Synthèse Unit 3

Leçon 1 - 6

A) The earth’s structure and composition

- The earth’s crust and the rigid layer of the mantle that is connected to the
crust are together called LITHOSPHERE (fr/ litosphère).

- The earth lithosphere is broken like and eggshell into large parts called
TECTONIC PLATES (fr/ plaques tectoniques). These plates move around
on top of a layer of the mantle called ASTHENOSPHERE (fr/ asthénosphère)

- The earth’s surface and its geological features, such as mountains,

earthquakes and volcanoes, are all caused by movements of tectonic plates.
- Heat and pressure from the earth can squeeze and deform rock into
metamorphic rock. The rock gets hot and becomes just soft enough thaht it
deforms with intense pressure.

- Metamorphic rock can be melted by the hot temperatures deep indide the
earth near the core to form magma.

- Magma then rises close to the earth’s surface is cooled and hardened back
into igneous rock.

- Igneous rock = rock formed by cooling magma.

B) Continental Drift (fr/ Dérives des continents)

Alfred Wegner, a german meteorologist came up with a theory of CONTINENTAL
DRIFT to explain why some continents like South America and Africa seem to fit
together pretty well. Wegner suggests that originally these continents were
connected as a huge landmass called PANGEA (fr/ Pangéee) 225 million years ago.
Scientists have since found fossils of dinosaurs and plants as well as similar rocks on
the eastern coast of South America and the western coast of Africa.

C) Tectonic Plates Movement

CONVECTION currents is the cycling of heat that drags the tectonic plates around.
There are 2 types of plates :
- OCEANIC PLATES : Denser and thinner
- CONTINENTAL PLATES : Less dense and thicker
There are 3 types of BOUNDARIES (fr/ Frontières) where the edges of plates meet.

1) DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES (fr/ Frontière divergentes)

This happens when 2 plates move apart, magma from the mantle gets pushed up
and forms new crust to fill the gaps between the plates. This magma is less dense
than the surrounding area, so it lifts up ans forms ridges in the seafloor. Plates that
move apart can also form rift valleys
The divergent boundaries explain the theory of SEAFLOOR SPREADING. Scientists
found that rocks were older as they got farther from ocean ridges, which support the
idea that new rock is formed at the ridges. As plates along the ocean bed spread
apart, hot magma is forced upward and flows through the cracks, forming ridges.

2 divergent oceanic plates.

2 divergent continental plates

2) CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES (fr/ Frontière convergentes)

This happens when 2 plates are moving toward each other.
Massive earthquakes occur along these boundaries, ofter deep under the crust.
When an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide, the denser oceanic plate sinks
into the mantle under the continental plate.This process is called SUBDUCTION.
The rock around the subducting slab malts into magma. Magma is not as dense as
the solid rock of the crust, so it rises to the surface, creating a volcano. When magma
reaches the surface, it is called LAVA (fr : lave)

When 2 continental plates collide, because they are of equal density, one doesn’t get
subducted. Instead, the crust get compressed into each other, forming folds and
crumples, which we see as MOUNTAINS
When 2 oceanic plates collide, wichever plate is older (end therefore colder and
denser) will sink underneath the younger (and therefore warmer and less dense)
plate.
This will creates UNDERWATER VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS at frist because
underwater volcanic eruptions will build mounds under water. As more lava piles up,
eventually the mountain reaches the water’s surface, forming a VOLCANIC ISLAND

3) TRANSFORM BOUNDARIES (fr/ Frontières transformantes)

When plates slide past each other in different directions, their edges can scrape,
causing EARTHQUAKES (fr/ Tremblements de terre). Places like that that
experience frequent earthquakes, like California, are located on top of plate
boundaries.
Plate sliding past each other can also form FAULTS (fr/ Failles), or enormous
fractures in the rock bed.

SUMMARY