NAME: AYUBA KAFAYAT BAMIDELE

REG NO / MATRIC NO: 19059374IA

LEVEL: 200

COURSE CODE: GRY 201

COURSE TITLE: ELEMENTS OF GEOMORPHOLOGY

DEPARTMENT: GEOGRAPHY

FACULTY: SOCIAL SCIENCE


ASSIGNMENT
Critically examine to what extent you will agree that the
theory of plate tectonics lives together the ideas of seafloor
spreading with the older hypothesis of continental drift

THE EARTH

To a Iirst approximation, Earth is a composite oI elevated continents and deep
ocean basins. We use the present-day sea level to reIerence topography and
bathymetry and the average elevation oI the continents is 840 meters, the average
depth oI the oceans is 3800 meters. The maximum continental elevation is about
8848 meters (Mt. Everest) and the deepest trench is about 10,000 meters (Mariana
Trench).

Present-day coastlines are outlined in black, but the margins oI the continents are
better approximated by the base oI the continental shelI, which is oIten located at
about 500 Iathoms (about 900 meters). High continental elevations are shown with
gray and white, the lowest with green, and the browns are intermediate. The
lightest blue shade corresponds to the shallowest part oI the ocean Iloor, the darker
blue shades identiIy deeper regions.





The Plates
In the last century we have gathered much evidence to support the idea that Earth's
surIace is broken up into "lithospheric" plates that slowly move over the top oI the
mantle. The map below shows the major plates.

What Is A Plate?
Plates are large pieces oI the upper Iew hundred kilometers oI Earth that move
more or less as a single unit. It is easier to think oI plates as rigid "raIts" Iloating on
the mantle, but some plates also have some internal deIormation. However, it is
clear that the most active deIormation oI the plates occurs along their boundaries,
where they interact with other plates.

The precise thickness oI a plate varies Irom place to place, but away Irom plate
margins, plates are usually on the order oI 100-200 km thick.
Earlier we described the structure oI Earth using chemical diIIerences in the
structure to identiIy the crust, mantle, and core. Plates are deIined not on chemical
diIIerences, but using rock strength, and they are composed oI the crust and the
uppermost part oI the mantle.
The precise lower boundary oI a plate depends on the temperature oI the mantle
material. At about 1300C typical mantle material begins to melt, and soItens
dramatically. We call that part oI the mantle asthenosphere, to indicate that it is a
weak zone, that "decouples" the plate Irom the overlying mantle (actually, there is
undoubtedly some drag forces LhaL acL beLween Lhe Lwo buL Lhe llLhosphere
can move lndependenLly of Lhe deeper manLle
Cont|nenta| Dr|ft SeaI|oor Spread|ng and |ate 1ecton|cs
lnce Lhe consLrucLlon of Lhe flrsL good maps of Lhe conLlnenLs people have
puzzled over Lhe close maLch beLween Lhe coasLllnes of ouLh Amerlca and Afrlca

1he flrsL Lo serlously lnvesLlgaLe Lhe connecLlon was Alfred Wegener a Cerman
meLeorologlsL who proposed Lhe conLlnenLal drlfL hypoLhesls (beLween 1919
1929) Lo explaln Lhe observed shape of Lhe coasLllnes and several oLher geologlc
observaLlons regardlng Lhe observaLlon of fosslls and rocks on opposlLe sldes of
Lhe ocean Wegener proposed LhaL aL one Llme all Lhe presenLday conLlnenLs
acLually were comblned lnLo a superconLlnenL whlch he called angaea (or
angea)


AL Lhe Llme noL much was known abouL Lhe oceanlc and conLlnenLal crusL and
Lhey were assumed Lo be slmllar ln age and sLrucLure (LhaLs Lhe slmplesL ldea)
1hls creaLed a problem for Wegeners hypoLhesls slnce he had no mechanlsm for
hls conLlnenLs Lo plow Lhrough Lhe ocean floors WlLhouL an explanaLlon for Lhls
crlLlcal parL of hls model sclenLlsLs were relucLanL Lo accepL hls ldeas lL was
decades before Lhe mechanlsm Lo move Lhe conLlnenLs was dlscovered (ealloor
preadlng) and Wegeners ldeas vlndlcaLed when ConLlnenLal urlfL and ealloor
preadlng were synLheslzed Lo creaLe laLe 1ecLonlcs
cean I|oors and Cont|nents
lollowlng World War ll a greaL deal was learned abouL seafloor baLhymeLry as
governmenLs supporLed exploraLlon of Lhe ocean depLhs As a resulL of LhaL work
Lhe varleLy of sLrucLures ln Lhe ocean boLLom were ldenLlfled and mapped
lncludlng a 40000 km long rldge sysLem LhaL enclrcles Lhe planeL (Lhe rldge
sysLem ls ldenLlfled ln Lhe map above by Lhe llghL shaded reglons near away from
Lhe conLlnenLs) clenLlsLs also dlscovered LhaL Lhe oceanlc crusL was
fundamenLally dlfferenL from Lhe conLlnenLal crusL lL was Lhlnner had a dlfferenL
composlLlon and was magneLlc


AddlLlonally Lhe rocks composlng Lhe conLlnenLal crusL are very old some formed
as much as 38 bllllon years ago lor a long Llme we had no dlrecL way Lo sample
Lhe rocks ln Lhe deep ocean and had very llLLle knowledge abouL Lhe naLure of Lhe
ocean floor ln Lhe 1930s and 1960s sclenLlsLs worked ouL a way of esLlmaLlng
Lhe age of Lhe ocean floor uslng characLerlsLlcs of LarLhs magneLlc fleld 1o
undersLand Lhe llne of argumenL we musL revlew some baslc ldeas abouL
magneLlsm and rocks