Earths’ Driving Forces

MR. KARL PATRICK D. TAGUBERI

Instructor I
 The Seafloor
Spreading
Hypothesis
• Hypothesis that segments of oceanic crust are
separating at the Mid-Oceanic Ridge.
• Mid-Oceanic Ridge system: The undersea
mountain chain that forms at the boundary
between divergent tectonic plates within oceanic
crust. It circles the planet like the seam on a
baseball, forming Earth’s longest mountain chain.
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge: The portion of the Mid-
Oceanic Ridge system that lies in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean, halfway between North America
and South America to the west, and Europe and
Africa to the east.
 PLATE
TECTONICS
 PLATE
TECTONICS
The theory that Earth’s outer shell
is divided into “plates” of rock
that glide over the mantle.
MECHANISMS OF
PLATE TECTONICS
 MANTLE
CONVECTION
Heat from the mantle raises
material to the surface while
sinking cold materials below
 SLAB PULL
The older rocks at the edges of the
plate (slab) are subducted to the
bottom along the edge of the
continental plate.
RIDGE
PUSH
Gravitational push on the
elevated ridge caused at the
divergent boundaries
 Convergent Boundary

A plate boundary where two tectonic

plates move toward each other and
collide.
Subduction: The process in which two
lithospheric plates of different densities
converge and the denser one sinks into
the mantle beneath the other.
Subduction Zone: A long, narrow region
at a convergent boundary where a
lithospheric plate is sinking into the
mantle during subduction; also referred
to as subduction boundary
Divergent
Boundary
A plate boundary where
tectonic plates move apart
from each other, and new
lithosphere is continuously
forming; also called a
spreading center or a rift
zone.
Transform Boundary

•A plate boundary
where two tectonic
plates slide
horizontally past one
another
These 3 mechanisms
work together to propel
the movement of the
tectonic plates.
EARTHQUAKES
 2 TYPES OF
EARTHQUAKES
Volcanic- caused by magma
movement associated with
volcanic activity

Tectonic- caused by abrupt

slipping of the tectonic plates
 EARTHQUAKE
TERMINOLOGIES
 Point of impact;

HYPOCENTER
underground origin of
the earthquake.
 Surface impact; part

EPICENTER
of the surface where
directly above the
hypocenter
 Shocks before the
FORESHOCKS plates abruptly slip
past one another
 Actual shock caused

MAINSHOCK by the abrupt slip of

tectonic plates
 Shocks following the
mainshock, caused by
AFTERSHOCK rearranging of rocks
Seismogram
 VOLCANOES
A hill or mountain formed from lava,
ash, and rock fragments ejected
through a volcanic vent. The material
erupted from volcanoes creates a
wide variety of rocks and landforms.
FISSURE VENT
SHIELD VOLCANO
LAVA DOME
SUPERVOLCANO