02b. Plate Tectonics

Pet roleum Geology:
From Mat ure Basins t o New Front iers

Proceedings of the 7th Petroleum Geology Conference
Edited by
B. A. Vining and S. C. Pickering
2b. Plate Tectonic
Published by The Geological Society

LECTURE MATERIALS
1 • Introduction
2 • Level of Petroleum Investigation – Plate Tectonic
3 • Petroleum Sedimentary Basin
4 • Hydrocarbon Source Rock
5 • Reservoir Rocks
6 • Hydrocarbon Trap and Seals
7 • Hydrocarbon Migration
8 • Data Analysis
9 • Exploration Risk Assessment
10 • Prospect Analysis
11 • Reserves Calculation
12 • Petroleum Geology of Indonesia
2
Plate Tectonics
http://web.eps.utk.edu/~faculty/deane/101.html
Plate Tectonics
Teori yang mengatakan bahwa

kerak bumi tidak bersifat permanen,
tetapi bergerak mengapung.
Plate Tectonics
Pada tahun 1912, Alferd Wegener seorang ahli

klimatolgi dan geofisika menerbitkan buku
yang berjudul “The Origin of Continents and
Ocean”
PANGEA
Plate Tectonics
Bukti 1 : Kesesuaian Kontinen

Bukti 2 : Fosil
Bukti 3 : Kesamaan Tipe dan Struktur Batuan
Bukti 4 : Paleoklimatik
PANGEA
Plate Tectonics
Integrates evidence from many branches of

science
First suggested based on evidence from
cartography, geology and paleontology
Fully embraced after evidence from
geophysical measurements
However, the proof of plate tectonics was a

long rambling road
Accumulating Evidence
Fossil record
Earth’s crust and mantle
Magnetism and the Earth’s
magnetic field
Paleomagnetism
Magnetic reversals
Polar wandering
The topography of the seafloor
Age of the seafloor
Seafloor spreading
Atlantic Coastline
300-400 years ago

(after accurate maps
became available) it
was noticed that the
coastline on both
sides of the Atlantic
could fit together
like a jigsaw puzzle
Fossil Record
In fact, there are matching fossil records that
span across all of the continents
Without continental drift, this is hard to explain
Magnetic Reversals
These magnetic reversals have occurred
though out the history of the Earth
They occur on an irregular basis ranging in
time from tens of thousands of years to
millions of years
Magnetic Striping on Seafloor
In the 1950s, the Atlantic

seafloor was found to
consist of alternating
stripes of normal and
reversely magnetized
rocks
Topography of the Atlantic
Also, in the 1950s, it

was discovered that an
underwater mountain
range ran north-south
in the middle of the
north Atlantic Ocean
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
rises as high as 2
kilometers (1.5 miles)
above the abyssal
plain
Topography of the Atlantic
It was eventually discovered that all of the oceans
have mid-oceanic ridges
Plates that Move
In 1965, the Canadian

Geologist, J. Tuzo Wilson
proposed the concept that
the crust of the Earth is a
mosaic of interacting plates
He called his hypothesis
plate tectonics
Plates that Move
Wilson explained that these

plates move relative to each
other
The continents ride on these
plates
Geologic features, such as
mountains, volcanoes and
earthquakes occur along the
plate boundaries
Plates that Move
There are 20 large and several micro tectonic plates
Plates Move Slowly
Plate movement is best described as chaotic
Each plate moves at a different speed and in
a different direction
Plates Move Slowly
Measured using GPS data
Most plates move from
about 15 to ~100
millimeters (1/2 to 4 inches)
per year
Or about the thickness of a
fingernail in one day
However, the Nazca Plate is
moving at ~150 mm (~4
inches) per year
Plate Boundaries
The red dots show that most major earthquakes
occur along plate boundaries
The black triangles show that volcanoes commonly
occur along plate boundaries
Plate motion causes earthquakes
3 Types of Plate Boundaries
Wilson proposed that tectonic plates interact in
three different ways along their boundaries
1. Transform 2. Divergent 3. Convergent
Divergent Plate Boundaries
Divergent plate boundaries usually start
within continents
They can grow to become ocean basin
Rifting occurs
where tensional
forces thin the
crust, magma
ascends and
volcanoes form
The crust is pulled

apart, forming a
valley
A long, narrow lake or sea forms
Eventually, an
expansive ocean
basin and ridge
are created
Can see the spreading

on the island of Iceland,
which sits on top of the
mid-Atlantic Ridge
Continental Rifts
Note that uprise and

decompression of the
underlying asthenosphere
results in magma
formation
The crust responds by
brittle fracture
Continental Rifts
Early rift sediments are

downfaulted into the
developing rift (which is
called a graben)
Erosion takes place on
the sides of the rift valley
Continental Rifts
Two examples are the

East African and Rio
Grande Rift Valleys
This can be the beginning
of ocean formation
(although it may not get
that far)
Rifting often begins at a
triple junction
East African Rift Zone
Perhaps the most interesting and spectacular
plate tectonic rift zone on the land surface
Ol Doinyo Lengai Ruwenzori

The East African Rift has a north-south
orientation with the African Plate moving to
the west and the Somali Subplate moving to
the east
A triple junction,
where three plates are
pulling away from one
another: the Arabian
Plate, and the two
parts of the African
Plate (the Nubian and
the Somalian) splitting
along the East African
Rift Zone
Is the Earth Expanding?
NO!
The Earth is maintaining a constant diameter

New crust is created at mid-oceanic ridges
The old crust sinks back into the Earth at
subduction zones along convergent plate
boundaries
Convergent Boundaries
There are three types of convergent plate
boundaries
Oceanic–Oceanic Japanese Islands

Oceanic–Continent Andes Mountains
Continent–Continent Himalaya Mountains
Convergent Boundaries
First we need to talk about the density of the rock
The continental crust is lighter and has an
average density of 2.8 g/cm3
The oceanic crust is heavier and has an average
density 3.2 g/cm3
Complicating things is that old oceanic crust is
more dense than young oceanic crust
Oceanic - Oceanic
When two oceanic plates
collide under the ocean, one
plate slides underneath the
other at a subduction zone
Oceanic - Oceanic
A deep trench forms along
the subduction zone
This is caused by the plate
sinking into the interior of
the Earth
Oceanic - Oceanic
Magma rises up along the subduction zone
creating volcanoes and forms volcanic island
arcs such as the Japanese Islands
Oceanic - Oceanic
What determines which oceanic plate sinks?
The older, more dense oceanic plate will sink
beneath the younger, less dense oceanic plate
Oceanic - Continent
When an oceanic plate
collides with a continental
plate, the oceanic plate
slides underneath the
continental plate
Oceanic - Continent
The heaver, more dense

oceanic plate sinks beneath
the lighter, less dense
continental plate
Oceanic - Continent
A deep trench forms along
the subduction zone
This is caused by the
oceanic plate sinking into
the interior of the Earth
Oceanic - Continent
The lighter continental
crust is pushed up and
forms a mountain range
Oceanic - Continent
Magma rises up along the subduction zone creating
volcanoes, which adds to the size of the mountains
and creates a continental volcanic arc
Andes Mountains
The Andes Mountains
stretch over 5500
miles along the Pacific
side of South America
Andes Mountains
The Andes Mountains

were and still are being
created by the Nazca
Plate colliding with the
South America Plate
Note that the continent
of South America is
essentially riding on
the South America
Plate
Continent - Continent
Most continental tectonic plates are formed

of rock with essentially the same density
So, when two continental plates collide,
one does not sink beneath the other
Instead, the two plates literally smash into
each other
The continental crust is deformed and
uplifted, creating mountains such as the
Himalaya Mountains
50 to 90 million years ago the continent of
India was an island a couple thousand miles
south of Asia
The continent of India is

riding on the Indian Plate
The Indian Plate has been
moving north for tens of
millions of year
Starting around 40-50 million
years, India began to ram into
the continent of Asia
As India smashed into Asia, the continental
crust of both India and Asia were pushed up
and deformed, creating what is currently the
greatest mountain range on Earth, the
Himalayas
Why?
Why is Mount Everest
over 29,000 feet high?
Because the continent
of India collided with
the continent of Asia
By the way, Mount
Everest, the highest
mountain on Earth, is
composed of
limestone rock, which
was created at the
bottom of the ocean
Transform Plate Boundaries
A transform fault plate boundary
occurs when two plate slide past
each other in opposite directions
The most famous
example is the San
Andreas Fault Zone
in California
The portion of
California in blue is
heading northwest
to Alaska
This is the most
studied fault zone
in the world
San Andreas Fault Zone
What Causes the Plates to Move
A driving force for plate tectonics
has not been definitely identified
Each plate weighs trillions upon
trillions of tons
Thought to be caused by the
convection of the mantle
Friction at base of the lithosphere
transfers energy from the
asthenosphere to the lithosphere
Convection may have overturned
the asthenosphere 4 to 6 times
Convection in the Mantle
Hot mantle material rises at the spreading mid-
oceanic ridges
Some of the magma erupts, but most spreads out
under the lithosphere and drags the crust along
Eventually, the slowly cooling material sinks
back into the mantle
An alternate hypothesis is that the convection
process may involve two convection layers
Or perhaps the convection process behaves
in a chaotic manner
Moving Continents
It is interesting to
speculate on how
the Earth looked as
the continents were
moved around...
50 Million Years A.D.
Or what the Earth will look like in 50 million years
250 Million Years A.D.
Or in 250 million years...

02b. Plate Tectonics

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02b. Plate Tectonics

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Pet roleum Geology:

From Mat ure Basins t o New Front iers

2b. Plate Tectonic

Published by The Geological Society

Teori yang mengatakan bahwa

Pada tahun 1912, Alferd Wegener seorang ahli

Bukti 1 : Kesesuaian Kontinen

Integrates evidence from many branches of

However, the proof of plate tectonics was a

300-400 years ago

In the 1950s, the Atlantic

Also, in the 1950s, it

In 1965, the Canadian

Wilson explained that these

1. Transform 2. Divergent 3. Convergent

The crust is pulled

A long, narrow lake or sea forms

Can see the spreading

Note that uprise and

Early rift sediments are

Two examples are the

Ol Doinyo Lengai Ruwenzori

The Earth is maintaining a constant diameter

Oceanic–Oceanic Japanese Islands

The heaver, more dense

The Andes Mountains

Most continental tectonic plates are formed

The continent of India is

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