2

PLATE
TECTONICS
 TECTONICS

 the process that controls the

structure and properties of
the Earth's crust and its
evolution through time
 THEORIES ABOUT THE
CHANGING GEOGRAPHY
AND SURFACE
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE
EARTH
1. Contraction Theory
• Before the concept of plate
tectonics, global cooling was
a geophysical theory by James
Dwight Dana, also referred to as
the contracting earth theory.
• It suggested that the Earth had
been in a molten state, and
features such as mountains
formed as it cooled and shrank.
As the interior of the Earth cooled
and shrank, the rigid crust would
have to shrink and crumple. The
crumpling could produce features
such as mountain ranges.
1. Contraction Theory
 This theory assumed
that all of the features
on Earth had formed
during one cooling
event and that the
planet was relatively
static, changing little as
the cooling and
wrinkling slowly takes
place over millions of
years.
ALFRED LOTHAR WEGENER

 A German
meteorologist and
geophysicist (1880-
1930) who
formulated the first
complete statement
of the continental
drift hypothesis.
2. CONTINENTAL DRIFT
THEORY
 2. CONTINENTAL DRIFT
THEORY
•In 1912, Alfred Wegener proposed
a theory that the continents had
once been joined, and over time
had drifted apart.
•He presented examples where
fossils of exactly the same
prehistoric species were distributed
in other continents.
PANGAEA
PANGAEA
 PANGAEA

Pangaea is a hypothetical supercontinent that

included all current land masses, believed to have
been in existence before the continents broke apart
during the Triassic and Jurassic Periods.
PANGAEA
PERMIAN PERIOD
250 million years ago

TRIASSIC PERIOD
200 million years ago

JURASSIC PERIOD
145 million years ago

CRETACEOUS PERIOD
65 million years ago

PRESENT DAY
• 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.
Pangaea was about 200 million years ago, before it
began breaking up.
Wegener named the southern portion of Pangaea
Gondwana, and the northern portion Laurasia.
 Laurasia is the name given to the largely northern
supercontinent that is thought to have formed most
recently during the late Mesozoic era, North America,
Africa and Asia (except peninsular India) are its
continents. Its existence was proposed by Alexander
Logie Du Toit, a South African geologist.
 Gondwana is the southern supercontinent that
broke up about 180 million years ago. The continent
eventually split into landmasses we recognize today:
Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the
Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula.
 3. SEAFLOOR SPREADING
THEORY
• Seafloor spreading is a geologic
process where there is a gradual
addition of new oceanic crust in the
ocean floor through a volcanic
activity while moving the older
rocks away from the mid-oceanic
ridge.
• It was proposed by an American
Picture from USGS
geophysicist, Harry Hammond Hess
in 1960. By the use of the sonar,
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/HHH.html

Hess was able to map the ocean

floor and discovered the mid-
Atlantic ridge.
 SEA FLOOR SPREADING

American Geologist Harry Hess

says that the seafloors or ocean
floors, not the continents, move.
4. PLATE TECTONIC
THEORY
PLATE TECTONICS

Plate tectonics is
the theory that
Earth's outer shell
is divided into
several plates that
glide over the
mantle, the rocky
inner layer above
the core.
 4. PLATE TECTONIC
THEORY
• Both Hess’s discovery and Wegener’s
continental drift theory combined into what
scientists now call the Plate Tectonic Theory.
• Theory of plate tectonics :
The Earth’s crust and part of the upper
mantle are broken into sections, called
plates which move on a plastic-like layer of
the mantle.
 The plates move at a rate of 1-2 inches (3-
5 centimeters) per year.
 PLATE TECTONICS

Plate Tectonics explains:

Earthquakes
Mountains
Volcanoes
Volcanoes and
Plate Tectonics
VOLCANO
 VOLCANO & PLATE TECTONICS

• Long, deep cracks called rifts are formed when

plates separate. Magma flows from rifts as lava and
instantly cooled by seawater. As more lava flows,
this builds up from the seafloor. Some volcanoes
rise above sea level forming islands such as Iceland.
• The area around the Pacific plate where
earthquakes and volcanoes abound is known as
the Pacific Ring of Fire. All earthquakes and
volcanoes in this ring can be attributed to tectonic
movement at the boundary of the Pacific plate.
PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

Volcanism
is mostly
focused at
plate
margins
Volcanoes are formed by:

- Subduction - Rifting - Hotspots

Pacific Ring of Fire

Hotspot
volcanoes
 HOTSPOTS

 Hotspots are locations on

Earth’s surface that has
experienced active volcanic
activities for a long period of
time.
Earthquakes and
Plate Tectonics
 EARTHQUAKE

 An earthquake is a natural
phenomena that is characterized by a
sudden, violent shifting of massive
plates underneath Earth’s surface.
This movement of plates releases
stress that generates along geologic
faults.
 EARTHQUAKE

 Hypocenter is the point within the

earth along the geological faults
where the earthquake originates.
Epicenter is the point on the earth’s
surface directly above the focus.
Seismic waves start to radiate from
the hypocenter and subsequently
form along the fault rupture.
EARTHQUAKE
As with volcanoes, earthquakes are not
randomly distributed over the globe.

At the boundaries between plates, friction causes

them to stick together. When built up energy causes
them to break, earthquakes occur.
VOLCANOES & EARTHQUAKES
• The reason that the plates go along with
the moving mantle rather than sink is
because the tectonic plates that make up
the lithosphere are much lighter in density
than the liquid layers moving underneath
them.
• Similar to rafts or boats, the currents
underneath tectonic plates are what is
suspected of pushing these along.
 EARTHQUAKE

 Shallow-focus earthquakes are produced

when the hypocenter is located near the
surface from 0 to 70 km.
 Deep-focus earthquakes are produced if it
is intermediate between 70-700 km.
A shallow-focus earthquakes are closer to
the surface where rocks are stronger and
could build up greater strain, they are
larger and more damaging.
Mountains and Plate
Tectonics
 MOUNTAINS & PLATE TECTONICS

• Mountains are the result of plate

tectonics, where compressional forces,
isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous
matter forces surface rock upward,
creating a landform higher than the
surrounding features.
• There are three ways in which mountains
are formed, these are known as volcanic,
fold and block mountains.
 RESOURCES
• Ortiz-Andaya M., Biong, J., Aquino, M. Valdoz-Custodio
M. (2020) Science Links 10 Revised Edition: REX Book
Store
• Vibal Group Academic Book Grade 10 Quarter 1: Vibal
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Laurasia
• http://www.livescience.com/37285-gondwana.html
• http://www.livescience.com/37529-continental-
drift.html
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-
Wegener
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/th
e-dynamic-earth/plate-tectonics/
Stay safe.
 Ms. Espie