Solution Manual for The Earth System 3/E 3rd Edition Lee R. Kump, James F.

Kasting, Robert G

Solution Manual for The Earth System 3/E 3rd Edition

Lee R. Kump, James F. Kasting, Robert G. Crane

To download the complete and accurate content document, go to:

https://testbankbell.com/download/solution-manual-for-the-earth-system-3-e-3rd-editi
on-lee-r-kump-james-f-kasting-robert-g-crane/

Visit TestBankBell.com to get complete for all chapters

 C H A P T E R 7
Circulation of the Solid Earth: Plate Tectonics
Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

• Analyze and interpret the Earth's response to forcings on a wide range of time scales
• Know the geodynamics associated with the convective circulation in the Earth's mantle
• Understand the concept of plate tectonics and mantle convection
• Know how plate tectonics relates to ocean history and the formation of ocean basins
(Sea-floor Spreading, Wilson Cycle)
• Know the three plate tectonic boundaries and the forces at work there
• Know the relationship of plate tectonics to sediment deposition patterns
• Know the features of the continental margins and the sea floor, especially as it relates to
tectonics
• Know the most important feature of the Earth’s interior is that it is differentiated into a
series of layers. These layers differ in both their chemical composition and in their
physical properties (solid, plastic, liquid)
• Understand how the magnetic striping pattern forms, and know why these stripes are
symmetrical about the crests of the mid-ocean ridges
• Know how the convection currents beneath the plates move the crustal plates in
different directions
• Know the source of heat driving the convection currents is radioactivity deep in the
Earth’s mantle
• Know how mountains grow
• Know about seismic waves and their characteristics

Review Questions

1.) Why was the theory of continental drift not immediately embraced by the
scientific community in the 1920s?

Wegener’s theory of continental drift was not well-received by the geophysicists

of his day. The British scientist Sir Harold Jeffreys presented calculations in 1925
demonstrating that the continents could not possibly plow through the rigid sea
floor, as the theory seemed to require. Other scientists were unconvinced because
Wegener could not propose a physical mechanism for driving the motion of the
continents. Indeed, many of Wegener’s own calculations and proposed
mechanisms were found to be in error and untenable.

2.) What is the Moho?

1
 The Moho is defined by a sharp increase in seismic wave velocities that separates
the Earth’s crust and mantle. P-wave velocities in the crust of around 5–6 km/sec
increase to uppermost mantle velocities of about 8 km/sec. Beneath the
continental crust, the depth to the Moho ranges from as much as 75 km in young
mountain belts to 20 km in areas undergoing extension and crustal thinning.
Beneath the oceanic crust, the Moho is at a nearly constant depth of around 7 km
below the ocean floor.

3.) What are the bases for the two major divisions of Earth’s interior--one that
distinguishes crust, mantle, and core and the other that distinguishes lithosphere
and asthenosphere?

Physical properties define the lithosphere and asthenosphere. The plates consist
of an outer layer of the Earth, the lithosphere, which is cool enough to behave as
a more or less rigid shell. Occasionally the hot asthenosphere of the Earth finds a
weak place in the lithosphere to rise buoyantly as a plume, or hotspot. Only the
lithosphere has the strength and the brittle behavior to fracture in an earthquake.

Chemical properties define the crust, mantle, and core. The general structure of
the Earth as revealed by seismic imaging is a layered planet composed of a crust,
a mantle (consisting of an upper mantle and a lower mantle), an outer core, and
inner core. These distinctions are defined on the basis of contrasts in seismic
wave velocities, which are affected by chemical composition.

4.) Compare and contrast P and S seismic waves.

Body waves are categorized as either P waves or S waves on the basis of their
mode of propagation through Earth. P waves, or primary waves, result from the
compression of material in Earth’s interior. The material is alternately compressed
and, as the wave travels away, stretched. Thus, a P wave travels as a series of
compressions and expansions in the overall direction of wave movement, similar
to the way sound travels or to the response of a spring or a Slinky. S waves,
which are also called secondary or shear waves, are transmitted as displacements
perpendicular to the overall direction of wave travel, like the movement of a wave
on a string.

5.) Why are earthquakes focused along plate margins?

Earthquakes are the result of plate motion: The plates move relative to each other
at average speeds of a few centimeters per year. As a result of friction between the
plates, there are alternating periods of stasis (during which stresses build) and
periods of movement (when they are released) both at the plate boundary and near
the surface. (Seismic and satellite measurements indicate that at greater depths or
farther from the plate boundary, the motions are more continuous.) After a period
of stasis, pent-up energy is released suddenly as the plates jump past each other,

2
 causing earthquakes. As predicted, the distribution of earthquakes at Earth’s
surface follows plate boundaries quite closely

6.) What are the sources of heat in the Earth’s interior?

There are two sources of heat in the Earth’s interior:

i. radioactivity decay
ii. residual heat from Earth’s formation

7.) What is magnetic polarity? What role did it play in the generation of ideas
regarding sea-floor spreading?

The magnetic polarity is the geographic orientation of the North and South Poles.
Magnetic stripes develop as new crust is added to the ocean floor at mid-ocean
ridges and cools, becoming magnetized according to the magnetic field that exists
at the time. As this material moves away from the axis, new sea floor is created,
and its magnetization may be reversed if Earth’s magnetization has reversed
polarity in the intervening time.

8.) What are the three types of plate boundaries, and what surface features are
characteristic of each?

There are three types of plate boundaries (or margins): divergent, convergent, and
transform. At divergent margins, lithospheric plates are moving away from each
other. At convergent margins, plates are moving toward each other. At transform
margins, plates are slipping past each other. Each boundary type is represented
differently at Earth’s surface. In other words, each type of plate margin is
reflected in distinctive surface features: mid-ocean ridges, deep-sea trenches, and
transform faults, respectively.

9.) What is erosion?

The transport of the products of weathering to basins where sediment accumulates

is called erosion.

10.) How can radioactivity be used to determine the age of a rock?

Naturally-occurring radioactive materials break down into other materials at

known rates. This is known as radioactive decay. Radioactive parent elements
decay to stable daughter elements. Many radioactive elements can be used as
geologic clocks. Each radioactive element decays at a predictable rate that
depends on the amount of radioactive element present. Once this rate is known,
geologists can estimate the length of time over which decay has been occurring
by measuring the amount of radioactive parent element and the amount of stable
daughter elements.

3
11.) What are the driving forces for plate movement?

Figure 7-23 from main textbook

F1: Mantle drag or friction between the convecting asthenosphere and the
overlying rigid lithosphere
F2: The gravitational “push” generated by the high topography of
a mid-ocean ridge on the rest of the oceanic plate
F3: The increasing density of the oceanic lithosphere as it cools, which pulls
the opposite end of the plate into a subduction zone
F4: The elastic resistance of the oceanic plate to being bent into a subduction
zone
F5: The tendency for the overriding plate to be drawn toward a subduction
zone as the subducting slab bends (which otherwise would move the trench
away from the overriding plate)
F6: Friction between the subducting slab and the overlying lithosphere
F7: A tendency for the oceanic plate to sink as it cools and becomes denser

The overall motion of a given plate is the result of the balance of all these
forces.
Analysis of plate motions today argues for a predominant role played by the
push of the ridges and the pull of the subduction zone, but in the past, mantle
drag may have played a more important role in the rifting apart of
supercontinents.

12.) What is hypothesized to drive the Wilson cycle of plate fragmentation and
reassembly?

Continents assemble into a supercontinent, being drawn toward cool

regions of the asthenosphere. The supercontinent acts as an insulator, so
the mantle heats up below the continent. The continent rises in response,
and tension at the surface breaks its apart forming smaller continents.

4
 These smaller continents eventually disperse and then reassemble, being
drawn again to cool asthenosphere.

Critical Thinking Problems

1.) We have seen that cooling of the oceanic lithosphere causes contraction, leading
to subsidence of the sea floor away from the axis of spreading. The depth d of the
ocean floor, measured in meters, increases with age t, measured in millions of
years from the present, according to the following equation (valid for sea floor
younger than 80 million years old):

d = 2500 + 350 t

Graph a cross-section of a mid-ocean ridge that is spreading symmetrically in

both directions at a rate of 1cm/yr (10 km/million yr). The age of the oldest sea
floor shown should be 80 million years.

t (million d(m)Depth
years) of the
ocean
floor
10 3606.8
20 4065.3
30 4417
40 4713.6
50 4974.9
60 5211.1
70 5428.3
80 5630.5

d = 2500 + 350 t
d = 2500 + 350 10
d = 2500 + 350 20
........
d = 2500 + 350 80

5
 Mid-Ocean Ridge

Distance from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (km)

-100 -50 0 50 100

2500

3000
Depth of the ocean floor (m

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

2.) Duplicate Figure 7.10 (use the color version for better clarity) and answer the
following questions.

a. Draw a line from the tip of Florida horizontally across the Atlantic to northwest
Africa, a distance of about 6400 km. Now, graph the age of the sea floor (on the
y-axis) against the distance from the ridge axis (on the x-axis). From this graph,
determine the spreading rate for each geologic interval represented, averaging the
two values determined for eastward and westward spreading. Graph these values
(y-axis) as a function of time (in million years, on the x-axis).

6
 Florida
Northwest africa

Oldest sea floor = 200 Ma

Distance from mid oceanic ridge = 6400/2 = 3200 km
Average spreading range: 3200/200 = 16 km/Ma
For determining spreading rate for each geologic interval we need to define a
scale for this map.
Measured horizontally, distance from the tip of Florida to Northwest Africa =
6400 km
Horizontal distance from the tip of Florida to Northwest Africa in this map:

7
Assumption:

For simplicity we consider symmetric spreading rate from the edge. Also the
enlarged map doesn’t have good resolution, so we are going to consider only 7
stripes.

By measuring from the edge to Florida:

AB = 85 mm
Location Age
Location 1 = 5 mm (144-208 m.y.)
Location 2 = 4 mm (117-144 m.y.)
Location 3 = 11 mm ( 84-117 m.y.)
Location 4 = 5 mm (66-84 m.y.)
Location 5 = 4 mm (58-66 m.y.)
Location 6 = 5.5 mm (37-58 m.y.)
Location 7 = 8 mm (consider from the edge) (0-37 m.y.)

For this map: 4600 km/ 85 mm Î 1mm ~ 54 km

Distance Distance Spreading rate

Location (mm) (km) Age (m.y.) Year (m.y.) (km /m.y.)

1 5 270 144-208 64 4.22

2 4 216 117-144 27 3.38
3 11 594 84-117 33 9.28
4 5 270 66-84 18 4.22
5 4 216 58-66 8 3.38
6 5.5 297 37-58 21 4.64
7 8 432 0-37 37 6.75

8
 Spreading Rate of The Mid -Atlantic Ridge

10
9
Spreading rate (km /m.y.)

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Age of the ocean floor (m.y.)

b. How has the Atlantic spreading rate varied over the last 200 million years?

The Atlantic spreading rate first decreased from 208 m.y. ago to 142 m.y. and
then it increased until 91 m.y. ago. From that time until now it has been
increasing.

Now, duplicate your map four more times. Trim the Atlantic margins at the
boundaries between the regions of sea floor of various ages (as identified in the
legend of the figure). For example, for the first map, cut out that part of the
Atlantic that is younger than 37 million years, and then try to match the two
halves. On the next sheet cut out all the sea floor younger than 66 million years,
and so on. Then compare your reconstructions of the relative positions of North
and South America, Europe, and Africa to the paleographic maps in Figure 7-12.

This last part of the question can be done as a lab activity and is a good way to get
students to understand plate tectonics by “moving” the plates together themselves.
This hands-on task may help students visualize the movement of the plates over
time.

Resource Guide

Video/Film:

Journey to the Center of the Earth VHS Set

Discovery Channel

9
www.discovery.com
Part One: Man has always been fascinated with the soil beneath his feet, but just how far
beneath the Earth's crust have we gone? Miners reveal some of the deepest mines ever
constructed, while naval engineers demonstrate a deep-sea submersible capable of going
22,000 feet below the surface. In the lab, civil engineers talk of adapting NASA
technology to develop a super-drill that could reach the center of the Earth. And,
scientists explain that there is in fact life very near the earth's molten core - just as Verne
predicted.
Part Two: Travel through the mouth of a volcano, through a sea of lava and emerge into
a land of floating continents and upside mountains. This is the strange, violent world near
the earth's iron core. Scientists explain how the core protects us from the sun's deadly
cosmic rays and reveal how the molten core of iron --Verne's shining “sea” -- benefits
from our planet's built-in recycling system. Learn how the seafloor is pushed under the
continents and down into the hot mantle where it melts -- only to return to the surface
years later as molten lava and eventually the very soil on which we stand.

Earth Revealed, Episode 5. The Birth of a Theory

Annenberg/CPB
www.learner.org
In the 1960s, earth scientists developed the theory of plate tectonics. This program traces
the development of plate tectonics, beginning with the contributions and methods of
geologist Alfred Wegener. Sea-floor spreading, continental drift, paleomagnetism, and
the primordial supercontinent Pangaea are some of the topics covered.

Earth Revealed, Episode 6. Plate Dynamics

Annenberg/CPB
www.learner.org
This program examines the movement and interaction of tectonic plates, which account
for a vast array of geologic formations and phenomena — from California’s San Andreas
Fault to the Rift Valley of eastern Africa. The program covers convergent boundaries,
subduction, hotspots, and the debate over what drives plate motion.

Earth Revealed, Episode 7. Mountain Building

Annenberg/CPB
www.learner.org
This program erodes the myth of the mountain as a solid, permanent structure.
Animations are used to illustrate the process of orogeny (mountain building) through
accretion and erosion, as well as the role of plate tectonics, the rock cycle, and how
different types of rock are formed in the course of mountain building.

Planet Earth, Episode 1. The Living Machine

Annenberg/CPB
www.learner.org
Plate tectonics, one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century, is explored at
such sites as the erupting Kilauea volcano and the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the
submersible craft Alvin.

10
Continental Drift: Legacy of Fire
Films for the Humanities and Sciences
www.films.com
Throughout the Pacific Rim there are earthquakes, active volcanoes, and some of the
richest mineral deposits in the world. Uncovering the link between these three
phenomena reveals the origin of dry land, and solves the puzzle of plate tectonics. This
program follows geologists from Bolivia to Alaska as they examine the similarities in
rocks found at both poles and use the evidence to prove that the Earth’s crust has a single
source: the volcanoes of the Pacific Rim. Original BBC broadcast title: Ring of Fire. (50
minutes, color)

Plate Tectonics: Secrets of the Deep

Films for the Humanities and Sciences
www.films.com
Viewed from space, one of the remarkable features of our planet is that it has continents
and oceans. The changing pattern of the continents and oceans is a very important
characteristic of the Earth, and the discovery of how this movement occurs is one of the
most exciting scientific stories of modern times. The key to this understanding lay not in
the continents at all, but in the oceans. The oceans turned out to have a record of their
history as precise as tree rings or a magnetic bar code, and with it came the history of
relative motion between the continents. These motions are not fast by our standards, but
by geological standards they are very rapid. As a description of what is happening in the
oceans, plate tectonics is so simple, powerful, and accurate that it has come to dominate
our view of the Earth’s behavior. (57 minutes, color)

Websites:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/
http://www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/100/plate-tectonics.html
http://rock.geosociety.org/
http://www.renaissoft.com/april/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Plate_Tectonics
http://www.platetectonics.com/book/page_4.asp
http://www.nearctica.com/paleo/tectonic.htm
http://courses.smsu.edu/ejm893f/creative/glg110/Cdrift-plates.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html
http://www.aapg.org/explorer/special/tectonicsdebate.html
http://community.weber.edu/museum/plate_tectonics.htm
http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/mineralogie/links/teach/earthteach.html#lid
http://www.mantleplumes.org/GTofPT.html

11
Solution Manual for The Earth System 3/E 3rd Edition Lee R. Kump, James F. Kasting, Robert G

Literature:

The New View of the Earth by Seiya Uyeda, 1978 by W.H. Freeman and Co.
The Earth's Dynamic Systems by W. Kenneth Hamblin, 1975 by Burgess
Publishing Co.
Global Tectonics by Philip Kearey & Frederick J. Vine, 1996 by Blackwell
Sciences Ltd.
Physical Geology by Carla W. Montgomery, 1987 by Wm. C. Brown Publishers.

12

Visit TestBankBell.com to get complete for all chapters