tectonics/527000

Cross section through a typical convergent margin. The relatively

dense oceanic lithosphere sinks beneath the relatively light
continental lithosphere and forms the descending limb of a
convection cell in the Earth's mantle. Fig.4.11@P.100
 Geology2020

subduction zones

Z-Teaser_PeruChile_EQdepth

https://www.accessscience.com/content/757381

Numbers at arrows indicate velocity of plate movement in kilometers

(miles) per million years

17
 Geology2020

Wadati-Benioff zone
During subduction, stress and phase changes in the
cold descending plate produce earthquakes in the
upper portion of the plate, in a narrow band called
the Wadati-Benioff zone (named after the Japanese
and U.S. seismologists who first recognized this
feature) that can extend as deep as 670 km

Oceanic slabs are relatively cold with respect to the surrounding mantle
in deeper subduction zone environments, faults within the core of these
Fig.4.11@P.100
slab remain brittle and can generate earthquakes.
 Geology2020

Geological features of a Convergent boundary

Successive belts of shallow (less than 40 mi or 70 km), intermediate

(40–200 mi or 70–300 km), and deep-focus (200–400 mi or 300–700
km) earthquakes are associated with subduction zones. Subduction
zones are also associated with active volcanism and the development
of deep-ocean trenches.

Fig.4.12@P.101

Accretionary prisms are bounded by trenches on one side and fore-arc

basins on the other. They are typically dismembered: accretion does not
proceed smoothly because the top of the descending plate is subject to
block faulting related to the bending of the plate. The accreted material is
dewatered, deformed, and metamorphosed as the accretionary prism grows.
Fig.4.12@P.101

19
 Geology2020

如何分辨板塊隱沒的方向?

by Alan R. A. Aitken
 Geology2020

Convergent Boundaries
(c) Continent-continent convergence

crustal thickening,
folded mountains,
Himalaya Mountains
and earthquakes
A_007_SubductionW-ContCollision_UCSB

Tibetan Plateau

tr a lia n Pla te subduction

an -A u s
Indi
Eurasian
Plate
 Geology2020

The Collision of India with Asia

The collision of India with Asia has uplifted the

Himalayas and Tibet. Portions of China and the
southeast Asia have slipped to the east to “”
escape’ the collision.

@P.416-417
22
 Geology2020

Transform Boundaries
(a) Mid-ocean ridge transform fault
Transform boundaries occur where the relative motion between the two
plates is parallel to the boundary that separates the plates

lateral (transform) faults and earthquakes

Euras
ian Pl
ate

n Pla te
m e r ic a
Nor th A
 Geology2020

Transform Boundaries
(b) Continental transform fault

lateral (transform) fault and earthquakes

Pla te North
Pa c if ic A meri
can Pl
ate
 Geology2020

破裂帶

橘紅色線段標示出海底的破裂帶
 Geology2020

破裂帶 橫切中洋脊

Fig.4.13@P.102
 Geology2020

Fracture Zone vs. Transform fault

地震活動頻繁的
轉形斷層

B~E 標示破裂帶，可長達數千公里。
C~D標示轉形斷層，前後兩側地殼相對 破裂帶上少
錯開，經常引發地震活動。 有地震發生
的區域
破裂帶

中央斷裂谷
(擴張軸)
 Geology2020

平移斷層 vs. 轉形斷層

P
E O F
C
D

地震僅在轉形斷層帶C、D之間發生，
平移斷層沿著EF帶上任一點都可能發生 C、D兩位置相對不改變。
地震，斷層帶上兩點(O、P)相對遠離。 中洋脊新形成岩石比斷層發生的時間年輕
平移斷層發生的時間比岩層形成時間晚
 Geology2020

Plate Boundaries
 Geology2020

What is a cross section of a lithosphere plate?

Mantle

Fig.4.4@P.94

Fig.4.3@P.93
 Geology2020

Lithosphere :
The rigid or mechanically strong outer layer of the Earth that can
support stress

Fig.4.2@P.92
 Geology2020

Low Velocity Zone Asthenosphere

https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/Chap2-What-is-a-Plate/Mechanical-properties-lithosphere-and-asthenosphere

https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop425/0033_SCORM_MFFTT600120-EN/sco_06_01.scorm
 Geology2020

關鍵的發現：低速帶

速度差這麼一點點，值得大驚小怪嗎？
 Geology2020

如果，這是你的身高紀錄

變矮了 你
身 說
高 奇
︵ 怪
呎 不
︶ 奇
怪
？

年紀 （月）
 Geology2020

關鍵的發現：低速帶 軟流圈

注意:
低
S波並未消 速
失, 軟流圈 帶
並非岩漿 軟流圈
般流動的
液態物質
 Geology2020

大陸地區
海洋地區
Moho

岩石圈 低
速
帶
軟流圈
 Geology2020

大陸地區
海洋地區
莫
地殼 合
面
岩石圈 低
速
帶
軟流圈
上
部
地
函
 Geology2020

Plate

Mantle

岩石圈: 板塊:
有如一體成 有如茶葉蛋
形白煮蛋的 碎裂的蛋殼
蛋殼
Fig.4.3@P.93
 Geology2020

39
Geology2020
 Geology2020

What is thickness variation and relation to the crust

and the asthenosphere in different plates?
 Geology2020

Hot Spot Volcanoes

Fig.4.17@P.106
 Geology2020

Hot Spot Volcanoes

Fig.4.16@P.105
 Geology2020

Are Hotspots stationary?

Ages in million years (Ma)

Hot spot at upper mantle fixed ?

 Geology2020

Guyots: flat tops of seamounts

Harry Hess

Ronald Martin (2018) Earth evolving system (P.32-34)

 Geology2020

How do plate boundaries form and die?

Continental rifting

Fig.4.18@P.108

Ronald Martin (2018) Earth evolving system (P.51)

46
 Geology2020

How do plate boundaries form and die?

Collision

Fig.4.19@P.109

47
 Geology2020

Driving force of the plate movements

Fig.4.20@P.112

Ridge push hypothesis Slab pull hypothesis

Mantle plumes move upward Depending slab suction

 Geology2020

Driving forces of the plate movements

GIF_PlateDriver_LithosphereThickness GIF_PlateDriver_PushPull
Fig.4.20@P.112

Ridge push hypothesis Slab pull hypothesis

Mantle plumes move upward Depending slab suction

 Geology2020

The map of Earth surface slowly changes during past.

A_002_NOAA_plate_movement
Fig.4.23@P.115
 Geology2020

Key Concepts
1. Earth's lithosphere is divided into seven major plates, and several minor ones. Plate moves
relative to one another, the motion of one plate takes place by slip along plate boundary.

2. Along convergent zones, the subducted plate submerges beneath the upper plate, creating
a sloped erosion-prone region with an accompanying trench. Meanwhile, an additional
sloping accretionary wedge forms from scraped crustal material buildup.

3. Transform plate boundaries allow for lateral ground movements that do not produce
volcanic activity.

4. Plate tectonics have led to continental rearrangements throughout geological history,

resulting in the past existence of massive continents, sea-level changes, and resultant
evolutionary development of organisms.

51
 Geology2020

板塊學說還在
發展中

GPS 觀測結果