PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

o Proposed by alfred wegener

o Presented in 1912 and published in 1915
Earth’s surface is made of rigib slabs of rocks, or plates.
Lithosphere – solid part of the mantle
Asthenosphere – melted portion of the mantle
Tectonic plates – large pieces of landmass from the outer shell of lithosphere

EARTH’S TECTONIC PLATES

Both oceanic and continental crust – Indian plate
 Indo-australian plate, North American plate, Eurasian plate
Fully submerged plates
 Juan de Fuca plate, Carribean plate, Cocos plate, Antartic plate, Pacific plate,
Nazca plate
Continental or landmass – Scotia plate
 Philippine plate, South American plate, Arabian plate, African plate
PLATE BOUNDARIES
As plates move relative to each other, they form different types of boundaries. The type
of boundary depends on the relative motions of the plates.
Divergent – move away from each other. The boundary between the North American and
Eurasian plate is an example.
Convergent – move toward each other.
Transform – two plate slides past each other. The boundary between North American and
Pacific plate is an example.

WHY DO PLATE TECTONICS MOVE?

= When a fluid is heated, its molecules spread out. It has less matter in the same amount
of volume. So, it becomes denser. However, fluids do not heat evenly. Some parts of a
fluid can be warmer and less dense, while some are cooler and more dense.
 Warmer = LESS DENSE = fluid rises
 Cooler = DENSER = fluid sinks
Density is the amount of matter per unit of volume
CONVECTION AND SUBDUCTION
Convection – the circulation within the fluids caused by differences in density and
thermal energy.
Subduction – when two plates collide, one can subduct or sink into the hotter , less-dense
mantle
EARTQUAKES AND VOLCANOES
Earthquake – are the vibrations caused by the rupture and sudden movement of rocks
along a break or crack in Earth’s crust.
Volcanoes – are vents in Earth’s crust through which molten rock flow.
Fault – is a crack or a fructure in Earth’s crust along which mocement occurs.
Magma – molten rocks stored beneath Earth’s surface
Lava – is magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface
FOUR LAYERS OF EARTH
Core – made up of the metals: nickel and iron
o Inner core – solid state (1,300 km)
o Outer core – liquid state (2,250 km)
Mantle – made up of moltern rocks (2,980 km)
Crust – made up of plates where continents and oceans rest (8-40 km)
CONVETION CURRENT
= An interesting phenomenon that occurs in the mantle which affects the crust or the
surface of the earth.
SEISMIC WAVES
= Describe and relate the distribution of active volcanoes, earthquake epicenters, and
major mountain belts to plate tectonic theory.
Surface waves – waves which travel throught the Earth’s surface
o Love wave
– creates particle or particle motion that ascillates transverse or across the
direction of wave propagation.
– Named after Augustus Edward Hough Love in 1911.
– Moves side-to-side horizontal motion making the ground twist.
o Rayleigh wave
– longitudinal and transverse.
– Named after John William Strutt Lord Rayleigh in 1885.
– It rolls the ground like an ocean wave.
Body waves – travels through the Earth’s interior. Fastest type of seismic waves
o P-wave (primary or pressure waves)
o Longitudinal wave which can travel thru solid and liquids.
o Moves faster the S-waves
o Travels faster via solid
o S-waves (shear waves)
o Propagate perpemdicular to the direction of oscillation.
o Travels 4 km per second.
o Do not propagate through liquids
VOLCANIC HOTSPOT
= A volcanic hotspot is an area in the upper mantle from which heat rises in plume from
deep in the Earth.
VOLCANOES OCCUR AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
1. Divergent Margins – magma rises and erupts
2. Convergent Margins – This is where an oceanic plate dives beneath another plate
and magma forms in the continental plate above the diving oceanic plate.
3. Hotspot – magma melts through a plate\

THREE TYPES OF CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY

1. Oceanic - Continental
– converge of plates carrying oceanic crust – the relatively thin part of the earth’s
crust that underlies the ocean basins and with a plate carrying the continental crust.
The geologic formations and activities that occur in an oceanic-continental convergent
plate boundary are the following:
-Oceanic trench - Volcanoes - Earthquakes
2. Oceanic – Oceanic
- The oceanic convergence is a converege between two plates carrying oceanic
crust
The geologic formations and activities that occur in an oceanic-oceanic convergent plate
boundary are the following:
-Volcano - Earthquake - Tsunami
3. Continental – Continental
- The continental convergence occurs when two plates carrying continental crust
collide.
- As they push against each other, mountain ranges form and may cause
earthquake.
 Volcanoes, however, are not formed in this kind of convergence because
not magma does not rise in a continental-continental plate boundary.
The geologic features that may occur in a continental-continental convergent plate
boundary are the following:
o Mountain ranges - Earthquakes
CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY
1. Oceanic trench – is a long, narrow, and deep depression in the ocean that is formed
due to the process of SUBDUCTION.
2. Volcano and Volcanic Arcs – Volcanoes are formed as hot magma rises due to the
melting of crust that has undergone the process of subduction.
3. Mountains – is formed as two continental crusts are pushed against each other and
collided.
DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY- are locations where plates are moving away from
one another.
When divergent boundaries occur, mid-ocean ridges are formed
RIFT VALLEY
Another process that may occur along a divergent boundary:
When a divergent boundary occurs on thick continental plates, rift valleys are formed. As
shown in the illustration, a rift valley is a valley or depression in the land bordered by
fault zones and separating tectonic plates.
Example: East-African Rift Valley, the largest seismically active rift system on Earth.
Ocean basin – is a bowl-shaped depression in the Earth. In hydrology, an oceanic basin is
anywhere on Earth that is covered by seawater.
TRANSFORM FAULT
= is where the plates slide past one another horizontally in opposite directions but at
different rate. At this boundary, no new lithosphere is created nor destroyed.
REMEMBER: Volcanic activities do not occur along a transform fault boundary
o Geologic features formed along transform fault
MANTLE CONVECTION

PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

= The pacific ring of fire shows the plate tectonics boundaries shaped like a horse shoe.

It is home to over 450 volcanoes. These include three of the world’s four
most active volcanoes – 1 Mount Helens, USA, 2 Mount fuji, Japan, 3 Mt.
Pinatubo, PH.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

o It was in 1912 where Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist and geophysicist,
changed the world’s perspective of the earth.
o He names this large landmass “PANGAEA”, a Greek word that means “ALL
EARTH”. This is known as the continental drift theory.
EVIDENCE OF HIS THEORY
1. Geographic Evidence
2. Fossils
 Mesosaurus – freshwater reptile found both in Brazil and South Africa.
 Lystrosaurus – found in rocks that existed of the same age from locations in
South America, Africa, and Antartica
 Glossopteris – a woody, seed-bearing shrub or tree.
3. Rock formations
4. Coal deposits
SEAFLOOR SPREAD THEORY
= Proposed by Harry Hess. He was able to prove this theory through the use of sonar. He
utilized this to map and establish oceanic discovery.