Plate Tectonics

II & The Origin of Magma

Moasic of Plates

Earthquake Epicenters

Wegeners View of Continental Drift

Early
Pleistocene
Eocene
Late
Carboniferous

The problem with Wegeners view of

Continental Drift

Continental crust plow through

oceanic crust
Fail to provide a reasonable driving
mechanism
Criticized by most geologists and
geophysicists in his time

Continental Drift
Wegener noted the near
jigsaw puzzle fit of the
coastlines on opposite
sides of the Atlantic.
He proposed that a great
single supercontinent
(Pangea) had once existed.
He collected a great deal
of data in support of his
ideas but failed to propose
a plausible driving
mechanism.

Evidences for a drifting continent

Fossils and
modern
organisms

http://www.geoclassics.com/mesosaurus_$1825_3.jpg

Competing Hypotheses for

Explaining Similar Species
on Different Continents

Isthmian Links

Rafting

Island Stepping Stones

Continental Drift

Evidences for a drifting continent

(cont.)
Paleoclimate
evidences
Rock age and
structures
Similarity of
mountain ranges
Paleomagnetism

Future
spreading
center

Spreading Rates
Fastest: ~12 cm/year at East Pacific Rise
Slowest: ~1 cm/year at Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Average: ~6 cm/year

Calculating Spreading Rates

300 Km

What is the driving mechanism for

Plate Tectonics?
Hypotheses
Push-Pull
Plates pushed by weight of ridges (Slab-push)
Plates pulled by lithosphere sliding downslope
(Slab-pull)

Pull

Push

Mantle
Convection
Hypotheses
Upper mantle
convecting
Entire mantle
convecting
Hot spots from
Earths deep interior
drive irregular
motion (lava lamp)

Seismic Tomography

Process of making drawings of slices

through an object.
Detect velocity of seismic waves as they
pass through earth.
Waves travels faster in cold, denser rock
and slower in hot, softer rock

Plate Boundaries
Divergent
Boundaries are
where two plates
move apart.
Upwelling mantle
material at divergent
boundaries creates
new ocean seafloor
at divergent
boundaries (ie. The
Mid Atlantic Ridge).

Plate Boundaries
Some
convergent
boundaries
involve the
collision of two
continents (ie.
Hymalaya
Mountains)

Transform
faults
Figure 2.24

Earths
plates
Figure 2.19
(right side)

Earths
plates
Figure 2.19
(left side)

Earthquakes

Earthquakes
An earthquake is the vibration of
Earth caused by the rapid release of
energy.
The energy released radiates as
waves in all directions from its source
called the focus.
The waves of energy are analogous
to waves produced by a stone
dropped into a calm pond.

San Francisco, 1906

Offset Along the San Andreas Fault

Causes
Elastic rebound theory is a widely
accepted explanation of how
earthquakes are generated.
The theory name is a reference to
rocks behaving elastically like a
stretched rubber band.

Elastic rebound theory

Causes
In summary most quakes are produced by
the rapid release of stored energy in rocks
that have been subjected to stress.
The energy is released as the rocks snap
back into their original shape.
Most large earthquakes are produced by
this phenomena along preexisting faults.

Causes
Volcanism can also produce
earthquakes.
In fact, small earthquakes often
indicate an impending volcanic
eruption.

Seismic Waves
Earthquakes produce three main
types of seismic waves that radiate at
different velocities from the focus.
P-waves are compressional and can
travel through solids, liquids or gases.
S-waves propagate with a shearing
motion and travel only through solids.

Seismic Waves
P-waves travel through granite crust
at about 6km/sec. That is roughly 1.7
times faster than S-waves travel.
S-waves have a higher amplitude.
Both P-waves and S-waves are
termed body waves because they
travel through the Earth.

Seismic Waves
A third type of wave that travels
along the surface of the Earth are
termed L-waves.
L-waves are particularly destructive.

Seismic Waves
The unique attributes of the various
seismic waves have allowed
geologists to decipher a good deal
about the Earths interior.
Knowledge of the different wave
velocities also enables one to
locate an earthquake epicenter, the
location on the surface of the Earth
above the focus.

Seismographs
Seismographs are earthquake
detection and recording instruments.
They are located all around the
globe.
As you will see, the seismograms
created by seismographs can easily
used to locate an earthquake
epicenter.

Questions
How does the great New Madrid
earthquake of 1811 fit with what you
know about earthquakes and plate
tectonics?