PLATETECTONI

C cal
ledPangaea(
Greekt
ermf
or“
Allt
heEar
th”
)240mi
l
li
onyear
s
ago.
2TypesofLayer
s
Det
achi
ngofPangaea:
1
. Composi
ti
onal
orChemi
cal
Layer
 Per
mian–240mi
l
li
onyear
sago
 Cr
ust
,Mant
leandCor
e
 Tri
assi
c(Laur
asi
aandGondwanal
and)–200mi
l
li
onyear
s
2. Mechani
cal
Layer
ago
 Li
thospher
e,Asthenosphere,Mesospher
e,
 Jur
assi
c–1
50mi
l
li
onyear
sago
OuterCoreandI
nnerCor e.
 Cr
etaceous–65mi
l
li
onyear
sago
Pl
atetect
onicsi sa scient
if
ictheorythatexplai
nshow
majorl andfor
msar ecr eatedasar esultofEar
th’
ssubterr
anean  Pr
esent
movement s. The t heory, which solidi
fi
ed in the 1 960s,
t
ransfor medtheearthsci encesbyexplaini
ngmanyphenomena,
i
ncludingmount ai
nbui l
ding,vol
canoes,andeart
hquakes.
Evi
dencest
hatsuppor
tst
hisTheor
y:
Inplatet ectonics,Ear t
h’soutermostlayer,orli
thospher e-
. Fos
1 si
l
soft
he anci
entr
ept
il
e mesosaur
usar
e onl
y
madeupoft hecr ustanduppermant l
e-i
sbr okenint
olarger ocky
plates.Thesepl ateslieont opofapar t
ial
l
ymol tenlayerofr ock found in sout
hern Af r
ica and South Amer i
ca.
call
ed ast henospher e. Due t o t he convect i
on of t he Mesosaurus,afr
eshwaterrepti
leonl
yonemet er(3.3
asthenospher eandl i
thospher e,theplatesmover el
ati
vet oeach feet
)long,coul
dnothaveswum t heAtl
anti
cOcean.
otheratdi fferentrates,f r
om t wot o1 5cent imeter
s( onetosi x The presence ofmesosaur us suggest
s a single
i
nches)peryear .Thisinteracti
onoft ectoni
cpl at
esisresponsi ble
habit
atwit
hmanyl akesandrivers
.
formanydi ff
erentgeol ogicalf or
mat i
onssuchast heHi malaya
mount ainrangei nAsi a,theEastAf ri
canRi f
t,andtheSanAndr eas
FaultinCalif
or ni
a,UnitesSt ates.
2. Thesepl
ant
swer
enott
hehar
dyspeci
mensadapt
ed
t
osurviveint heArcti
ccli
mate.Thesefossi
l
swer eof
CONTI
NENTALDRI
FT t
ropi
cal pl
ants,whichareadaptedtoamuchwar mer ,
more humi d envi
ronment.The presence ofthese
Thetheoryofcont i
nent
aldr
ifti
smostassoci at
edwi t
ht he
Germansci enti
stAl
fr
edWegener( 1880–1 930).Intheear y20th
l f
ossi
lssuggest sSval
bardoncehadat ropi
calcl
i
mat e.
cent
ury,Wegenerpubl ishedapaperexplai
ninghistheorythatthe
conti
nental landmasses wer e “drif
ti
ng” across t he Ear th,
sometimespl owi
ngthroughoceansintoeachother.Hecal l
edthi s 3. Fi
nal
l
y,Wegenerst
udi
edt
hest
rat
igr
aphyofdi
ff
erent
movementcont i
nent
aldr i
ft.Wegenerwasconvi ncedt hatallof r
ocksandmount
ainr
anges
.TheeastcoastofSout
h
Eart
h’scontinentswereoncepar tofanenor mous ,singl
emass
 Amer icaand t he westcoastofAf ricaseem t of i
t system.Activi
ti
esintheoceanf l
oorisrelat
edt othepr oblem of
togetherli
kepiecesofaj igsawpuzzl e,andWegener theCont i
nentalDri
ftTheor
y.Hessthenbegunt othinkaboutt he
oceanf l
oorinrel
ati
ontotheprobl
em ofthecontinent
al dr
if
ttheory.
discoveredtheirrocklayers“f
it”j
ustascl ear
ly.South
Thatl eads him tot he i
dea ofseafloorspr eadi
ng.Seaf l
oor
Amer icaandAf ri
cawer enott heonlycont i
nentswith spreadingisageol ogicpr
ocessinwhichl i
thosphericspli
tapar t
simil
ar geol ogy. Wegener di scovered t hat the from each other.Seafl
oorspreadi
ng occursatdi vergentplate
AppalachianMount ai
nsoft heeasternUni t
edSt at
es, boundar i
es.
for instance, wer e geologicall
y r el
ated t o the
Accor
dingt
otheSeaf
loorSpr
eadi
ngTheor
y:
CaledonianMount ai
nsofScot l
and.
 Hot,less dense materi
albelow t
he ear
th’
s
cr
ustr
isest
owardst hemid-oceanri
dge.
Tectoni
c Activit
ySci enti
stsdi d notacceptWegener ’
s
 Thi
s mat
eri
alflows si
deways car
ryi
ng the
theor
yofcont i
nent aldr
if
t.Oneoft heelement slacki
nginthe
seaf
loorawayfr
om theri
dge,andcreat
esacrackin
theor
ywast hemechani sm f orhow itwor ks—whydi dthe
thecrust
.
conti
nentsdrif
tandwhatpat ternsdidt heyf ol
l
ow?Wegener
suggestedthatper hapsther otat
ionoft heEar thcausedthe  Themagmaflowsoutthecr
ack,cool
sdown
conti
nentst oshifttowardsandapar tfrom eachot her
.(I
t andbecomest
hesnewseaf
loor.
doesn't
.)Despitebeingdi smissedatf i
rst,thetheorygained
 Over
ti
me,thenew oceani
ccrustpushedthe
steam int he 1950s and 1 960s as new dat a began to
ol
doceani
ccrustf
arf
rom t
heri
dgeandsubducted.
supportt he idea of cont i
nental drift
. The " Seafl
oor
Spreadi
ng” . Seafl
oorspreadi
ngcreatesnew crustwhi
leSubducti
on
destr
oysoldcrust
.Thetwoforcesroughl
ybalanceeach
other
,sot heshapeanddi ameteroftheEar t
hremain
SEAFLOORSPREADI
NG constant
.

Manypeopl einthepastbel i
evedthattheoceanf l
oor
i
sf l
atlikethedeser t
.Buti n1 930s,wher esoundinggear PLATEBOUNDARI
ES
cal
ledsonarwasdevel opedwhi chleadstothediscoveryof
thestandingfeatur
eoft heoceanf loor.Sonarishelpf
ulfor I
nsomeways ,Eart
hr esemblesagiantji
gsawpuzzle.
explor
ing and mapping t heoceanwi ththeuseofsound Thatisbecauseitsout ersurfaceiscomposedofabout20
waves.Oneoft hesci
entisttousesonartostudyoceanf l
oor tect
onic pl
ates,enor mous sections ofEarth’
s crustthat
duri
ngWor l
dWarIIwasHarr
yHammondHess( 1906–1 969),a roughl
yf ittogether and meet at pl aces call
ed plate
prof
essorofgeol
ogyatPri
ncetonUni
ver
sit
y(USA).Har r
yHess boundari
es.Plateboundar iesar eimportantbecausethey
andhisteam car
eful
l
yexaminedmapsoft hemid-oceanridge
are oft
en associated with earthquakes and volcanoes.
When Ear t
h’st
ectoni
c plates grind pastone anot her, greatdept
hs,theycanbehar dtostudy.I
nfact
,scienti
sts
enormousamount sofenergycanber eleasedinthefor
m of know moreaboutthesurf
acesofsomeoftheotherplanets
eart
hquakes.Volcanoesar e al
so often found nearplat
e i
noursolarsyst
em thant
heydoaboutoceanri
dges.
boundari
es because mol t
en r ock f r
om deep wi thi
n
Eart
h—cal l
ed magma—can t ravel upwar d at t hese
i
ntersect
ionsbet
weenplates. 3.Transf
orm Pl eBoundar
at y-A transf
orm plat
eboundar y
occurswhent wopl at
essli
depasteachother
,horizont
all
y.A
well
-knownt ransform pl
ateboundaryistheSanAndr eas
Faul
t, which i s responsi
ble f
or many of Cal i
for
nia’
s
TypesofPl
ateBoundar
ies:
eart
hquakes.
1
.Conver
gentPl
ateBoundar
y-Typi
cal
l
y,aconver
gentpl
ate
boundar y—suchast heonebet weent heIndianPl at
eand
the Eurasian Pl
ate—formst ower i
ng mount ainranges,l ike
the Himalaya,as Ear th’s crustis crumpl ed and pushed
Pr
epar
edbyGr
oup5–Bor
eal
i
s
upwar d.I n some cases,however ,a conver gentpl ate
boundar ycanr esul
tinonet ectonicplatedivingunder neat h
another.Thisprocess,called“subduct i
on,”involvesanol der,
densert ectonic pl
ate being forced deep i ntot he planet
underneathayounger ,less-denset ectonicplate.Whent his
processoccur sint heocean,ant rench" >oceant r
enchcan
form.Thes etrenchesar esomeoft hedeepestpl acesint he
ocean,andt heyar eoftent hesit
esofst rongear thquakes.

2.DivergentPlate Boundar
y - A diver gentplate boundar y
oft
enf ormsamount ainchai
nknownasar i
dge.Thi sfeature
for
ms as magma escapes i nt
ot he space bet ween t he
spreadingtectonicplat
es.Oneexampl eofar idgeist heMi d
-Atl
antic Ridge,an under sea chai n of mount ains that
for
med ast wo pai r
soft ectonicplatesspr ead apar t
:t he
NorthAmer i
canPl ateandt heEur asianPlatei nthenor th,
andt heSout hAmer i
canPlateandt heAf r
icanPl ateint he
south.Becauseoceanr i
dgesar efoundunder wat er,oft
enat