Plate Tectonics

EARTH; once upon a time

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

How did it form to the current day earth?

Tectonics Plates

• Earth’s crust is now broken to several pieces

called crustal or tectonic plates

• Each plate has an average thickness of 100km

and is composed of both continental and

oceanic crust

• Plate movement results in various landform

appearance

Tectonics Plates

• 9 major plates have been identified:

Eurasian plate

Philippine plate

Indo-Australian plate

Pacific plate

North American plate

African plate

South American plate

Nazca plate

Antarctic plate

Causes of Plate

Movements• Convection currents in

the athenosphere

• Currents circulate near the

base of the lithosphere,

cause drag on the bottom

of the plates, causing them

to move over the surface of

the Earth. http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0805/es0805page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

• As the plates move, they interact with each other

at their boundaries.

• 3 types of boundaries:

Divergent Plate Boundaries

Convergent Plate Boundaries

Transform Fault Boundaries

Plate movements and boundaries

Divergent Plate Boundaries

Plate movements and boundaries

Convergent Plate Boundaries

Plate movements and boundaries

Transform Fault Boundaries

Plate movements and boundaries

Divergent Plate Boundaries

• Zones of Tension

• Occurs mostly beneath oceans, few occur within

continents

• Convection currents diverge (moving apart), the

plates are pulled apart

• Magma from mantle wells up to fill gap between

separating plates.

• Cooling and solidification of magma on earth’s

surface

• Constructive margins formed, where new sea floor

(ocean crust )is generated.

• New sea floor appears as series of ridges

• Sea floor spreading occurs

– As plate pulls apart again and new cracks appear,

more magma rises to fill gaps creating more sea

floor

Divergent Plate Boundaries

• Rocks found further away from ridge proves that new

sea floor is created continuously

• Example of divergent plate boundary : Mid-Atlantic

Ridge, East African Rift Valley

http://whs.moodledo.co.uk/file.php/1365/EarthSystems/Earth%20Systems/Rift%20Valleys%20to%20Oceans.swf

MAGMA

OLDER ROCKS YOUNGER ROCKS OLDER ROCKS

RIDGES

Divergent Plate Boundaries

• Zones of Compression

• Convection currents converge (coming

together), the plates come together

• Three types of convergent boundaries

Oceanic and Continental plate collide

Oceanic and Oceanic plates converge

Continental and Continental plates collide

Convergent Plate Boundaries

• Known as destructive margins

• Continental plate which is less dense will ride over

oceanic plate

• Oceanic plate Subducts (forced downwards the

mantle), forming a deep elongated trough (ocean

trench)

• Volcanoes form in subduction zone

• As oceanic plates sink deeper, it gradually melts and

becomes magmahttp://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0804/es0804page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

Oceanic-Continental

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0804/es0804page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

Oceanic-Continental

• Less dense oceanic plate ride over more dense

oceanic plate

• More dense oceanic plate subducts, formation of

ocean trench

• Magma is force through overriding oceanic plate,

forming a chain of volcanic islands

• Example: line of islands running from the Aleutians,

Japan and down through Philippines

Oceanic-OCEANIC

Oceanic-OCEANIC

• Collision results in massive land form

• No Subduction

• Fold Mountain Range tend to form

• Example: the Himalayan Fold Mountain Range

Continental-Continental

Continental-Continental

• Also known as conservative margins

• Two plates slide past each other

• Fault-line created

Fault-line

Continental PlateContinental

Plate or Oceanic Plate

Transform fault boundaries

• Example of a transform fault boundary is the San

Andreas Fault

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0804/es0804page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

Transform fault boundaries

Results of Plate Movements

• Folding and Faulting

• Earthquakes

• Volcanoes

• When 2 plates collide, the rock strata (layers) will

bend and warp as they are compressed

• Features of folding: Synclines (downfold) and

anticlines (upfold)

Folding

SYNCLINEANTICLINE

• Place where rock strata band over is called hinge

line

• The rock strata on either sides of the hinge is

called limbsLIMBS

LIMBS

HINGE LINE

Folding

• Types of fold :

• Symmetrical fold – both limbs of equal gradient

• Assymmetrical fold- one limb steeper than the other

• Recumbent fold- Limbs are nearly parallel

• Overthrust old- One limb pushed forward so forcefully

that the rocks may fracture, and it overrides the other

limb. When the overriding limb becomes detached

from the main fold, it is called a nappe

Folding

SYMMETRICAL ASYMMETRICAL NAPPERECUMBENT

Folding

• Large scale folding will lead to formation of Fold

Mountains

• Examples of fold mountains:

The Himalayas

The Andes

The Zagros of Iran

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1105/es1105page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

Folding

• Displaces rocks along a crack or fault line

• Occurs in 3 ways:

• Normal fault

• Reverse fault

• Tear fault

• Can give rise to block mountains and rift valleys

Faulting

• When rock strata are under tension caused by

forces acting in opposite directions

• Tension causes the rock strata to stretch and

crack, developing a normal fault

• One block of land then moves down

(downthrown block) to form an escarpment

• Example: The Tenton Mountain in Wyoming

USA

Normal fault

NORMAL FAULTS

• When rock strata are compressed

• Forces pushing towards each other causes the rock

strata to fold, giving rise to reverse fault

• One block of land moves up (upthrown block)

against the direction of the fault, creating an

overhanging scarp

• The overhanging scarp collapses due to gravity,

weathering and erosion, and produce a gentler slope

• Example: Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

Reverse fault

RESULT FAULTS

• Also known as wrench fault or strike-slip

fault

• When plates slip past each other horizontally

• Tensional or compressional forces act on the

rock strata giving rise to tear faults

• Big tear faults are known as transcurrent

faults

• Example: San Andreas Fault in the United

States

Tear fault

TEAR FAULT

• Block raised between 2 parallel fault lines is

called a block mountain

• If surface is horizontal, it is termed as a horst

• if block is tilted, it is termed tilt block

• Examples of faulted blocks:

• Hawkes bay in New Zealand

Block Mountains

HORST

• Also known as a graben

• Formation can be due to:

land between two parallel lines sink

land on either side of the two parallel lines are

unpthrown above the central block of land

two plates pull apart

• Example:

The East African Rift Valley

The Red Sea

Rift valleys

GRABEN

http://www.iris.washington.edu/gifs/animations/faults.htm http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1103/es1103page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

• Vibrations in earth’s crust caused by sudden release of

energy

• Energy released in the form of seismic waves and

that radiate out from the epicentre

• Point below the epicentre is called the point of origin

where the earthquake originated from

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/animations/earthquakes/index.html

Earthquakes

• Two types of seismic waves:

• P- waves (Compression waves)

alternately compress and release rocks in the direction

the waves are moving

• S- waves (Shear waves)

move rocks perpendicularly to the direction the waves

are moving

Earthquakes

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1002/es1002page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

Earthquakes

• Major earthquake zones:

• Pacific Ring of Fire -Along the edge of the Pacific

Ocean

• Trans-Eurasian Belt –Where the Indo-Australian Plate

and African Plate meet the Eurasian Plate

Earthquakes

Earthquakes

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1005/es1005page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization http://www.classicalarchives.com/eq/

• Displacement of earth’s crust

• When earthquakes occur in the ocean floor:

Tsunamis (huge tidal waves)

• Devastation of cities and loss of lives

EFFECTS OF Earthquakes

MOUNT DOOMLORD OF THE RINGS

VOLCANOES

volcanoes

• Found along plate boundaries or hotspots

• Can be found on land or under water

• Volcanoes on land : often form flat cones and

the expulsions build up over the years.

• Volcanoes under water: often form rather

steep pillars and in due time break the ocean

surface in new islands.

volcanoes

• Vulcanicity: when magma is forced towards

earth’s surface from within the earth

• Hotspot volcanoes: where the location has

vulcanism for a long period of time

• Example of hotspot volcano: Java Island in

Indonesia

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0904/es0904page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

volcanoes

• Most volcanoes on the land are formed at

destructive plate margins:

• Oceanic crust melt, reduced density force the

newly formed magma to rise.

• As magma rises it rises up through weak areas in

the continental crust, eventually erupting as one

or more volcanoes.

volcanoes

• For example, Mount St. Helens is found inland

from the margin between the oceanic Juan de

Fuca Plate and the continental North American

Plate.

volcanoes

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0902/es0902page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

References.• http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/pangaea.gif • http://www.cotf.edu/ete/images/modules/msese/earthsysflr/EFPlateP2.gif • http://www.oera.net/How2/PlanetTexs/EarthMap_2500x1250.jpg • http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/wedges/images/plat.gif• http://stloe.most.go.th/html/lo_index/LOcanada4/403/images/4_1.jpg• http://lacreekfreak.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/wsci_03_img0412-san-andreas-fault1.jpg• http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/geologic_story_of_yosemite/images/28.jpg• http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/pltec/ocnvsocn289x151.gif• http://www.adventure-india-tour.com/about-himalayas/gifs/himalayan-mountain-ranges.jpg• http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/pltec/converge.html• http://dl.coastline.edu/classes/telecourses/geology100/IntroLecture_files/image005.jpg• http://depts.washington.edu/explore/images/maps/250px-Pangaea_continents.png• http://www.sedl.org/scimath/pasopartners/dinosaurs/continent2.gif• http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_osP51C3atIY/Rf7Z34zK7PI/AAAAAAAAAr4/F2WdWu92P0g/s200/oceanic-subd-ridge.png• http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/students/grunz/antsyn.gif• http://www.whoi.edu/cms/images/s-p_waves_73570.jpg• http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff24/terryhallinan/800px-Pacific_Ring_of_Fire-1-1.png• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/volcano/gifs/ringoffirecolor.GIF • http://facweb.bhc.edu/academics/science/harwoodr/GEOL101/study/Images/ReverseFault.gif• http://facweb.bhc.edu/academics/science/harwoodr/GEOL101/study/Images/HorstGraben_2.gif• http://www.geocities.com/yingzyingz/faulttear.gif• http://facweb.bhc.edu/academics/science/harwoodr/GEOL101/study/Images/NormalFault.gif• http://www.tinynet.com/faultimages/graben.gif• http://www.3mfuture.com/images/tsunami_wave_coming_now_too_late.jpg• http://depts.washington.edu/qrc/mht1.jpg• http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/volcanoes2.gif• http://www.tolkienforums.com/Mount_Doom.jpg • http://www.malapascua.de/Volcanoe-Map/Mayon__Philippines/Vulkan_MAYON-3/Mayon_Volcano_Eruption_by_Night.jpg

The End.