Earth’s Dynamic Surface

Lesson 1 – Earths Moving Surface

What is Tectonic plates?
During 1960s, scientists developed a theory to explain many of the features on Earth’s
surface. The theory is called Plate tectonics.
Plate Tectonics – Earth’s surface is broken into large, rigid pieces that move with respect to
each other. (This plate moves slowly over Earth’s surface.)
Crust – Outermost layer of the Earth.
Lithosphere – The crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. It Is formed as a rigid shell on
the outside of Earth. (However, it is broken into pieces – tectonic plates.)
Asthenosphere – The partially melted portion of the mantle below the lithosphere. It is also
hotter than the lithosphere and can bend more easily. (The ability of the asthenosphere to
bend is related to tectonic plate movement.)

Major Tectonic Plates The Earth’s major tectonic plates are:

Scientists have identified 15 large tectonic plates.

 African Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate or the Philippine Plate is a tectonic  Antarctic Plate
plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the
 Eurasian Plate
Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines.
 Australian Plate
The Philippine Mobile Belt (also called as Taiwan-Luzon-  North American Plate
Mindoro Mobile Belt) is a complex tectonic zone which sits at  Pacific Plate
the convergence zone of the Eurasian Plate, Philippine
Sea Plate and Indo-Australian Plate. It covers the whole
 South American Plate
Philippine archipelago and extends southwards to the Molucca
Sea and eastern Indonesia.

Divergent Boundary – A boundary where two plates move away from each other. (As plates
move apart, new crust forms between them.) -> Alfred Wegener – Continental drift theory –
was a hypothesis, now a fact that is proven.
Convergent Boundary – A boundary where two plates move toward each other.
Subduction – The process occurs when one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic
plate.
Subduction zone is the place where two lithospheric plates come together, one riding over the
other.

Transform Boundary – Two plates slide past each other. (Example is the plate in California.)
Tectonic plates move horizontally over Earth’s surface. The position of any point on Earth’s
surface can be accurately measured using the network of satellites known as the Global
Positioning System (GPS). GPS has 24 satellites in orbit around the Earth.
Triangulation – 3 satellites that measures.
Convection – The circulation within fluids caused by differences in density and thermal
energy. Another process that cause plate movement is subduction. When two plates collide,
one can subduct or sink into the hotter, less-dense mantle.

Lesson 2 – Shaping Earth’s Surface.

Earthquakes – Are the vibrations caused by the rapture and sudden movement of rocks
along a break or a crack in Earth’s crust.
Fault – A crack or a fracture in Earth’s crust along which movement occurs. Plate boundary is
where a fault can exist.
Magnitude – It is how earthquake is determined by how much energy is released during the
earthquake.
Faults are largest where one plate subducts into the mantle. The strongest and most
damaging earthquakes occur at these locations. Higher magnitude earthquakes occur when
movement along faults covers large distance. The movement of crust along faults can make
mountains, valleys, and other landforms.
Magma – molten rocks stores beneath Earth’s surface.
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that
constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them
Lava – magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface.
Volcanoes – are vents in Earth’s crust through which molten rock flows. Most volcanoes form
at convergent plate boundaries.
Lava flows – Can be more than 10 km long and, over time, can cover large areas.
Mid-ocean ridges – are long, narrow, boundaries. The ocean crust made at divergent plate
boundaries is not flat.
  Divergent boundaries -- where new crust is generated as the plates pull away
from each other.
 Convergent boundaries -- where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under
another.
 Transform boundaries -- where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the
plates slide horizontally past each other.
 Plate boundary zones -- broad belts in which boundaries are not well defined
and the effects of plate interaction are unclear.

Divergent boundaries -- where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. 
Convergent boundaries -- where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another.
Even though explosive volcanic eruptions usually occur near convergent plate boundaries, more lava
erupts at divergent plate boundaries.

Himalayas is formed as the Indian Plate converged with the Eurasian Plate. It is also the
largest and highest mountain range in the world, and they are still growing.

Lesson 3 – Changing Earth’s Surface

Weathering – refers to the mechanical and chemical processes that change Earth’s surface
over time. The process of weathering can break, scrape, smoothen, or chemically change
rock.
Sediment – is the material formed from rocks broken down by weathering. Sediment can be
rock, fragments, sand, slit, or clay.
Physical Weathering – is the process of breaking down rock without changing the
composition of the rock.
Chemical Weathering – is the process that changes the composition of rocks. Chemical
weathering happened faster where water is abundant. It also happens faster where it is
warm because chemical reactions happen faster at higher temperatures.
Erosion is a term used by the geologists to describe the moving of weathered material, or
sediment, from one location to another.
Deposition – the laying down or settling of eroded material. Together, erosion and
deposition change the surface of Earth.
Mass wasting – the downhill movement of a large mass of rocks or soil due to gravity.
Delta – triangular deposit of sediment that forms where a stream enters a large body of
waters.
Glaciers – large masses of ice, formed by snow accumulation on land, that move slowly
across Earth’s surface. Over time, glaciers can carve deep valleys.

Chapter 2 – Plate tectonics

Lesson 1 – The Continental Drift Hypothesis
Pangaea – all the continents were once part of a super continental. Wegener proposed the
hypothesis of continental drift, which suggested that continents are in constant motion on
the surface of Earth.
Wegener said: Pangaea is on the southern hemisphere.
South Africa, India, and Australia were located closer to Antarctica 280 million years ago.
Climate of Southern Hemisphere was much cooler at that time. Wegener used climate clues
to support his continental drift hypothesis.
Wegener discovered glacial grooves or deep scratches in rocks made as the glaciers moves
across land.
Fossils of a plant called Glossopteris have been discovered in rocks from South America,
Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica.
Rock clues - The rocks that are similar may have been separated by glaciers, earthquakes,
rock slides, or erosion. The markings, type of rock, and fossils are clues that the rocks may
have come from the same place. the clues they provide about the Earth's past.
One reason scientists questioned continental drift was because it is a slow process.

Lesson 2 – Development of a Theory

1940s after World War II, scientists began exploring the seafloor in greater details.
Topographic map – revealed that vast mountain ranges stretched for many miles deep
below the ocean’s surface.
Mic-ocean ridges – the mountain ranges in the middle of the oceans.
in 1960s scientist discovered a new process that helped explain continental drift + process of
seafloor spreading.
Seafloor spreading – the process by which new oceanic crust forms along amid-ocean ridge
and older crust moves away from the ridge.
When the seafloor spreads, the mantle below melts and forms magma. The closer the crust
is to a mid-ocean ridge, the younger the oceanic crust is.
Continents do not move through the solid mantle or the seafloor. Instead, continents move
as the seafloor spreads along a mid-ocean ridge.
Pillow lava - are lavas that contain characteristic pillow- Clues that are true
shaped structures that are attributed to the extrusion of - Composition
the lava underwater, or subaqueous extrusion. - Age of rocks
- Magnetic signature
Basalt – when lava erupts along a mi-ocean ridge, it - Thermal energy
cools and crystallizes. It is also the dominant rock on the - Fossils
seafloor. The youngest basalt is closest to the ridge while - Pillow lava
the oldest is farther away. - Thickness of sediments

The direction of the magnetic field is not constant.

Normal polarity – a state in which magnetized objects, such as compass needles, will orient
themselves to point north.
Magnetic reversal – sometimes occurs and the magnetic field reverses direction.
The opposite of normal polarity is reversed polarity.
Revered polarity – a state in which magnetized objects would reverse direction and orient
themselves to point south.
Basalts on the seafloor contains iron-rich minerals that are Echo sounder (solar)
magnetic. - Topography
Magnetic reversal – 10,000 y quickest + 750,000 long (happens in - Magnetometer
- Scans magnetic polarity
5000 years)

Lesson 3 – The theory of plate tectonics

The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s surface is made of rigid slabs of rock, or
plates, that move with respect to each other. This theory suggested that Earth’s surface is
divided into large plates of rigid rock. Each plate moves over Earth’s hot and semi-plastic
mantle.
Geologists us the word tectonic to describe the forces that shape Earth’s surface and the
rock structures that form as a result.
Lithosphere – the cold and rigid outermost rock layer. It is made up of crust and the solid,
uppermost mantle. These lithosphere plates fit together like the pieces of a giant jigsaw
puzzle.
Divergent plate boundary – forms where two plates separate.
Transform plate boundary – forms where two plates slide past each other.
Convergent plate boundary – from where two plates collide. The denser plate sinks below
the more buoyant plate in a process called subduction.
The area where a denser plate desc ends into earth along a convergent plate boundary is
called a subduction zone.