CE011 – Geology for Civil Engineers

Week 2
Topics

❑ Plate Tectonics and the Continental Drift

Theory
❑ Earth’s Process
▪ Weathering
▪ Earthquake
▪ Works of Rivers, Wind and Sea
▪ Groundwater
Plate Tectonics and the Continental Drift
Theory

Learning Outcomes
➢ Explain what plate tectonics are and how they
work.
➢ Discuss the role of the continental drift theory
in forming the current landscape of the Earth.
Plate Tectonics
➢ the massive, irregularly shaped slabs of rock that
make up the Earth’s lithosphere
➢ One plate cannot shift without affecting the others
nearby
➢ Plates can move apart, push together or scrape each
other
Plate Tectonics Theory
➢ states that Earth’s plates are in slow, constant motion,
driven by convection currents in the mantle
➢ Satellites are used to measure plate precisely
➢ 1 – 12 cm per year
Plate Motion over Time
➢
Plate Tectonics
➢ Treasures of the Earth | When Did Plate Tectonics Begin?
Plate Motion over Time
➢ Geologists have evidence that before Pangea existed, other
supercontinents formed and split apart over the last billion years
➢ occurs where plates move apart
➢ Mid-Ocean Ridges
➢ Rift Valleys
➢ Magnetic Stripes
Plate Tectonics Boundaries
➢ Divergent Boundaries
❑ Mid-Atlantic Ridge
❑ Iceland
❑ Great Rift Valley
➢ occurs where plates
push together
➢ crust either folded
or destroyed
➢ Inner-Continent
Mountains
➢ Coastal Mountains
➢ Deep-Ocean
Trenches
(Subduction)
➢ Island Arcs
Continental – Continental Collision
➢ occurs when two plates carrying continental crust push together
➢ The folded crust can be pushed up high enough to form
mountains
Oceanic – Oceanic Subduction
➢ occurs where one plate with oceanic crust sinks, or subducts,
under another plate with oceanic crust
➢ Most are found in the Pacific Ocean
Oceanic – Oceanic Subduction
ISLAND ARCS
➢ chains of volcanic islands that form on the top plate, parallel to
a deep-ocean trench
Oceanic – Continental Subduction
➢ occurs when ocean crust sinks under continental crust
Oceanic – Continental Subduction
DEEP – OCEAN TRENCHES
➢ As the ocean crust moves, it often causes underwater
earthquakes
Oceanic – Continental Subduction
COASTAL MOUNTAINS
➢ As oceanic crust sinks under a continent, the continental crust
buckles to form a range of mountains parallel to the deep-
ocean trench
➢ Cascade Mountains in Oregon and
Washington (Mount St. Helen’s)
➢ occurs where plates scrape past each
other
➢ crust is neither created nor destroyed
➢ occur mostly on the sea floor near the
mid- ocean ridges, but they can occur on
land where some are clearly visible as
long cracks in Earth’s surface
How Plate Tectonics Helps Geologists
➢ explain Earth’s past and to predict what might happen along
plate boundaries in the future
➢ can uncover the history of any region on Earth
Continental Drift Theory
Continental Drift Theory
ALFRED WEGENER
➢German meteorologist who proposed the Continental
Drift Theory
➢ Continents were once a one large landmass
(PANGEA) 200 MYA
Continental Drift Theory
Evidences for Continental Drift Theory

Rock Formation
Evidences for Continental Drift Theory

Fossils
Evidences for Continental Drift Theory

Climate
Question?

If you lived during Wegener’s

time, will you believe him?
A controversial Idea – Why?
❑ “How did the continents drift apart?”
REJECTED
❑ Theory: moved by the spin of the Earth
❑ Not enough evidence
Definition:

Description:

Evidence:
Earth’s Processes
1. Weathering
2. Earthquake
3. Geological Works of Wind
4. Geological Works of Groundwater (Sea / Ocean)
Group Activity
Earth’s Processes
➢ Explain the natural process of the Earth assigned to the
group.
➢ Factors affecting the process
➢ Types of that process
➢ Its cause and effects
➢ Its Process
➢ How these processes affect engineering projects and
human activities.
➢ Enumerate and define the different human-induced
activities that alter these natural processes.
Group Requirements
❑ Powerpoint Presentation or Video Recording
❑ Full Report
❑ Coordinate with your groupmates specially those who
are not available within the scheduled period.
❑ Deadline: 28 August 2021, 5PM
❑ Send to through course messge in BBL