Plate Tectonics

November 24, 2018

Theory of Continental Drift
 Continental Drift
• Originally speculated by
Dutch cartographer Abraham
Ortelius in 1596. It was
further developed by Alfred
Wegener in 1912.
• Wegener proposed that
modern-day continents once
fitted into a single, massive
super-continent called
Pangaea (or Pangea).
 Evidences for Continental Drift
• Jigsaw fits for some
continents
 Evidences for Continental Drift
• Biological evidences:
• Matching fossils on
continents now located
thousands of kilometers
apart.
 Evidences for Continental Drift
• Matching mountain
ranges on one
continent end at the
coast and appear to
continue on a different
continent.
 Evidences for Continental Drift
• Matching geologic
structures including
mountain chains, ore
deposits, and rocks
having same features,
and age.
 Evidences for Continental Drift
• Climate change
evidence, such as
glacial deposits at the
present-day equator,
fossilized palm trees
in Greenland
 People did not believed on
Wegener
• What could possible •After all, he was a
force the continents to meteorologist, and not a
move across the ocean geologist.
floor in this way? They
would probably be
crushed.
 1950s and 1960s
• World War II
submarines using
SONAR found
mountains under the
oceans, called mid-
ocean ridges.
 1950s and 1960s
• Sea floor drilling showed rocks younger than
expected and youngest towards the center of the
mid-ocean ridge.
• Suggested by Dr. Harry Hess from Princeton
University in 1962.
 Theory of Sea Floor
Spreading
• Occurs at mid-ocean ridges.
• New oceanic crusts are formed through volcanic
activity, and then gradually moves from the ridge,
effectively pushes away older rocks from the ridge.
Structure of the Earth
Structure of the Earth
• The Earth is made up Mantle

of 3 main layers:
Outer core
• Core
Inner core
• Mantle
• Crust

Crust
The Crust
Oceanic crust is mainly
basalt and dolerite, usually
5-10 km thick, forming all
the ocean floors. It is
created and destroyed at the
plate boundaries.
Continental crust is mainly granite and gneiss, some 20-80 km thick, of
lower density than oceanic crust. It forms all the continents, submerged
continental shelves and adjacent islands.
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
Theory of 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 theory of plate tectonics describes the large-scale
motion of large plates and movements of smaller plates
in the earth’s lithosphere.
• The theory was built on the concept of continental drift,
and upon validation with the sea floor spreading, the
plate tectonics is considered the unifying theory of
geology.
• This was proposed by Tuzo Wilson, a Canadian geologist,
in late 1960s.
 Plate Tectonics
• A plate is one of the numerous rigid sections of the
lithosphere that moves as a unit over the material of
the asthenosphere.
• There are two major physical classifications of
plates; namely, continental and oceanic plates.
 Plate Boundaries
• Tectonic plates currently exist on the earth’s surface
with roughly definable boundaries.
• These plate boundaries have four types:
• Transform plate boundaries
• Divergent plate boundaries
• Convergent plate boundaries
• Plate boundary zones
 Transform Plate Boundaries
• Transform plate
boundaries
(conservative) are
margins where two
plates grind past each
other without the
production or
destruction of the
lithosphere.
 Divergent Plate Boundaries
• Divergent plate
boundaries
(constructive) are
margins where two
plates slide apart from
each other.
 Convergent Plate Boundaries
• Convergent plate
boundaries
(destructive) also
known as active
margins, are margins
where two plates slide
toward each other, to
form either of the • Subduction zone when one plate
following: moves underneath the other
• Continental collision when two
plates stitched or “sutured” together.
World Plates
Tectonic plates are
subdivided into three
categories:
• Major plates (primary)
– having more than
20M km2 area
• Minor plates
(secondary) – less
than 20M km2 but
greater than 1M km2
• Microplates (tertiary)
– less than 1M km2
World Plates
List of major plates:
1. Pacific Plate – 103.3M sq. km.
2. North American Plate –
75.9M sq. km.
3. Eurasian Plate – 67.8M sq.
km.
4. African Plate – 61.3M sq. km.
5. Antarctic Plate – 60.9M sq.
km.
6. Australian Plate – 47M sq.
km.
7. South American Plate – 43.6
sq. km.
World Plates
List of minor plates:
1. Somali Plate
2. Nazca Plate
3. Philippine Plate
4. Arabian Plate
5. Caribbean Plate
6. Cocos Plate
7. Caroline Plate
8. Scotia Plate
9. Burma Plate
10.New Hebrides Plate
What are tectonic plates made of?

• Plates are made of

rigid lithosphere.

The lithosphere is made up

of the crust and the upper
part of the mantle.
What lies beneath the tectonic plates?

• Below the
lithosphere (which
makes up the
tectonic plates) is
the asthenosphere.
Plate Movement
• “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by the
underlying hot mantle convection cells
Actions at Plate Boundaries
 Divergent Plate Boundaries
• Ocean ridges are
continuous elevated
zones on the floor of all
major ocean basins. The
rifts at the crest of
ridges represent
divergent plate
boundaries.
 Divergent Plate Boundaries
• Rift valleys are deep
faulted structures found
along the axes of
divergent plate
boundaries. They can
develop on the sea floor
or on land.
 Convergent Plate Boundaries
• Oceanic-continental
subduction zones
happen when a denser
oceanic slab sinks into
the asthenosphere, or
under a continental
plate. This produces
continental volcanic
arcs.
 Convergent Plate Boundaries
• Oceanic-oceanic
subduction zones
happen when two
oceanic slabs converge
and one descends
beneath the other. This
produces volcanic
island arcs as volcanoes
emerge from the sea.
 Convergent Plate Boundaries
• Continental-continental
subduction zones
happen when
subducting plates
contain continental
material, or when two
continental plates
collide. This produces
mountain ranges.
Evidences for Plate Tectonics
 Evidence for Plate Tectonics
•Earthquake patterns
• Scientists found a close link between deep-
focus earthquakes and ocean trenches.
• The absence of deep-focus earthquakes along
the oceanic ridge system was shown to be
consistent with the theory.
 Evidence for Plate Tectonics
•Ocean drilling
• The data on the ages of sea floor sediment
confirmed what the sea floor spreading
hypothesis predicted.
• The youngest oceanic crust is at the ridge
crest, and the oldest oceanic crust is at the
continental margins.
 Evidence for Plate Tectonics
•Hot spots
• A hot spot is a concentration of heat in the
mantle capable of producing magma, which
rises to earth’s surface.
• Hot spot evidence supports that the plates
move over the earth’s surface.
 SUMMARY

MAIN CAUSE OF
EARTH QUAKE
 IT’S THE
CONVECTION
PROCESS
QUESTION AND
ANSWER
FORUM