(eBook PDF) Geodynamics 3rd Edition

by Donald Turcotte
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 In this Chapter
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Body Forces and Surface Forces
2.3 Stress in Two Dimensions
2.4 Stress in Three Dimensions
2.5 Pressures in the Deep Interiors ofPlanets
2.6 Stress Measurement
2.7 Basic Ideas about Strain
2.8 Strain Measurements
Summary
Further Reading
3 Elasticity and Flexure
In this Chapter
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Linear Elasticity
3.3 Uniaxial Stress
3.4 Uniaxial Strain
3.5 Plane Stres
3.6 Plane Strain
3.7 Pure Shear and Simple Shear
3.8 Isotropic Stress
3.9 Two-Dimensional Bending or Flexure of Plates
3.10 Bending of Plates under Applied Moments and Vertical
Loads
3.11 Buckling of a Plate under a Horizontal Load
3.12 Deformation of Strata Overlying an Igneous Intrusion
3.13 Application to the Earth's Lithosphere
3.14 Periodic Loading
3.15 Stability of the Earth's Lithosphere under an End Load
3.16 Bending of the Elastic Lithosphere under the Loads of
Island Chains
3.17 Bending of the Elastic Lithosphere at an Ocean Trench
3.18 Flexure and the Structure of Sedimentary Basins
Summary
Further Reading

8
4 Heat Transfer
In this Chapter
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Fourier’s LawofHeat Conduction
4.3 Measuring the Earth’s Surface Heat Flux
4.4 The Earth’s Surface Heat Flow
4.5 Heat Generation by the Decay ofRadioactive Elements
4.6 One-Dimensional Steady Heat Conduction with Volumetric
Heat Production
4.7 A Conduction Temperature Profile for the Mantle
4.8 Continental Geotherms
4.9 Radial Heat Conduction in a Sphere or Spherical Shell
4.10 Temperatures in the Moon
4.11 Steady Two- and Three-Dimensional Heat Conduction
4.12 Subsurface Temperature Due to Periodic Surface
Temperature and Topography
4.13 One-Dimensional, Time-Dependent Heat Conduction
4.14 Periodic Heating of a Semi-Infinite Half-Space: Diurnal
and Seasonal Changes in Subsurface Temperature
4.15 Instantaneous Heating or Cooling of a Semi-Infinite Half-
Space
4.16 Cooling of the Oceanic Lithosphere
4.17 Plate Cooling Model of the Lithosphere
4.18 The Stefan Problem
4.19 Solidification of a Dike or Sill
4.20 The Heat Conduction Equation in a Moving Medium:
Thermal Effects of Erosion and Sedimentation
4.21 One-Dimensional, Unsteady Heat Conduction in an Infinite
Region
4.22 Thermal Stresses
4.23 Ocean Floor Topography
4.24 Changes in Sea Level
4.25 Thermal and Subsidence History ofSedimentary Basins
4.26 Heating or Cooling a Semi-Infinite Half-Space by a
Constant Surface Heat Flux
4.27 Frictional Heating on Faults: Island Arc Volcanism and
Melting on the Surface of the Descending Slab

9
 4.28 Mantle Geotherms and Adiabats
4.29 Thermal Structure of the Subducted Lithosphere
4.30 Culling Model for the Erosion and Deposition of Sediments
Summary
Further Reading
5 Gravity
In this Chapter
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Gravitational Acceleration External to the Rotationally
Distorted Earth
5.3 Centrifugal Acceleration and the Acceleration of Gravity
5.4 The Gravitational Potential and the Geoid
5.5 Moments ofInertia
5.6 Surface Gravity Anomalies
5.7 Bouguer Gravity Formula
5.8 Reductions ofGravity Data
5.9 Compensation
5.10 The Gravity Field ofa Periodic Mass Distribution on a
Surface
5.11 Compensation Due to Lithospheric Flexure
5.12 Isostatic Geoid Anomalies
5.13 Compensation Models and Observed Geoid Anomalies
5.14 Forces Required to Maintain Topography and the Geoid
Summary
Further Reading
6 Fluid Mechanics
In this Chapter
6.1 Introduction
6.2 One-Dimensional Channel Flows
6.3 Asthenospheric Counterflow
6.4 Pipe Flow
6.5 Artesian Aquifer Flows
6.6 Flow Through Volcanic Pipes
6.7 Conservation of Fluid in Two Dimensions
6.8 Elemental Force Balance in Two Dimensions

10
 6.9 The Stream Function
6.10 Postglacial Rebound
6.11 Angle of Subduction
6.12 Diapirism
6.13 Folding
6.14 Stokes Flow
6.15 Plume Heads and Tails
6.16 Pipe Flowwith Heat Addition
6.17 Aquifer Model for Hot Springs
6.18 Thermal Convection
6.19 Linear Stability Analysis for the Onset of thermal
Convection in a Layer of Fluid Heated from Below
6.20 A Transient Boundary-Layer Theory for Finite-Amplitude
Thermal Convection
6.21 A Steady-State Boundary-Layer Theory for Finite-
Amplitude Thermal Convection
6.22 The Forces that Drive Plate Tectonics
6.23 Heating by Viscous Dissipation
6.24 Mantle Recycling and Mixing
Summary
Further Reading
7 Rock Rheology
In this Chapter
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Elasticity
7.3 Diffusion Creep
7.4 Dislocation Creep
7.5 Shear Flows of Fluids with Temperature- and Stress-
Dependent Rheologies
7.6 Mantle Rheology
7.7 Rheological Effects on Mantle Convection
7.8 Mantle Convection and the Cooling of the Earth
7.9 Crustal Rheology
7.10 Viscoelasticity
7.11 Elastic-Perfectly Plastic Behavior
Summary

11
 Further Reading
8 Faulting
In this Chapter
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Classification of Faults
8.3 Friction on Faults
8.4 Anderson Theory ofFaulting
8.5 Strength Envelope
8.6 Thrust Sheets and Gravity Sliding
8.7 Earthquakes
8.8 San Andreas Fault
8.9 North Anatolian Fault
8.10 Some Elastic Solutions for Strike-Slip Faulting
8.11 Stress Diffusion
8.12 Thermally Activated Creep on Faults
Summary
Further Reading
9 Flows in Porous Media
In this Chapter
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Darcy’s Law
9.3 Permeability Models
9.4 Flow in Confined Aquifers
9.5 Flow in Unconfined Aquifers
9.6 Geometrical Form of Volcanoes
9.7 Equations of Conservation of Mass, Momentum, and
Energy for Flow in Porous Media
9.8 One-Dimensional Advection of Heat in a Porous Medium
9.9 Thermal Convection in a Porous Layer
9.10 Thermal Plumes in Fluid-Saturated Porous Media
9.11 Porous Flow Model for Magma Migration
9.12 Two-Phase Convection
Summary
Further Reading
10 Chemical Geodynamics

12
 In this Chapter
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Radioactivity and Geochronology
10.3 Geochemical Reservoirs
10.4 A Two-Reservoir Model with Instantaneous Crustal
Differentiation
10.5 Noble Gas Systems
10.6 Isotope Systematics of OIB
Summary
Further Reading
11 Numerical Tools
In this Chapter
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Getting Started with MATLAB
11.3 Integration ofFourier’s Law ofHeat Conduction, an Initial
Value Problem
11.4 Integration of the Equation for One-Dimensional Steady
Heat Conduction with Volumetric Heat Production, a
Boundary Value Problem
11.5 Integration of the Equation for Two-Dimensional Steady
Heat Conduction
11.6 Integration of the Equation for One-Dimensional Time-
Dependent Heat Conduction
Summary
12 Geophysical Applications of Computational Modeling
In this Chapter
12.1 Bending of the Lithosphere under a Triangular Load
12.2 Bending of the Elastic Lithosphere under Axisymmetric
Loads
12.3 MATLAB Evaluation of Temperature and Surface Heat
Flow for the Plate Model of the Cooling Oceanic
Lithosphere
12.4 MATLAB Evaluation of Seafloor Depth for the Plate
Model of the Cooling Oceanic Lithosphere
12.5 Cooling of a Solidified Dike
12.6 Gravity Anomaly above a Rectangular Prism

13
 12.7
Free-air Gravity Anomaly ofArbitrary Topography
12.8
Postglacial Rebound and Crater Relaxation:Axisymmetric
Geometry
12.9 A Numerical Solution for Steady, Two-Dimensional,
Finite-Amplitude Thermal Convection
12.10 Surface Velocity for Strike-Slip Faulting
12.11 Additional Solutions for Strike-Slip Faulting
12.12 Faulting on Cracks of Arbitrary Size and Orientation
Summary
Appendix A Symbols and Units
Appendix B Physical Constants and Properties
Appendix C Answers to Selected Problems
References
Index

14
 Preface to the Third Edition

This textbook deals with the fundamental physical processes necessary for
an understanding of plate tectonics and a variety of geological phenomena.
We believe that the appropriate title for this material is geodynamics. The
contents of this textbook evolved from a series of courses given at Cornell
University and UCLA to students with a wide range of back-grounds in
geology, geophysics, physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering.
The level of the students ranged from advanced undergraduate to graduate.
Approach
We present most of the material with a minimum of mathematical
complexity. In general, we do not introduce mathematical concepts unless
they are essential to the understanding of physical principles. For example,
our treatment of elasticity and fluid mechanics avoids the introduction or
use of tensors. We do not believe that tensor notation is necessary for the
understanding of these subjects or for most applications to geological
problems. However, solving partial differential equations is an essential
part of this textbook. Many geological problems involving heat conduction
and solid and fluid mechanics require solutions of such classic partial
differential equations as Laplace’s equation, Poisson’s equation, the
biharmonic equation, and the diffusion equation. All these equations are
derived from first principles in the geological contexts in which they are
used. We provide elementary explanations for such important physical
properties of matter as solidstate viscosity, thermal coefficient of
expansion, specific heat, and permeability. Basic concepts involved in the
studies of heat transfer, Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid behavior, the
bending of thin elastic plates, the mechanical behavior of faults, and the
interpretation of gravity anomalies are emphasized. Thus it is expected that
the student will develop a thorough understanding of such fundamental
physical laws as Hooke’s law of elasticity, Fourier’s law of heat
conduction, and Darcy’s law for fluid flow in porous media.
The first chapter reviews plate tectonics; its main purpose is to provide
physics, chemistry, and engineering students with the geological
background necessary to understand the applications considered
throughout the rest of the textbook. We hope that the geology student can

15
also benefit from this summary of numerous geological, seismological,
and paleomagnetic observations. This chapter also summarizes the
geological and geophysical characteristics of the other planets and
satellites of the solar system. Chapter 2 introduces the concepts of stress
and strain and discusses the measurements of these quantities in the
Earth’s crust. Space-based geodetic observations have revolutionized our
understanding of surface strain fields associated with tectonics. We
introduce the reader to satellite data obtained from the global positioning
system (GPS) and synthetic aperture radar interferometry (INSAR).
Chapter 3 presents the basic principles of linear elasticity. The bending
of thin elastic plates is emphasized and is applied to problems involving
the bending of the Earth’s lithosphere. Chapter 4 deals mainly with heat
conduction and the application of this theory to temperatures in the
continental crust and the continental and oceanic lithospheres. Heat
transfer by convection is discussed and applied to a determination of
temperature in the Earth’s mantle. Surface heat flow measurements are
reviewed and interpreted in terms of the theory. The sources of the Earth’s
surface heat flow are discussed. Problems involving the solidification of
magmas and extrusive lava flows are treated. We also present in this
chapter the Culling model for the diffusive erosion and deposition of
sediments. The basic principles involved in the interpretation of gravity
measurements are given in Chapter 5. We show how geoid anomalies are
directly related to the forces required to maintain topography.
Fluid mechanics is studied in Chapter 6; problems involving mantle
convection and postglacial rebound are emphasized. We combine a pipe-
flow model with a Stokes-flow model in order to determine the structure
and strength of plume heads and plume tails. The relationship between
hotspot swells and the associated plume flux is also introduced. In addition
to the steady-state boundary-layer model for the structure of mantle
convection cells, we introduce a transient boundary-layer model for the
stability of the lithosphere.
Chapter 7 deals with the rheology of rock or the manner in which it
deforms or flows under applied forces. Fundamental processes are
discussed from a microscopic point of view. The mechanical behavior of
faults is discussed in Chapter 8 with particular attention being paid to
observations of displacements along the San Andreas fault. Chapter 9
discusses the principles of fluid flow in porous media, a subject that finds
application to hydrothermal circulations in the oceanic crust and in
continental geothermal areas. Chapter 10 introduces the basic concepts of
chemical geodynamics. The object is to utilize geochemical data,
particularly the isotope systematics of basalts, to infer mantle dynamics.

16
Questions addressed include the homogeneity of the mantle and the fate of
subducted lithosphere.
The contents of this textbook are intended to provide the material for a
coherent one-year course. In order to accomplish this goal, some important
aspects of geodynamics have had to be omitted. In particular, the
fundamentals of seismology are not included. Thus the wave equation and
its solutions are not discussed. Many seismic studies have provided
important data relevant to geodynamic processes. Examples include (1) the
radial distribution of density in the Earth as inferred from the radial
profiles of seismic velocities; (2) important information on the locations of
plate boundaries and the locations of descending plates at ocean trenches
provided by accurate determinations of the epicenters of earthquakes; and
(3) details of the structure of the continental crust obtained by seismic
reflection profiling using artificially generated waves. An adequate
treatment of seismology would have required a very considerable
expansion of this textbook. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent
textbooks on this subject.
A comprehensive study of the spatial and temporal variations of the
Earth’s magnetic field is also considered to be outside the scope of this
textbook. A short discussion of the Earth’s magnetic field relevant to
paleomagnetic observations is given in Chapter 1. However, mechanisms
for the generation of the Earth’s magnetic field are not considered.
In writing this textbook, several difficult decisions had to be made. One
was the choice of units; we use SI units throughout. This system of units is
defined in Appendix A. We feel there is a strong trend toward the use of SI
units in both geology and geophysics. We recognize, however, that many
cgs units are widely used. Examples include μcal cm−2 s−1 for heat flow,
kilobar for stress, and milligal for gravity anomalies. For this reason we
have often included the equivalent cgs unit in parentheses after the SI unit,
for example, MPa (kbar). Another decision involved the referencing of
original work. We do not believe that it is appropriate to include a large
number of references in a basic textbook. We have credited those
individuals making major contributions to the development of the theory
of plate tectonics and continental drift in our brief discussion of the history
of this subject in Chapter 1. We also provide references to data.
New to this edition
The principal addition to the third edition of Geodynamics is the inclusion
of numerical methods and numerical solutions. Many problems in
geodynamics are nonlinear, and the applicable equations must be solved
numerically. In our numerical solutions we utilize MATLAB. This is a

17
computer programming language that is widely used and is widely
available. MATLAB codes are used to obtain numerical solutions to
problems and to plot results. An introduction to MATLAB and a short
discussion of some numerical methods are given in Chapter 11. Chapter 12
provides MATLAB codes to solve a variety of geodynamic problems.
Included are applications to problems discussed in previous chapters and
additional problems not previously considered. Solutions to some of these
problems involve the use of more sophisticated mathematical methods
than are generally employed throughout the book. MATLAB solutions to
selected problems in the text are given in Appendix D.
Pedagogical features

The problems are an integral part of this textbook and are located
within each chapter enabling students to put the theory into practice
as they work through the book. It is only through solving a substantial
number of exercises that an adequate understanding of the underlying
physical principles can be developed. Answers to selected problems
are provided in Appendices C and D and online so that students who
are self-studying can easily check their work. Problems utilizing
MATLAB are highlighted in the text , with accompanying
MATLAB codes and solutions available online at
www.cambridge.org/geodynamics. The text is supported by clear
figures, with key images now available in color in the book and
additional color figures online.
Each chapter begins with a short introduction, helping the reader to
focus on what the chapter will cover and how this fits into the rest of
the book.
Chapters conclude with a summary, providing a review of the
important concepts discussed in that chapter.
A list of recommended reading is given at the end of each chapter. In
many instances these are textbooks and reference books, but in some
cases review papers are included. In each case, the objective is to
provide background material for the chapter or to extend its content.

Online resources
Supporting online resources for instructors and students are available at
www.cambridge.org/geodynamics. These include:

MATLAB codes for computational problems;

18
 selected answers to problems;
JPEGs and PowerPoint presentations of figures from the book;
additional color figures.

Acknowledgments
Many of our colleagues have read all or parts of various drafts of this
textbook.
We acknowledge the contributions made by Claude Allègre, Jack Bird,
Muawia Barazangi, Robert Kay, Suzanne Kay, Louise Kellogg, David
Kohlstedt, Bruce Malamud, Jay Melosh, Mark Parmentier, John Rundle,
David Sandwell, Sean Solomon, David Stevenson, Ken Torrance, and
David Yuen. We particularly wish to acknowledge the many contributions
to our work made by Ron Oxburgh. Colleagues David Sandwell, Gary Ito,
Ross Stein, Volkan Sevilgen, and Taras Gerya provided material for
Chapters 11 and 12. Section 12.6 is based on an instructional exercise
developed by G. Ito, while Section 12.7 was contributed by David
Sandwell. Olga Beketova contributed the MATLAB problem solutions
given in Appendix D. Paul Tackley and Fabio Crameri contributed the
cover image. Steven Salyards, using his programming expertise, solved a
difficult problem with compilation of this book. Publication of this third
edition would not have been possible without the typesetting and editing
expertise of Judith Hohl, whose tireless dedication to the preparation of the
book has been extraordinary.

19
 1
Plate Tectonics

In this Chapter
The plate tectonic model provides a framework for understanding many
geodynamic processes. Earthquakes, volcanism, and mountain building are
examples. The plate velocities, 10−100 mm yr−1, imply a fluid-like
behavior of the solid Earth. Hot mantle rock can flow (behave as a fluid)
on geological time scales due to solid-state creep and thermal convection.
The hot mantle rock is cooled by heat loss to the Earth’s surface resulting
in a cold thermal “boundary layer.” This boundary layer is rigid and is
referred to as the lithosphere. The surface lithosphere is broken into a
series of plates that are in relative motion with respect to each other. This
motion results in “plate tectonics.”
Plates are created at mid-ocean ridges, where hot mantle rock ascends.
Partial melting in the ascending rock produces the magmas that form the
basaltic ocean crust. The surface plates reenter the mantle at ocean
trenches (subduction). The cold rock in the plate (lithosphere) is denser
than the adjacent hot mantle rock. This results in a downward gravitational
body force that drives the motion of the surface plate. Complex volcanic
processes at subduction zones generate the continental crust. This crust is
thick and light and does not participate in the platetectonic cycle. Thus the
continental crust is about a factor of 10 older, on average, than the oceanic
crust (1 Ga versus 100 Ma).
Interactions between plates at plate boundaries are responsible for a
large fraction of the earthquakes that occur. Earthquakes are caused by
episodic ruptures and displacements on preexisting faults. These
displacements provide the relative motions between surface plates. Plate
boundary processes are also responsible for a large fraction of the surface
volcanism.
However, surface volcanism also occurs within plate interiors. At least
a fraction of this volcanism can be attributed to mantle plumes that
impinge on the base of the lithosphere. Mantle plumes are thin conduits of
hot solid mantle rock that ascend from great depths.
One important consequence of plate tectonics is continental drift.

20
Oceans open and close. The western and eastern boundaries of the Atlantic
Ocean fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. New oceans are created at rifts in
the continental crust. An example of a young ocean is the Red Sea. Oceans
also close, resulting in continental collisions. An example is the Himalaya
mountain belt that is the result of a continental collision between India and
Asia.
A major goal of this book is to provide a fundamental understanding of
why our planet has plate tectonics. Heat is being produced within the Earth
due to the decay of radioactive isotopes. The interior of the Earth is hot
and its surface is cold. The hot rock is less dense than the cold rock,
leading to a gravitational instability. Because the hot mantle behaves as a
fluid on geological time scales, this instability causes thermal convection.
The plate tectonic cycle is one consequence of thermal convection in the
Earth’s mantle.
We also discuss comparative planetology in this chapter. Our
knowledge of the structure and behavior of the other terrestrial planets,
Mercury, Venus, and Mars, as well as major planetary satellites, the Moon
and the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, is summarized. Two important
examples are the constraints on the early solar system obtained from lunar
samples returned by the Apollo missions and the lack of plate tectonics on
Venus. Considering the similarities in composition and size between the
Earth and Venus, the absence of plate tectonics on Venus is a surprise.

1.1 Introduction
Plate tectonics is a model in which the outer shell of the Earth is divided
into a number of thin, rigid plates that are in relative motion with respect
to one another. The relative velocities of the plates are of the order of a
few tens of millimeters per year. A large fraction of all earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and mountain building occurs at plate boundaries. The
distribution of the major surface plates is illustrated in Figure 1.1.

21
Figure 1.1 Distribution of the major plates. The ocean ridge axis (accretional plate
margins), subduction zones (convergent plate margins), and transform faults that
make up the plate boundaries are shown.

The plates are made up of relatively cool rocks and have an average
thickness of about 100 km. The plates are being continually created and
consumed. At ocean ridges adjacent plates diverge from each other in a
process known as seafloor spreading. As the adjacent plates diverge, hot
mantle rock ascends to fill the gap. The hot, solid mantle rock behaves like
a fluid because of solid-state creep processes. As the hot mantle rock
cools, it becomes rigid and accretes to the plates, creating new plate area.
For this reason ocean ridges are also known as accreting plate boundaries.
The accretionary process is symmetric to a first approximation so that the
rates of plate formation on the two sides of a ridge are approximately
equal. The rate of plate formation on one side of an ocean ridge defines a
half-spreading velocity u. The two plates spread with a relative velocity of
2u. The global system of ocean ridges is denoted by the heavy dark lines in
Figure 1.1.
Because the surface area of the Earth is essentially constant, there must
be a complementary process of plate consumption. This occurs at ocean
trenches. The surface plates bend and descend into the interior of the Earth
in a process known as subduction. At an ocean trench the two adjacent
plates converge, and one descends beneath the other. For this reason ocean
trenches are also known as convergent plate boundaries. The worldwide
distribution of trenches is shown in Figure 1.1 by the lines with triangular
symbols, which point in the direction of subduction.

22
 A cross-sectional view of the creation and consumption of a typical
plate is illustrated in Figure 1.2. That part of the Earth’s interior that
comprises the plates is referred to as the lithosphere. The rocks that make
up the lithosphere are relatively cool and rigid; as a result, the interiors of
the plates do not deform significantly as they move about the surface of
the Earth. As the plates move away from ocean ridges, they cool and
thicken. The solid rocks beneath the lithosphere are sufficiently hot to be
able to deform freely; these rocks comprise the asthenosphere, which lies
below the lithosphere. The lithosphere slides over the asthenosphere with
relatively little resistance.

Figure 1.2 Accretion of a lithospheric plate at an ocean ridge and its subduction at
an ocean trench. The asthenosphere, which lies beneath the lithosphere, is shown
along with the line of volcanic centers associated with subduction.

As the rocks of the lithosphere become cooler, their density increases

because of thermal contraction. As a result, the lithosphere becomes
gravitationally unstable with respect to the hot asthenosphere beneath. At
the ocean trench the lithosphere bends and sinks into the interior of the
Earth because of this negative buoyancy. The downward gravitational
body force on the descending lithosphere plays an important role in
driving plate tectonics. The lithosphere acts as an elastic plate that
transmits large elastic stresses without significant deformation. Thus the
gravitational body force can be transmitted directly to the surface plate and
this force pulls the plate toward the trench. This body force is known as
trench pull. Major faults separate descending lithospheres from adjacent
overlying lithospheres. These faults are the sites of most great earthquakes.
Examples are the Chilean earthquake in 1960, the Alaskan earthquake in

23
1964, the Sumatra earthquake in 2004, and the Tohoku, Japan, earthquake
in 2011. These are the largest earthquakes that have occurred since modern
seismographs have been available. The locations of the descending
lithospheres can be accurately determined from the earthquakes occurring
in the cold, brittle rocks of the lithospheres. These planar zones of
earthquakes associated with subduction are known as Wadati-Benioff
zones.
Lines of active volcanoes lie parallel to almost all ocean trenches.
These volcanoes occur about 125 km above the descending lithosphere. At
least a fraction of the magmas that form these volcanoes are produced near
the upper boundary of the descending lithosphere and rise some 125 km to
the surface. If these volcanoes stand on the seafloor, they form an island
arc, as typified by the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific. If the trench
lies adjacent to a continent, the volcanoes grow from the land surface. This
is the case in the western United States, where a volcanic line extends from
Mount Baker in the north to Mount Shasta in the south. Mount St. Helens,
the site of a violent eruption in 1980, forms a part of this volcanic line.
These volcanoes are the sites of a large fraction of the most explosive and
violent volcanic eruptions. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the
Philippines in 1991, the most violent eruption of the twentieth century, is
another example. A typical subduction zone volcano is illustrated in Figure
1.3.

Figure 1.3 Izalco volcano in El Salvador, an example of a subduction zone

volcano (NOAA–NGDC Howell Williams).

The Earth’s surface is divided into continents and oceans. The oceans

24
have an average depth of about 4 km, and the continents rise above sea
level. The reason for this difference in elevation is the difference in the
thickness of the crust. Crustal rocks have a different composition from that
of the mantle rocks beneath and are less dense. The crustal rocks are
therefore gravitationally stable with respect to the heavier mantle rocks.
There is usually a well-defined boundary, the Moho or Mohorovičić
discontinuity, between the crust and mantle. A typical thickness for
oceanic crust is 6 km; continental crust is about 35 km thick. Although
oceanic crust is gravitationally stable, it is sufficiently thin so that it does
not significantly impede the subduction of the gravitationally unstable
oceanic lithosphere. The oceanic lithosphere is continually cycled as it is
accreted at ocean ridges and subducted at ocean trenches. Because of this
cycling the average age of the ocean floor is about 108 years (100 Ma).
On the other hand, the continental crust is sufficiently thick and
gravitationally stable so that it is not subducted at an ocean trench. In some
cases the denser lower continental crust, along with the underlying
gravitationally unstable continental mantle lithosphere, can be recycled
into the Earth’s interior in a process known as delamination. However, the
light rocks of the upper continental crust remain in the continents. For this
reason the rocks of the continental crust, with an average age of about 2x
109 years (2 Ga), are much older than the rocks of the oceanic crust. As the
lithospheric plates move across the surface of the Earth, they carry the
continents with them. The relative motion of continents is referred to as
continental drift.
Much of the historical development leading to plate tectonics concerned
the validity of the hypothesis of continental drift: that the relative positions
of continents change during geologic time. The similarity in shape
between the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America was
noted as early as 1620 by Francis Bacon. This “fit” has led many authors
to speculate on how these two continents might have been attached. A
detailed exposition of the hypothesis of continental drift was put forward
by Frank B. Taylor (1910). The hypothesis was further developed by
Alfred Wegener beginning in 1912 and summarized in his book The
Origin of Continents and Oceans (Wegener, 1946). As a meteorologist,
Wegener was particularly interested in the observation that glaciation had
occurred in equatorial regions at the same time that tropical conditions
prevailed at high latitudes. This observation in itself could be explained by
polar wander, a shift of the rotational axis without other surface
deformation. However, Wegener also set forth many of the qualitative
arguments that the continents had formerly been attached. In addition to
the observed fit of continental margins, these arguments included the

25
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have taken the food out of it. Much of this water passes out through
the leaves.
You know when you are very warm, you feel a moisture come on
your skin. That was once water in your blood. It creeps out through
tiny pores over all your skin.
The plant skin has such pores. The water goes off through them.
When the plant breathes out this water, then more hurries up through
the cells to take its place. So the sap keeps running up and down all
the time.
Plants not only send out water through the pores of the leaves, but
also a kind of air or gas. If they did not do that, we should soon all be
dead. Can I make that plain to you?
Did you ever hear your mother say, “The air here is bad or close”?
Did you ever see your teacher open a door or a window, to “air” the
schoolroom? If you ask why, you will be told “So many people
breathing here make the air bad.”
How does our breathing make the air bad? When our blood runs
through our bodies it takes up little bits of matter that our bodies are
done with. This stuff makes the blood dark and thick. But soon the
blood comes around to our lungs.
Now as we breathe out, we send into the air the tiny atoms of this
waste stuff. It is carbonic acid gas. As we breathe in, we take from
the fresh air a gas called oxygen. That goes to our lungs, and lo! it
makes the blood fresh and clean, and red once more.
So you can see, that when many people breathe in one room they
will use up all the good clean air. At the same time they will load the
air of the room with the gas they breathe out.
That is why the window is opened. We wish to sweep away the bad
air, and let in good air.
But at this rate, as all men and other animals breathe out carbonic
acid gas, why does not all the air in the world get bad? Why, when
they all use oxygen, do they not use up all the oxygen that is in the
world?
Just here the plants come in to help. Carbonic acid gas is bad for
men, it is food to plants. Oxygen is needed by animals, but plants
want to get rid of it. Animals breathe out a form of carbon and
breathe in oxygen. Plants do just the other thing. They breathe out
oxygen and take in carbonic acid gas.
The air, loaded with this, comes to the plant. At once all the little leaf-
mouths are wide open to snatch out of the air the carbonic acid gas.
And, as the plants are very honest little things, they give where they
take away. They take carbon from the air, and breathe into the air a
little oxygen.
Where did they get that? The air they breathe has both carbon and
oxygen in it. So they keep what they want,—that is, carbon,—and
send out the oxygen.
Now it is only the green part of the plant that does this fine work for
us. It is the green parts, chiefly the leaves, that send out good
oxygen for us to breathe. It is the green leaf that snatches from the
air those gases which would hurt us.
It is the green leaf that changes the harmful form of carbon into good
plant stuff, which is fit for our food. How does it do that? Let us see.
What makes a leaf green? Bobby who crushed a leaf to see, told me
“a leaf was full of green paint.”
Inside the green leaves is a kind of green paste, or jelly. Now it is this
“leaf-green” that does all the work. The “leaf-green” eats up carbon.
The “leaf-green” turns carbon into nice safe plant material. It is “leaf-
green” that sets free good oxygen for us.
“Leaf-green” is a good fairy, living in every little cell in the leaf. Leaf-
green is a fairy which works only in the day-time. Leaf-green likes
the sun. Leaf-green will not work in the dark, but goes to bed and
goes to sleep!
In such simple lessons as these, I can tell you only a little of what is.
The deep “how” and “why” of things I cannot explain. Even the very
wisest men do not know all the how and the why of the “leaf-green”
fairy.
I have told you these few things that you may have wonders to think
of when you see green leaves. After this lesson, will you not care
more for seeds and leaves than you ever did before?
 LESSON VIII.
THE COLOR OF PLANTS.
Almost the first thing that you will notice about a plant is its color. The
little child, before it can speak, will hold out its hands for a bright red
rose, or a golden lily. I think the color is one of the most wonderful
things about a plant.
Come into the field. Here you see a yellow buttercup, growing near a
white daisy. Beside them is a red rose. Close by, blooms a great
purple flower. All grow out of the same earth, and breathe the same
air. Yet how they differ in color.
Some flowers have two or three colors upon each petal. Have you
not seen the tulip with its striped blossoms, and the petunias spotted
with white and red?
The flower of the cotton plant changes in color. Within a few days
this flower appears in three distinct hues. The chicory blossom
changes from blue to nearly white as the day grows warm.
Look at your mother’s roses. Some are white, others are red, pink, or
yellow. None are ever blue.
Then look at a wild-rose tree. The root and stem are brown. The
green color is in the leaves, and in some of the stems. The petals
are red. The stamens and pistils are yellow.
You never saw the red color get astray and run into the leaves. The
leaf-green did not lose itself, and travel up to the petals. The
stamens and pistils did not turn brown instead of golden.
Does not that seem a wonder, now that you think of it? Perhaps you
never noticed it before. It is one thing to see things, and another to
notice them so that you think about them.
Here is another fact about color in plants. All summer you see that
the leaves are green. In the autumn they begin to change. You wake
up some fine frosty morning and the tree leaves are all turned red,
yellow, brown, or purple. It is a fine sight.
It is the going away of the leaf-green from the leaf that begins the
change of leaf-color in the fall. The leaves have done growing. Their
stems are hard and woody. They do not breathe as freely as they
did. The sap does not run through them as it did early in the season.
The leaf-green shrinks up in the cells. Or, it goes off to some other
part of the plant. Sometimes part of it is destroyed. Then the leaves
begin to change.
Sometimes a red sap runs into the leaf cells. Or, an oily matter goes
there, in place of the “leaf-green.”
The leaf-green changes color if it gets too much oxygen. In the
autumn the plant does not throw out so much oxygen. What it keeps
turns the leaf-green from green to red, yellow, or brown.
The bright color in plants is not in the flower alone. You have seen
that roots and seeds have quite as bright colors as blossoms. What
flowers are brighter than many fruits are?
The cherry is crimson, or pink, or nearly black. What a fine yellow,
red, purple, we find in plums! Is there any yellow brighter than that of
the Indian corn? Is there a red gayer than you find on the apples you
like so well? What is more golden than a heap of oranges?
If you wish to find splendid color in a part of a plant, look at a water-
melon. The skin is green marked with pale green, or white. Next,
inside, is a rind of pale greenish white. Then comes a soft, juicy,
crimson mass. In that are jet black seeds.
Oh, where does all this color come from? Why is it always just in the
right place? The melon rind does not take the black tint that belongs
to the seeds. The skin does not put on the crimson of the pulp. See,
too, how this color comes slowly, as the melon ripens. At first the
skin is of the same dark green as the leaves, and inside all is of a
greenish white.
Let us try to find out where all this color comes from. Do you know
we ourselves can make changes in the color of flowers? Take one of
those big hydrangeas. It has a pink flower. But give it very rich black
earth to grow in. Mix some alum and iron with the earth. Water it with
strong bluing water. Lay soot and coal-dust upon the earth it grows
in. Very soon your hydrangea will have blue flowers, instead of pink
ones.
Once I had a petunia with large flowers of a dirty white color. I fed it
with soot and coal-dust. I watered it with strong bluing water. After a
few weeks my petunia had red or crimson flowers. Some of the
flowers were of a very deep red. Others were spotted with red and
white.
Now from this you may guess that the plant obtains much of its color
from what it feeds on in the soil.
But you may give the plant very good soil, and yet if you make it
grow in the dark, it will have almost no color. If it lives at all, even the
green leaves will be pale and sickly.
This will show you that the light must act in some way on what the
plant eats, to make the fine color.
The plant, you know, eats minerals from the earth. In its food it gets
little grains of coloring stuff.
But how the color goes to the right place we cannot tell. We cannot
tell why it is, that from the same earth, in the same light, there will be
flowers of many colors. We cannot tell why flowers on the same
plant, or parts of the same flower, will have different colors. That is
one of the secrets and wonders that no one has found out.
There are many plants which store up coloring matter, just as plants
store up starch, or sugar. The indigo, which makes our best blue
dye, comes from a plant. Ask your mother to show you some indigo.
When the plant is soaked in water the coloring stuff sinks to the
bottom of the water, like a blue dust.
Did you ever notice the fine red sumac? That gives a deep yellow
dye. The saffron plant is full of a bright orange color. Other plants
give other dyes.
Sometimes children take the bright petals of plants, or stems, that
have bright color in them, to paint with. Did you ever do that? You
can first draw a picture, and then color it, by rubbing on it the colored
parts of plants.
Some trees and plants, from which dyes are made, have the coloring
stuff in the bark or wood. That is the way with the logwood tree. The
best black dye is made from that.
You have seen how much dark red juice you can find in berries. Did
you ever squeeze out the red juice of poke or elder berries? It is like
red ink. Did you ever notice how strawberries stain your fingers red?
Grapes and blackberries make your lips and tongue purple.
No doubt you have often had your hands stained brown, for days,
from the husks of walnuts. All these facts will show you what a deal
of color is taken up from the soil by plants, changed by the sun, and
stored up in their different parts.
But the chief of all color in the plant is the leaf-green. We cannot
make a dye out of that.
Leaf-green is the color of which there is the most. It is the color
which suits the eye best of all. How tired we should be of crimson or
orange grass!
Though leaves and stems are generally green, there are some
plants which have stems of a bright red or yellow color. Yellow is the
common color for stamens and pistils. In some plants, as the tulip,
the peach, and others, the stamens are of a deep red-brown, or
crimson, or pink, or even black color.
 LESSON IX.
THE MOTION OF PLANTS.
If I ask you what motion plants have, I think you will tell me that they
have a motion upward. You will say that they “grow up.” You will not
say that they move in the wind. You know that that is not the kind of
motion which I mean.
Some plants grow more by day, some by night. On the whole, there
is more growing done by day than by night. At night it is darker,
cooler, and there is more moisture in the air. The day has more heat,
light, and dryness. For these causes growth varies by day and by
night.
Warmth and moisture are the two great aids to the growth of plants.
Heat, light, and wet have most to do with the motion of plants. For
the motion of plants comes chiefly from growth.
The parts of the plant the motion of which we shall notice, are, the
stems, leaves, tendrils, and petals. Perhaps you have seen the
motion of a plant stem toward the sunshine.
Did you ever notice in house plants, that the leaves and branches
turn to the place from which light comes to them? Did you ever hear
your mother say that she must turn the window plants around, so
that they would not grow “one-sided”?
Did you ever take a pot plant that had grown all toward one side, and
turn it around, and then notice it? In two or three weeks you would
find the leaves, stems, branches, bent quite the other way. First they
lifted up straight. Then they slowly bent around to the light.
Perhaps you have noticed that many flower stems stoop to the east
in the morning. Then they move slowly around. At evening you find
them bending toward the west.
This is one motion of stems. Another motion is that of long, weak
stems, such as those of the grape-vine or morning-glory. They will
climb about a tree or stick.
Such vines do much of their climbing by curling around the thing
which supports them. If you go into the garden, and look at a bean-
vine, you will see what fine twists and curves it makes about the
beanpole.
Such twists or curves can be seen yet more plainly in a tendril. A
tendril is a little string-like part of the plant, which serves it for hands.
Sometimes tendrils grow out of the tips of the leaves.
Sometimes they grow from the stem. Sometimes they grow from the
end of a leaf-stem in place of a final leaf.
Tendrils, as I told you before, are twigs, leaves, buds, or other parts
of a plant, changed into little, long clasping hands.
Now and then the long slender stem of a leaf acts as a tendril. It
twists once around the support which holds up the vine. Thus it ties
the stem of the vine to the support.
You have seen not only climbing plants, such as the grape-vine. You
have seen also creeping plants, as the strawberry and ground-ivy.
You will tell me that a climbing plant is one which travels up
something. You will say, also, that a creeping plant is a vine which
runs along the ground.
The climbing plant helps itself along by tendrils. The creeping plant
has little new roots to hold it firm.
Look at the strawberry beds. Do you see some long sprays which
seem to tie plant to plant? Your father will tell you that they are
“runners.”
The plant throws out one of these runners. Then at the end of the
runner a little root starts out, and fastens it to the ground. A runner is
very like a tendril. There are never any leaves upon it. But the end of
a tendril never puts out a bud. The end of the runner, where it roots,
puts out a bud.
This bud grows into a new plant. The new plant sends out its
runners. These root again, and so on. Thus, you see, a few
strawberry plants will soon cover a large space of ground.
There is a very pretty little fern, called the “walking fern,” which has
an odd way of creeping about. When the slender fronds[8] reach their
full length, some of the tallest ones bend over to the earth. The tip of
the frond touches the ground. From that tip come little root-like
fibres, and fix themselves in the earth. A new plant springs up from
them.
When the new plant is grown, a frond of that bends over and takes
root again. So it goes on. Soon there is a large, soft, thick mat of
walking fern upon the ground.
This putting out new roots to go on by is also the fashion of some
climbing plants. Did you ever notice how the ivy will root all along a
wall? Little strong roots put out at the joints of the stem, and hold the
plant fast.
All this motion in plants is due to growth. In very hot lands where
there is not only much heat, but where long, wet seasons fill the
earth with water, the growth of plants is very rapid.
In these hot lands, there are more climbing plants than in cool lands.
Some trees, which, in cool lands where they grow slowly, never
climb, turn to climbers in hot lands.
Some plants will twine and climb in hot weather, and stand up
straight alone in cool weather. This shows that in hot weather they
grow so fast that they cannot hold themselves up. When it is cool,
they grow slowly, and make more strong fibre. But we must leave the
stem motions of plants and speak of the motion of other parts.
Let me tell you how to try the leaf motion of plants. Take a house
plant to try, as that is where wind will not move the leaf. Get a piece
of glass about four or five inches square. Smoke it very black.
Lay it under the leaf, so that the point of the leaf bent down will be
half an inch from the glass.
Then take a bristle from a brush and put it in the tip of the leaf. Run
the bristle in the leaf so that the end will come beyond the leaf, and
just touch the glass. Leave it a night and a day. Then you will find the
story of the leaf’s travels written on the glass. As the leaf moves, the
bristle will write little lines in the black on the glass. Try it.
As you have proved the motion of the leaf with your smoked glass,
let us look at leaf motion. There is, first, that motion which unfolds or
unrolls the leaf from the bud. That is made because, by feeding, the
plant is growing larger, and the leaf needs more room.
The leaf often has, after it is grown, a motion of opening and
shutting. Other leaves have a motion of rising and falling. But of
these motions I will tell you in another lesson.
Flowers have, first, the motion by which the flower-bud unfolds to the
full, open blossom. That, as the leaf-bud motion, comes from
growing. Did you ever watch a rose-bud, or a lily-bud, unfold?
Then the flowers of many plants have a motion of opening and
shutting each day. I shall tell you of that, also, in another lesson.
Besides these motions in plants, there are others. Did you ever see
how a plant will turn, or bend, to grow away from a stone, or
something, that is in its way?
If you watch with care the root of one of your bean-seeds, you will
see that it grows in little curves, now this way, now that. It grows so,
even when it grows in water, or in air, where nothing touches it.
People who study these changes tell us that the whole plant, as it
grows, has a turning motion. In this motion all the plant, and all its
parts, move around as they grow.
The curious reasons for this motion of plants, you must learn when
you are older. I can now tell you only a little about it. I will tell you that
the plant moves, because the little cells in it grow in a one-sided way.
Thus the air, light, heat, moisture, cause the cells on one side of the
plant to grow larger than the others. Then the plant stoops, or is
pulled over, that way. It is bent over by the weight. Then that side is
hidden, and the other side has more light, heat, and wet. And as the
cells grow, it stoops that way.
This is easy to understand in climbing plants. Their long, slim stems
are weak. They bend with their own weight. They bend to the side
that is slightly heavier. Their motion then serves to find them a
support. As they sweep around, they touch something which will hold
them up. Then they cling to it.
Now, there is another reason for a tendril taking hold of anything.
The skin of the tendril is very soft and fine. As it lies against a string,
or stick, or branch, the touch of this object on its fine skin makes the
tendril bend, or curl.
It keeps on bending or curling, until it gets quite around the object
which it touches. Then it still goes on bending, and so it gets around
a second time, and a third, and so on. Thus the tendril makes curl
after curl, as closely and evenly as you could wind a string on a stick.
Some plants, as the hop, move around with the sun; other plants
move in just the other direction. It is as if some turned their faces,
and some their backs, to the sun.

FOOTNOTES:
[8] What you call the leaf of a fern is, properly speaking, a frond.
 LESSON X.
PLANTS AND THEIR PARTNERS.
Did I not tell you that the plants had taken partners and gone into
business? I said that their business was seed-growing, but that the
result of the business was to feed and clothe the world.
In our first lessons we showed you that we get all our food, clothes,
light, and fuel, first or last, from plants. “Stop! stop!” you say. “Some
of us burn coal. Coal is a mineral.” Yes, coal is a mineral now, but it
began by being a vegetable. All the coal-beds were once forests of
trees and ferns. Ask your teacher to tell you about that.
If all these things which we need come from plants, we may be very
glad that the plants have gone into business to make more plants.
Who are these partners which we told you plants have? They are the
birds and the insects. They might have a sign up, you see, “Plant,
Insect & Co., General Providers for Men.”
Do let us get at the truth of this matter at once! Do you remember
what you read about the stamens and pistils which stand in the
middle of the flower? You know the stamens carry little boxes full of
pollen. The bottom of the pistil is a little case, or box, full of seed
germs.
You know also that the pollen must creep down through the pistils,
and touch the seed germs before they can grow to be seeds. And
you also know, that unless there are new seeds each year the world
of plants would soon come to an end.
Now you see from all this that the stamens and pistils are the chief
parts of the flower. The flower can give up its calyx, or cup, and its
gay petals, its color, honey, and perfume. If it keeps its stamens and
pistils, it will still be a true seed-bearing flower.
It is now plain that the aim of
the flower must be to get
that pollen-dust safely
landed on the top of the
pistil.
You look at a lily, and you
say, “Oh! that is very easy.
Just let those pollen boxes
fly open, and their dust is
sure to hit the pistil, all right.”
But not so fast! Let me tell
you that many plants do not
carry the stamens and pistils
all in one flower. The
stamens, with the pollen
boxes, may be in one flower,
and the pistil, with its sticky
cushion to catch pollen, may
be in another flower.
More than that, these
flowers, some with stamens, THE THREE PARTNERS.
and some with pistils, may
not even be all on one plant! Have you ever seen a poplar-tree? The
poplar has its stamen-flowers on one tree, and its pistil-flowers on
another. The palm-tree is in the same case.
Now this affair of stamen and pistil and seed making does not seem
quite so easy, does it? And here is still another fact. Seeds are the
best and strongest, and most likely to produce good plants, if the
pollen comes to the pistil, from a flower not on the same plant.
This is true even of such plants as the lily, the tulip, and the
columbine, where stamens and pistils grow in one flower.
Now you see quite plainly that in some way the pollen should be
carried about. The flowers being rooted in one place cannot carry
their pollen where it should go. Who shall do it for them?
Here is where the insect comes in. Let us look at him. Insects vary
much in size. Think of the tiny ant and gnat. Then think of the great
bumble bee, or butterfly. You see this difference in size fits them to
visit little or big flowers.
You have seen the great bumble bee busy in a lily, or a trumpet
flower. Perhaps, too, you have seen a little ant, or gnat, come
crawling out of the tiny throat of the thyme or sage blossom. And you
have seen the wasp and bee, busy on the clover blossom or the
honeysuckle.
Insects have wings to take them quickly wherever they choose to go.
Even the ant, which has cast off its wings,[9] can crawl fast on its six
nimble legs.
Then, too, many insects have a long pipe, or tongue, for eating. You
have seen such a tongue on the bee.[10] In this book you will soon
read about the butterfly, with its long tube which coils up like a watch
spring.
With this long tube the insect can poke into all the slim cups, and
horns, and folds, of the flowers of varied shapes.
Is it not easy to see that when the insect flies into a flower to feed, it
may be covered with the pollen from the stamens? Did you ever
watch a bee feeding in a wild rose? You could see his velvet coat all
covered with the golden flower dust.
Why does the insect go to the flower? He does not know that he is
needed to carry pollen about. He never thinks of seed making. He
goes into the flower to get food. He eats pollen sometimes, but
mostly honey.
In business, you know, all the partners wish to make some profit for
themselves. The insect partner of the flower has honey for his gains.
The flower lays up a drop of honey for him.
In most flowers there is a little honey. Did you ever suck the sweet
drop out of a clover, or a honeysuckle? This honey gathers in the
flower about the time that the pollen is ripe in the boxes. Just at the
time that the flower needs the visit of the insects, the honey is set
ready for them.
Into the flower goes the insect for honey. As it moves about, eating,
its legs, its body, even its wings, get dusty with pollen. When it has
eaten the honey of one flower, off it goes to another. And it carries
with it the pollen grains.
As it creeps into the next flower, the pollen rubs off the insect upon
the pistil. The pistil is usually right in the insect’s way to the honey.
The top of the pistil is sticky, and it holds the pollen grains fast. So
here and there goes the insect, taking the pollen from one flower to
another.
But stop a minute. The pollen from a rose will not make the seed
germs of a lily grow. The tulip can do nothing with pollen from a
honeysuckle. The pollen of a buttercup is not wanted by any flower
but a buttercup. So of all. The pollen to do the germ any good must
come from a flower of its own kind.
What is to be done in this case? How will the insect get the pollen to
the right flower? Will it not waste the clover pollen on a daisy?
Now here comes in a very strange habit of the insect. Insects fly
“from flower to flower,” but they go from flowers of one kind to other
flowers of the same kind. Watch a bee. It goes from clover to clover,
not from clover to daisy.
Notice a butterfly. It flits here and there. But you will see it settle on a
pink, and then on another pink, and on another, and so on. If it
begins with golden rod, it keeps on with golden rod.
God has fixed this habit in insects. They feed for a long time on the
same kind of flowers. They do this, even if they have to fly far to
seek them. If I have in my garden only one petunia, the butterfly
which feeds in that will fly off over the fence to some other garden to
find another petunia. He will not stop to get honey from my sweet
peas.
Some plants have drops of honey all along up the stem to coax ants
or other creeping insects up into the flower.
But other plants have a sticky juice along the stem, to keep crawling
insects away. In certain plants the bases of the leaf-stems form little
cups, for holding water. In this water, creeping insects fall and drown.
Why is this? It is because insects that would not properly carry the
pollen to another flower, would waste it. So the plant has traps, or
sticky bars, to keep out the kind of insects that would waste the
pollen, or would eat up the honey without carrying off the pollen.
I have not had time to tell you of the many shapes of flowers. You
must notice that for yourselves.
Some are like cups, some like saucers, or plates, or bottles, or bags,
or vases. Some have long horns, some have slim tubes or throats.
Some are all curled close about the stamens and pistils.
These different kinds of flowers need different kinds of insects to get
their pollen. Some need bees with thick bodies. Some need
butterflies with long, slim tubes. Some need wasps with long, slender
bodies and legs. Some need little creeping ants, or tiny gnats.
Each kind of flower has what will coax the right kind of insects, and
keep away the wrong ones. What has the plant besides honey to
coax the insect for a visit? The flower has its lovely color, not for us,
but for insects. The sweet perfume is also for insects.
Flowers that need the visits of moths, or other insects that fly by
night, are white or pale yellow. These colors show best at night.
Flowers that need the visits of day-flying insects, are mostly red,
blue, orange, purple, scarlet.
There are some plants, as the grass, which have no sweet perfume
and no gay petals. I have told you of flowers which are only a small
brown scale with a bunch of stamens and pistils held upon it. And
they have no perfumes. These flowers want no insect partners. Their
partner is the summer wind! The wind blows the pollen of one plant
to another. That fashion suits these plants very well.
So, by means of insect or wind partners, the golden pollen is carried
far and wide, and seeds ripen.
But what about the bird partners? Where do they come in?
If the ripe seed fell just at the foot of the parent plant, and grew
there, you can see that plants would be too much crowded. They
would spread very little. Seeds must be carried from place to place.
Some light seeds, as those of the thistle, have a plume. The maple
seeds have wings. By these the wind blows them along.
But most seeds are too heavy to be wind driven. They must be
carried. For this work the plant takes its partner, the bird.
To please the eye of the bird, and attract it to the seed, the plant has
gay-colored seeds. Also it has often gay-colored seed cases. The
rose haws, you know, are vivid red. The juniper has a bright blue
berry. The smilax has a black berry. The berries of the mistletoe are
white, of the mulberry purple.
These colors catch the eye of the bird. Down he flies to swallow the
seed, case, and all. Also many seed cases, or covers, are nice food
to eat. They are nice for us. We like them. But first of all they were
spread out for the bird’s table.
Birds like cherries, plums, and strawberries. Did you ever watch a
bird picking blackberries? The thorns do not bother him. He swallows
the berries fast,—pulp and seed.
You have been told of the hard case which covers the soft or germ
part of the seed, and its seed-leaf food. This case does not melt up
in the bird’s crop or gizzard, as the soft food does. So when it falls to
the ground the germ is safe, and can sprout and grow.
Birds carry seeds in this way from land to land, as well as from field
to field. They fly over the sea and carry seeds to lonely islands,
which, but for the birds, might be barren.
So by means of its insect partners, the plant’s seed germs grow, and
perfect seeds. By means of the bird partners, the seeds are carried
from place to place. Thus many plants grow, and men are clothed,
and warmed, and fed.

FOOTNOTES:
[9] See Nature Reader, No. 2, Lessons on Ants.
[10] No. 1, Lesson 18.
 LESSON XI.
AIR, WATER, AND SAND PLANTS.
Most of the plants which you see about you grow in earth or soil. You
have heard your father say that the grass in some fields was scanty
because the soil was poor. You have been told that wheat and corn
would not grow in some other field, because the soil was not rich
enough.
You understand that. The plant needs good soil, made up of many
kinds of matter. These minerals are the plant’s food. Perhaps you
have helped your mother bring rich earth from the forest, to put
about her plants.
But beside these plants growing in good earth in the usual way, there
are plants which choose quite different places in which to grow.
There are air-plants, water-plants, sand-plants. Have you seen all
these kinds of plants?
You have, no doubt, seen plants growing in very marshy, wet places,
as the rush, the iris, and the St. John’s-wort. Then, too, you have
seen plants growing right in the water, as the water-lilies, yellow and
white; the little green duck-weed; and the water crow-foot.
If you have been to the sea-shore, you have seen green, rich-looking
plants, growing in a bank of dry sand. In the West and South, you
may find fine plants growing in what seem to be drifts, or plains of
clear sand.
Air-plants are less common. Let us look at them first. There are
some plants which grow upon other plants and yet draw no food
from the plant on which they grow. Such plants put forth roots,
leaves, stems, blossoms, but all their food is drawn from the air.
I hope you may go and see some hot-house where orchids are kept.
You will see there splendid plants growing on a dead branch, or