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TOPIC CONCEPT MAP Compression

Shearing
Endogenic Processes

Tension
manifested
through
causes

Magma Volcanism Metamorphism Earthquake Deformation

forms occurs in
released
through
Transform boundary
Volcanoes
both explained in
Convergent boundary

Plate Tectonics Divergent boundary

which also
defines
Continental Seafloor also
Drift spreading observed in

supports

Continental fit Glacial sediments Paleoclimate Fossil Distributions Rock Distributions

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Plate Tectonics
Table of Contents
Plate Tectonics 1-6
Overview 1-3
Seafloor Spreading 4-5
Continental Drift 5-6
References 6
The Earth is a system that interacts with itself. Its subsystems also
interact with each other in various ways. The lithosphere (or
geosphere, depending on the source material) continually changes
because of the pent-up stresses deep within it. When these are
released, the surface begins to shift ever so slightly—or
catastrophically, in some cases.
Plate Tectonics
The Hadean Earth (i.e., the Earth during its primitive stage) was once
an undifferentiated, homogeneous mass of solid rock around 4.5
billion years ago. Scientists suggest that around 500 million years after
its formation, it began to sort out its materials based on density. Dense
materials such as an iron sink to the bottom, whereas light materials
such as silicates rose above; this is even named the iron catastrophe.
It was called as such because this event, caused by the planet’s
temperature exceeding iron’s melting point, created distinct layering
to Earth: crust, mantle, and core (both inner and outer).
Recall the lesson about the Earth’s structure. The crust has two (2)
distinct types:
1. Continental – This is the crust that holds the continents. It is less
dense than the other type because it is made of older material,
which comprises silica and aluminum-based granite. It is divided
into two (2) distinct subspheres that depend on material elasticity.
• The lithosphere contains the brittle materials that make it rigid.
It is composed of the crust and the upper mantle, whose
molten peridotite composition allows it to resist flow.
• The asthenosphere is the layer that contains all the liquid and
semi-liquid rocks, which can be found in the mantle.
2. Oceanic – This is the crust that forms at the bottom of the oceans.
Because of the petrogenic processes occurring to it (which also
makes it younger and thinner), it is denser than the continental
crust because of its silica and magnesia-based basalt content.
Plate Tectonics
The theory states that the Earth’s crust is divided into several plates
that glide over the mantle, acting as a hard shell [Gk. tektonikos (from
tekton, “builder, craftsman”), “about building”].
The Major Tectonic Plates
- African - Cocos - North American
- Antarctic - Eurasian - Pacific
- Arabian - Indian - Philippine
- Australian - Juan de Fuca - Scotia
- Caribbean - Nazca - South American
• Plate Boundary
This is the region on the lithosphere where tectonic plates are
moving relative to each other.
- Divergent boundary
This is the plate boundary where seafloor expansion occurs.
Plates that move away from each other are located here and
are called divergent plates. This action effectively creates
new plate material. This boundary creates normal faults.
✓ The largest mid-ocean ridge (making it the largest source
of oceanic lava) is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which divides
the Americas from Africa.
✓ Divergent boundaries contain rift zones where
continents begin to stretch, break apart, and expand over
time. Unlike mid-ocean ridges, rift zones have no cracks
as an outlet for lava. Instead, they form volcanoes
through expansion. An example is the East Africa Rift
System, where Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro represent
the system.
- Convergent boundary
This is the plate boundary where plates collapse and
volcanic arcs are made. Plates that move towards each other
are located here and are called convergent plates. This
action is known as subduction, in which the area where

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subduction is active is called a subduction zone. This
boundary creates reverse faults.
✓ Material density dictates which plate subducts to the
other, where volcanic arcs are found on the less dense
plate during and after the convergence.
- In an ocean-ocean plate convergence, the denser
oceanic plate subducts to the less dense oceanic
plate, creating island arcs.
- In an ocean-continent convergence, the oceanic
plate automatically subducts, creating continental
volcanic arcs.
- In a continent-continent convergence, the less
dense continental plate rises above, the denser
continental plate, creating collision mountain belts in
the process.
✓ Trenches are indications of convergent boundaries.
- Transform boundary
This is the plate boundary where the plates slide past each
other, forming strike-slip faults. Plates that move in this
manner are called transform plates. Unlike the other
boundaries, this one retains all its materials and only breaks
the crust.
✓ Because of their size, they are also called big strike-slip
faults or transform faults.
✓ A closer look at mid-ocean ridges reveals that these are
not continuous; instead, they consist of short segments
linked by transform faults oriented perpendicularly to the
ridge’s axis. An example of this is the San Andreas Fault
in California
• Plate Movement
It is any factor that drives tectonic plates to move.
1. Mantle Convection
The thermodynamic heating of the liquid rocks in the mantle
provides movement to the plates.
2. Slab Pull
This is the tensional force exerted by cold, dense oceanic
plates as it subducts into the mantle due to its weight. This
works in conjunction with the mantle convection.
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3. Ridge Push
Also known as gravitational sliding, it is a proposed driving
force that occurs at mid-ocean ridges as the result of the
lithosphere sliding down the asthenosphere.
The combination of these three (3) processes result in a
tectonic movement of a few centimeters per year, making it
almost invisible to people.
• The Wilson Cycle
This is a theory proposed by John Tuzo Wilson, who tried
to correlate plate movement with the Earth’s timeline. In
it, Wilson stated that the countless cycles of rifting and
deformations that formed continents and ocean basins
destroy older basins. This also justified why the Earth
has not shrunken nor expanded.
Stages of the Wilson Cycle
1. Continent Rifting – Continents split due to rifting.
2. Oceanic Basin and Crust Development – New
ocean basin and new oceanic crust are created.
3. Passive Margin Cooling and Sedimentation – As
the spreading continues, passive margin cooling
occurs and sediments accumulate.
4. Volcanic Mountain Belt Formation – Oceanic
crust subducts beneath a continental crust, creating
a volcanic mountain belt at the active margin.
5. Subduction Welding – Fragments carried by the
subducting plate accretes and welds materials to the
continent.
6. Continental Collision – As continental plates
proceed to collide, crustal roots are formed and build
mountains.
7. Orogenesis – Exogenic and endogenic processes
weather down mountains, which allows the crust to
restart the entire cycle.
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• Timeline of Modern Ocean Basin Development Timeline of the Development of Seafloor Spread Study
YEAR EVENT YEAR EVENT
~237 Earth has Panthalassa surrounding 1950s – Marine geologists used echo sounding to
MYA* Pangaea, which also contains the large 1960s map ocean ridges in the North Atlantic
landmasses of Laurasia and Gondwana. Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, discovering
that these ridges were continuous.
1962 American geologist Harry Hess published
~195 Pangaea begins to break apart, forming
his study on echo-sounding surveys on the
MYA vague landmasses that will eventually
ocean floor, entitled The History of Ocean
become the modern-day continents, losing
Basins, which revealed that magma ooze up
Laurasia in the process. The following are
from the Earth’s interior towards the surface
notable formations:
through the mid-oceanic ridge, solidifying
1. South America 5. India
into new seafloor material. This pushes
2. North America 6. Antarctica
apart the older seafloor, going down into
3. Eurasia 7. Australia
deep trenches—a clear indication of
4. Africa
subduction.
~152 Continental plates began to have definite
MYA boundaries and started to drift further away.
Eurasia has completely separated from the Other Studies and Discoveries
others. FOCUS EVIDENCE / DISCOVERY
Magnetic Materials such as basalt contain small
~66 Pangaea is lost. Africa and India began to field magnetic minerals (e.g., magnetite and
MYA drift towards Eurasia. Australia began to hematite) were once thought to register
separate from Antarctica. positive anomaly with the Earth’s magnetic
Present New islands were born from ocean ridges field when tested with a magnetometer, to
and rifting. Some plates broke apart. signify that the continents have not moved
Modern-day continents were evident. at all. However, this was not the case as the
seafloor minerals all exhibit negative
anomaly, and that the magnetic poles of the
• Seafloor Spreading Earth remain constant. In contrast, the
Although the German meteorologist Alfred Wegener provided seafloor materials always change positions.
evidence to support the Plate Tectonics theory, scientists back Age dating Scientists developed age dating techniques
then rejected his theory because he could not give a working and used it alongside magnetic studies.
mechanism that would allow his theory to operate. However, Once they have established the age of all
because of the demand to explore the subaquatic environment affected seafloor materials, they noted that
of the oceans, as well as the seafloor, during the Second World the age and magnetic signatures of the
War, modern technology began to boom. This led to the detailed rocks vary systematically on either side of
studies of the seafloor, where Wegener's theory was consistent the ridge.
all along.

* MYA stands for “million years ago.”

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FOCUS EVIDENCE / DISCOVERY
Age and They proposed that older seafloor
thickness of sediments should be thicker than the
sediments younger and newly-formed seafloor
sediments. These were eventually proven
to be true when a drilling operation in the
1960s showed that the sediments in older
seafloor produced thick sediments.
• Continental Drift
This theory is proposed by Wegener who aimed to answer the
questions of geologists regarding the similarities of rock
composition and the jigsaw puzzle appearance of the continents.
He suggested that the early Earth was once a supercontinent
[named Pangaea, from Gk. pan- (from pantos, “everything,
whole, all”) + gaea (from Gaea, the mother titaness of Greek
mythology), “entire Earth”] being surrounded by a superocean
[named Panthalassa, from Gk. pan- + thalassa (from Thalassa,
the ancient sea spirit of Greek mythology), “entire sea”].
This supercontinent eventually broke up and moved away from
each other, forming the continents. To support this, he used the
following as his pieces of evidence:
o The Fit of Continental Shorelines
Dilemma: The modern-day continents have a
jigsaw puzzle appearance.
Evidence: The southwestern coastlines of Africa
fit well with the eastern coasts of
South America and the southeast
portion of North America.
o Distribution of Glacial Sediments
Dilemma: The distribution of sediments and
rocks were formed during the late
Paleozoic era, including the imprinted
striations of the rocks, which can be
found in Africa, Antarctica, Australia,
India, and South America.
Evidence: Wegener plotted a map of the affected
continents to which the glacier may
have carried, including the striated
rocks of Antarctica (the probable
origin) to the other continents.
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o Paleoclimate
Dilemma: The inclusion of Antarctica in the
supercontinent could not explain how
tropical flora and fauna could survive in
the polar region and the presence of
coal in areas that would otherwise not
possess.
Evidence: Despite being in a polar region, the
supercontinent has other areas
exposed to the equatorial region. These
allowed tropical flora and fauna to
flourish and produce coal. As the
continents have slowly drifted apart,
they have been exposed to the
equatorial region, producing more coal
to the moving continents. Also, the
climate shifts determined that
continents have been moving the entire
time.
o Fossil Distribution
Dilemma: There are fossils of similar organisms
located in continents that are just too far
apart for them to travel in the past,
particularly the fossils of Glossopteris,
Cynognathus, Lystrosaurus, and
Mesosaurus.
Evidence: Due to the once-tight knit form of
Pangaea, Wegener noted that only a
single landmass would allow these
creatures to survive because by then,
they could traverse with ease, and by
the time the continent broke apart,
some were stranded, died, and became
fossils.
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o Rock Distributions
Dilemma: Similar rock materials are found in
continents that are very far apart.
Evidence: Wegener noted that if these different
mountains were somehow built on a
single landmass, then it is plausible for
them to contain the same materials.
This is further evidenced by the
materials discovered in the
Appalachians, the mountains in Britain,
and the Caledonian Mountains.

References:
Braganza, M. C. (1997). Earth science. Rex Printing Company.
Cadiz, A. P., Macasil, T. D., & Villanoy, F. M. (2018). Fundamentals
in earth science. Mindshapers, Co., Inc.
Olivar, J. T. II, Rodolfo, R. Ss., & Cabria, H. B. (2018). Exploring life
through science series: Earth science. Phoenix Publishing
House.
Sudarshan, J. (n.d.). Endogenic forces and evolution of land forms.
ClearIAS. https://www.clearias.com/endogenic-forces/

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