Earth Structure & Plate

Tectonics
 Structure of the Earth
Mantle
• The Earth is made
up of 3 main Outer core
layers: Inner core
– Core
– Mantle
– Crust
Crust
The Layers of the Earth
 The Crust
• This is where we live!

• The Earth’s crust is made of:

Continental Crust Oceanic Crust

- thick (10-70km) - thin (~7 km)
- less dense than - Dense
oceanic crust - young
- mostly old
• The Earth has two different types of crust:
Continental crust and Oceanic crust. Each has
different properties and therefore behaves in
different ways.
• Continental crust:
• Continental crust forms the land (the continents, as
the name suggests) that we see today.
• Continental crust averages about 35 km thick. Under some
mountain chains, crustal thickness is approximately twice
that thickness (about 70 km thick).
- Continental crust is less dense and therefore more buoyant
than oceanic crust
- Continental crust contains some of the oldest rocks on Earth.
- Oceanic crust:
- this crust is below the oceans.
- Compared to continental crust, Oceanic crust is thin (6-
11 km).
- It is more dense than continental crust and therefore
when the two types of crust meet, oceanic crust will
sink underneath continental crust.
- The rocks of the oceanic crust are very young compared
with most of the rocks of the continental crust. They
are not older than 200 million years.
 The Lithospheric Plates

The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called plates.
The plates "float" on the soft, semi-rigid asthenosphere.
 The Lithosphere
The crust and the upper layer of the
mantle together make up a zone of rigid,
brittle rock called the Lithosphere.
The Asthenosphere

The asthenosphere is the

semi-rigid part of the middle
mantle that flows like hot
asphalt under a heavy
weight.
The Mantle
The Mantle is the
largest layer of the Earth.
The middle mantle is
composed of very hot
dense rock that flows like
asphalt under a heavy
weight. The movement of
the middle mantle
(asthenosphere) is the
reason that the crustal
plates of the Earth move.
Convection Currents
The middle mantle
"flows" because of
convection currents.
Convection currents are
caused by the very hot
material at the deepest
part of the mantle
rising, then cooling and
sinking again --repeating
this cycle over and over.
The Outer Core
The core of the Earth
is like a ball of very
hot metals. The
outer core is so
hot that the metals
in it are all in the
liquid state. The
outer core is
composed of the
melted metals of
nickel and iron.
The Inner Core

The inner core of the

Earth has
temperatures and
pressures so great that
the metals are
squeezed together
and are not able to
move about like a
liquid, but are forced
to vibrate in place like
a solid.
 How do we know what the Earth is
made of?
• Geophysical surveys: seismic, gravity, magnetics,
electrical, geodesy
– Acquisition: land, air, sea and satellite
– Geological surveys: fieldwork, boreholes, mines
If we can’t go to the centre of the Earth (except in fictional
movies!) how do we know what the internal structure of the
Earth is like?
•We need to use geophysical imaging techniques to model
what is going on below our feet.
•For example, when there is an earthquake it sends out
seismic waves (shock waves) through the Earth.
Seismologists can measure the time it takes for these waves
to reach seismic monitoring stations set up around the globe.
(The machine that measures seismic waves is called a
seismometer).
•The different layers in the earth have been inferred using the
time of travel of refracted and reflected (bent backward
angularly) seismic waves created by the earthquakes (see left
diagram). That is, changes in the seismic velocity occur as the
waves pass through different materials. Measuring these
changes tell seismologists how many layers there are and the
thickness and physical properties of each layer.
•We need not wait for earthquakes to occur, on a local scale
on land (cheap but slow methods) and at sea (more
expensive but quicker) explosions can be set to cause shock
waves to pass through the crust (simulating an earthquake)
that can be measured in the same way.

•Other geophysical methods, for example measuring

different gravity, magnetic and electrical anomalies by air
and (or) satellite can help to reconstruct shallow crustal
features.
•We can also go and examine rocks at and near the surface
of the crust, through fieldwork, drilling boreholes and
mining.
What is Plate Tectonics?
• If you look at a map of the world, you may notice that some of the
continents could fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
 Plate Tectonics
• The Earth’s crust is divided into 12 major plates
which are moved in various directions.
• This plate motion causes them to collide, pull
apart, or scrape against each other.
• Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set
of Earth structures or “tectonic” features.
• The word, tectonic, refers to the deformation of
the crust as a consequence of plate interaction.
World Plates
 Plate Movement
• “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by the
underlying hot mantle convection cells
What happens at tectonic plate
boundaries?
 Three types of plate boundary
• Divergent

• Convergent

• Transform
 Divergent Boundaries

• Spreading ridges
– As plates move apart new material is erupted
to fill the gap
•In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary is a linear
feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are
moving away from each other. These areas can form in
the middle of continents or on the ocean floor.

•As the plates pull apart, hot molten material can rise up
this newly formed pathway to the surface - causing
volcanic activity.

•Where a divergent boundary forms on a continent it is

called a RIFT or CONTINENTAL RIFT, e.g. African Rift
Valley.

•Where a divergent boundary forms under the ocean it

is called an OCEAN RIDGE.
 Convergent Boundaries
Convergent boundaries are where the plates
move towards each other.
There are three types of convergent boundary,
each defined by what type of crust (continental
or oceanic) is coming together.
• Three styles of convergent plate boundaries
– Continent-continent collision
– Continent-oceanic crust collision
– Ocean-ocean collision
 Continent-Continent Collision
• Forms mountains, e.g. European Alps, Himalayas
• When continental crust pushes against
continental crust both sides of the convergent
boundary have the same properties.
• Neither side of the boundary wants to sink
beneath the other side, and as a result the
two plates push against each other and the
crust buckles and cracks, pushing up (and
down into the mantle) high mountain ranges.
• For example, the European Alps and
Himalayas formed this way.
Himalayas
 Continent-Oceanic Crust Collision
• Called SUBDUCTION
• At a convergent boundary where continental crust pushes against
oceanic crust, the oceanic crust which is thinner and more dense
than the continental crust, sinks below the continental crust.
• This is called a Subduction Zone.
• The oceanic crust descends into the mantle at a rate of centimetres
per year. This oceanic crust is called the “Subducting Slab” (see
diagram).
• When the subducting slab reaches a depth of around 100
kilometres, it dehydrates and releases water into the overlying
mantle wedge.
• The addition of water into the mantle wedge changes the melting
point of the molten material there forming new melt which rises up
into the overlying continental crust forming volcanoes.

• Subduction is a way of recycling the oceanic crust. Eventually the

subducting slab sinks down into the mantle to be recycled. It is for
this reason that the oceanic crust is much younger than the
continental crust which is not recycled.
Subduction

• Oceanic lithosphere subducts

underneath the continental
lithosphere
• Oceanic lithosphere heats and
dehydrates as it subsides
• The melt rises forming
volcanism
• E.g. The Andes
 Ocean-Ocean Plate Collision
• When two oceanic plates collide, one runs over the other
which causes it to sink into the mantle forming a
subduction zone.
• The subducting plate is bent downward to form a very
deep depression in the ocean floor called a trench.
• The worlds deepest parts of the ocean are found along
trenches.
– E.g. The Mariana Trench is 11 km deep!
 Transform Boundaries
• Where plates slide past each other

Above: View of the San Andreas

transform fault
• The third type of boundary are transform
boundaries, along which plates slide past each
other.

• The San Andreas fault, adjacent to which the

US city of San Francisco is built is an example
of a transform boundary between the Pacific
plate and the North American plate.
Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics…

• …what’s the connection?

Volcanoes are formed by:
- Subduction - Rifting - Hotspots
• Volcanoes can be formed in three ways:
1. Via subduction. The subducting slab
dehydrates to form new melt that will rise
through the crust to be erupted at the surface.
2. Via rifting. When two plates pull apart magma
rises, producing volcanic eruptions at the
surface.
3. At “Hotspots”….hotspot do not necessarily
occur along a plate boundary. So hotspot
volcanoes can form in the middle of tectonic
plates.
 What are Hotspot Volcanoes?
• Hot mantle plumes breaching the surface in
the middle of a tectonic plate

The Hawaiian island chain are examples

of hotspot volcanoes.
Photo: Tom Pfeiffer / www.volcanodiscovery.com
• Firstly, what are hotspot volcanoes and how do they form?

• A hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has

experienced active volcanism for a long period of time.
• The source of this volcanism is a mantle plume of hot mantle
material rising up from near the core-mantle boundary through
the crust to the surface (see left diagram).
• A mantle plume may rise at any location in the mantle, and
this is why hotspot volcanoes are independent from tectonic
plate boundaries.

• The Hawaiian island chain are an example of hotspot

volcanoes (see right photograph).
 The tectonic plate moves over a fixed hotspot forming a chain of
volcanoes.

The volcanoes get younger from one end to the other.

Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics…

• …what’s the connection?

• As with volcanoes, earthquakes are not
randomly distributed over the globe

Figure showing the

distribution of
earthquakes
around the globe

• At the boundaries between plates, friction

causes them to stick together. When built up
energy causes them to break, earthquakes occur.
Where do earthquakes form?

Figure showing the tectonic setting of earthquakes

 Plate Tectonics Summary
• The Earth is made up of 3 main layers (core,
mantle, crust)
• On the surface of the Earth are tectonic plates
that slowly move around the globe
• Plates are made of crust and upper mantle
(lithosphere)
• There are 2 types of plate
• There are 3 types of plate boundaries
• Volcanoes and Earthquakes are closely linked to
the margins of the tectonic plates