theme 3. plate tectonics theory - jurnalul lui Ştefan · theme 3. plate tectonics theory 3.1....

Theme 3.

Plate tectonics theory

3.1. General principles

3.2. Mantle convection

3.3. Types of plate boundaries

The lithosphere is underlain by a plastic layer of the

mantle, the asthenosphere, over which the plates

can move.

Source: Understanding Earth – J.Grotzinger, T.H. Jordan, F. Press, R. Siever

The theory of plate tectonics describes:

-the movement of plates;

-the forces acting between them.

The theory of plate tectonics explains:

-continental drift;

-volcanoes;

-earthquakes;

-the distribution of mountain chains;

-rock assemblages;

-structures on the seafloor.

Continental drift

Source: Understanding Earth – J.Grotzinger,

T.H. Jordan, F. Press, R. Siever

Source: USGS

Source: internet

Source: USGS

Source: Understanding Earth –

J.Grotzinger, T.H. Jordan, F.

Press, R. Siever

Plate tectonics theory – by whom?

By the close of the

nineteenth century,

Eduard Suess hadEduard Suess had

put together some of

the pieces of the

puzzle.

Source: internet

Remarkable similarity of

rocks, geologic structures,

and fossils on opposite

sides of the Atlantic –

Alfred Wegener (1915)

In the early 1960s, Harry Hess and Robert Dietz proposed that the

crust separates along the rifts in mid-ocean ridges and that new

seafloor forms by upwelling of hot new crust into these cracks.

Source: internet

- by a group of geologists and other scientists.

The basic elements of the plate tectonics

theory were established by the end of 1968.

PANGAEA?

The general process, in which hotter material rises

and cooler material sinks, is called convection.

The general process, in which hotter material rises

and cooler material sinks, is called convection.

The convecting mantle and its overlying mosaic of

lithospheric plates constitute the plate tectonic system.

Source: USGS

theme 3. plate tectonics theory - jurnalul lui Ştefan · theme 3. plate tectonics theory 3.1....

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