Geography 12 Chapter 6: Plate Tectonics

Looking at a map of the world one can ask the obvious question Did the continents once fit together The answer of course is yes they did

Over 250 million years ago, all of the continents fit together as one supercontinent This was called Pangaea The incredible weight and size of the continental plates caused it to move not as a single unit but broken up into plates The asthenosphere is solid but the incredible heat causes it to act almost as a liquid The plates then 'float' on the surface They sometimes come into collision with other plate. The Himalayas were caused by one such collision When the Indian subcontinent collided with the Eurasian plate, the resulting

collision was the thrusting up of the continental boundary creating the mountain range known as the Himalayas The theory of isostasy also tells us that for as high as they are, they are also that deep Isostasy explains the collision in mountain forming. Collision thrusts up and down The heat from the mantle creates convection currents The explains the movement of the plates Since the ocean plates are closer to the crust than the continental plates, the ocean plates move sooner Ocean floor spreading is the term used to describe this movement We know this by dating the rock on the ocean floors The science that deals with the plate movement is called plate tectonics There are approximately 20 major plates These plates are in constant motion. The picture at the lower right corner shows a generalized movement of the plates There are many more smaller differences in the plate movement When two plates come up against each other, they can create seismic events The meeting of the plates is not always only one way Plates can collide, they can rub against each other, or the collision can be on an angle

These collisions of the plates are the major tectonic processes that help from the surface of the earth Folding When plates collide and when the two plates are a similar density, they can causes folding The mountain range in Iran called the Zagros is a good example of fold mountain process We will discuss fold mountains further in a later lesson Faulting Faulting occurs when plates "slide" past each other Major fault lines are areas of high seismic activity In North America, the San Andreas Fault is a well-known fault. It is because of this fault line that San Francisco is home to earthquakes of varying degrees Tremors are earthquakes of low severity

Vulcanism

Volcanoes are one of the earths most violent examples of plate tectonics It is where we come face to face with the heat and instability of the earth's interior Volcanic activity is located round plate boundaries The Pacific Ocean is surrounded by a ring of highly active volcanos This area is known as the Ring of Fire

Plate boundaries Most of the earth's mountain building is due to plate tectonics The only one that is not is mountain building through vulcanism. The older mountains are the smallest The Pyrenees in Europe are a very old mountain range This is evident from the low ,rounded tops on the mountains

There are three main types of plate boundaries They are converging, diverging and transform fault When two plates move towards each other we say they are converging The results of converging plate boundaries varies When two continental plates move together we get mountain building This was shown in the creation of the Himalayan mountain range This process occurs because the plates are of the same density When one of the plates is denser than the other, the heavier plate will sink under the lighter plate When the collision of an oceanic plate occurs with a continental plate, the heavier oceanic plate subducts under the continental plate This is called a subduction zone

Subduction zones are also areas of increased volcanic activity As the heavier plate is pushed under the light plate, it opens up areas where the molten rock of the mantle can seep upwards This erupts on the surface as volcanoes Diverging Plate Boundaries

Sometimes the plates are moving away from each other They are diverging When this occurs, the mantle is exposed allowing hot molten rock to come to the surface One of the most active areas for diverging plates is on the ocean floor As the plates move apart, molten rock rises to create a new floor At the fat end of the diverging plates, the plates are pushing into the continents creating subduction zones Occasionally this occurs on land The African Rift Valley is an example of this process In the ocean, these boundaries are responsible for a large number of deep sea vents Recently deep diving instruments and cameras have discovered a plethora of life in depths where it was once though the life and not exist Iceland is an example of divergent plate boundary construction Iceland is home to large thermo vents and high volcanic activity Island are constantly being created Transform Fault Lines When plats "slide" past one another they create areas called transform faults Since the earth and the plate boundaries are not smooth, the often produce earthquakes The San Andreas Fault is famous for its earthquakes This causes most devastating earthquake in San Francisco occurred in 1906 Sea Floor Spreading As science progresses we are able to explore further into the depths of the oceans We are discovering more about the tectonic activity that occurs in the ocean depths For example; did you know that there are mountains that make Everest like a hill? The longest and highest mountain range on the earth is not the Himalayas Running down the center of the Atlantic Ocean is the longest mountain range on earth Because it is so deep in the ocean, we never discovered it until the mid20th century The explanation as to why these vast ranges exist under the ocean is understood through plate tectonics The concept of sea-floor spreading explains the existence of the mountain ranges under the ocean and the subduction zones at the continental plate boundaries

Due to advances in underwater exploration technology we are learning much more about the structure of earth's interior We also discovered that the magnetic poles are shifting The magnetic north pole is moving. Tracking the North Magnetic Pole (Diagram: normal/reversed north/south pole) Evidence of this shift in the poles is found in the ocean floor Sea-floor spreading creates "bands" as the floor spreads from the center Why does the ocean floor spread from the center Carbon dating has shown the age of the bands It was discovered that the youngest rock was closer to the center The bands has also retained their magnetic polarity Because of this we know for certain that the earth's poles shift

The lithosphere

Magma is molten rock within the earth, lava is molten rock on the earths surface Magma bubbles up through openings in the ocean floor Since magma has been in a molten state or a long time, the grains of the rock material are very small. Unlike andesitic volcanoes the eruptions of basalt are less violent. Reasons for this include the low viscosity of the magma, the pulling apart of the plates and the thinness of the plates at the center. When these underwater volcanoes erupt, they produce pillow lava.

Nothing on the earth captures the imagination quite like a violent volcanic eruption. Volcanos and volcanic eruptions are usually violent, earth changing affairs that cause death and destruction. These eruptions however also lead to an explosion of life.

Vulcanism There are different types of volcanoes. Hawaii is home to some of the most spectacular volcanic activity. These one can witness volcanoes in a near constant state of eruption. Lava flows are frequent and the residents have learned to live side by side with these natural occurrences. In the next slide we will look at various types of volcanoes.

 Volcanoes fall into three categories 1) Extinct These are long dead volcanoes There is not fear of them erupting again in the future Reasons: the plate has moved past the hotspot that generated the volcano. Or the hotspot is no longer active (the thinning of the crust has ceased) Once a volcano becomes extinct it is open to the forces of erosion Since that magma is made of a very solid type of basalt, any remaining magma from the extinct volcano will be the last to erode. The softer cinder and earth will erode first leaving the hard interior of basalt remaining. This is often known as a volcanic neck Shiprock, New Mexico is an example of a volcanic neck The entrance to Morro Bay, California is an example of a volcanic plug. 2) Dormant These types of volcanoes are considered to be sleeping A dormant volcano always has the potential to become active. It is still located in an area of tectonic activity Famous formant volcanoes include Mt.Baker in Washington state, Mt.Fuji in Japan, and Mt. Etna in Italy. 3) Active Active volcanoes include almost every volcano that has had an eruption in recent human history Remember; geological time is different from human time

 The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy is still considered a recent event even though it occurred during the height of the Roman Empire. Vesuvius is an active volcano. (4) Formations Aa forms when lava flows rapidly, the gases in the lava are not released causing it to form a crust. Aa lava is very "viscous". Pahoehoe lava flows slowly. It is less viscous. Pahoehoe lava flows slowly. It is less viscous. Convergent plate boundaries volcanoes structure

Death by volcano

There are two main ways that volcanoes extinguish large numbers of lives The first is the pyroclastic flow The incredible heat, melted rock material and high viscosity wind can cause instant death of large numbers of people This was the cause in Italy and the Philippines

The other way is from the mud flow After the volcano explodes, all inorganic material is liquefied. It mixes with any water in the area including atmospheric moisture This mixes together like pancake batter and flows in a raging torrent down the slopes This is called a Laha

Faulting

The movement of tectonic plates occurs along fault lines These are areas where two different plates meet How they meet determines the type of fault that will result A result is a fracture along which movement occurs There are different types of faults

Fault Motion
1] DIP-SLIP FAULTS a) Normal Fault In a normal fault, the block above the fault moves down relative to the block below the fault. This fault motion is caused by tensional forces and results in extension. [Other names: normal-slip fault, tensional fault or gravity fault]

b) Reverse Fault In a reverse fault, the block above the fault moves up relative to the block below the fault. This fault motion is caused by compressional forces and results in shortening. A reverse fault is called a thrust fault if the dip of the fault plane is small. [Other names: thrust fault, reverse-slip fault or compressional fault]

2] STRIKE-SLIP FAULT In a strike-slip fault, the movement of blocks along a fault is horizontal. If the block on the far side of the fault moves to the left, as shown in this animation, the fault is called left-lateral. If the block on the far side moves to the right, the fault is called rightlateral. The fault motion of a strike-slip fault is caused by shearing forces. [Other names: transcurrent fault, lateral fault, tear fault or wrench fault]

3] OBLIQUE-SLIP FAULT Oblique-slip faulting suggests both dip-slip faulting and strike-slip faulting. It is caused by a combination of shearing and tension of compressional forces.

When two plates are pulling away from each other, the result is a rift valley The East African Rift Valley is one of the most famous Located in East Africa, the plates pulled apart to allow a Graben to form The steep valley sides caused many of the animal species to become trapped in the valley. When the two sections of the crust move apart and block falls between the two parts, this creates a rift valley The valley is formed in the graben.

Through compression, when two pieces of the crust are pushed together, the block between gets forced up This is a horst. One of the most unpredictable and most devastating types of faults are the transform faults These are devastating because the plates can become locked When they do release, they release with such force as the cause major earthquakes The most famous transform fault in North America is the fault along the San Andreas region of California Known as the San Andreas Fault, this fault has caused several major and minor earthquakes in the San Francisco Region (Picture: San Andreas Fault)

Fold Mountains

Fold mountains are formed when two plates move together (a compressional plate margin) The movement of two plates forces sedimentary rocks upwards into a series of folds There are two types of fold mountains: young fold mountains (10 to 25 million years of age, e.g. Rockies and Himalayas) and old fold mountains( over 200 million years of ages, e.g. Urals and Appalachians of the USA) Because fold mountains are formed with sedimentary rocks, they can trap great deposits of fossil fuels Where the rocks are flooded upwards, they are called anticlines Where the rocks are folded downwards, they are called synclines Severely folded and faulted rocks are called nappes

Tsunamis

All of this tectonic activity has an effect on the water that sits in our oceans Underground earthquakes can cause ripples which increase in size until they become the deadly force known as a tsunami These massive water events cause great loss of life and properties

The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by an earthquake that is though to have had the energy of 23000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. The violent movement of sections of the Earth's crusts known as tectonic plates displaced an enormous amount of water, sending powerful shock waves in every direction. The tectonic plates in this area had been pushing against echo term building pressure for thousands years - they continue to do so and will likely cause underwater earthquakes and tsunamis in the future The shifting of the earth's plates in the Indian Ocean on Dec 26. 2004 caused a rupture more than 600 miles long, displacing the seafloor above the rupture by perhaps 10 yards horizontally and several yards vertically. As a result, trillions of tons of rocks were moved along hundreds of miles and caused the planet to shredder with the largest magnitude earthquake in 40 years. The earthquake-induced tsunami resulted in at least 155,000 fatalities, 500,000 injuries, and damages that exceeded $10 billion. Also, it is estimated that 5 million people lost their home or access to food and water.

Plate Interiors

Not all of the earth is under constant threat from tectonic activity The further one gets from the one of plate collision, the less tectonic activity one experience These areas are called cratons They are located deep within a plate, far from the area of collision or subduction The theory is that these areas have long since passed their period of movement They are the oldest parts of the continents They go back to when there was only one large supercontinent called Pangaea We spoke of this earlier Eventually the tectonic activity led to the break-up of this supercontinent First, it split along the equator The split created two supercontinents called Laurasia and Gondwanaland Eventually the tectonic activity continued to create the continents that we have today