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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Internal structure of the Earth

• The Earth has three concentric layers

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

1. Core
• Innermost layer
• About 3,500km thick in radius
• Divided into inner layer and
outer layer
• Has the highest temperature
• Consists mainly of iron and
nickel

2. Mantle
• About 2,900km thick
• Rich in iron and magnesium
• A mixture of solid rock and
molten rock
• The molten portion is known as
magma
• Convection currents occur here
due to the heat from the core

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

3. Crust
• Outermost layer
• Ranges from 5 to 65 km thick
• Two types of crust – continental
and oceanic
• Continental crusts are:
– less dense
– composed mainly of granite
– rocks are rich in silicates and
aluminium (SIAL)
• Oceanic crusts are:
– denser
– rocks are rich in silicates and
magnesium (SIMA)
• According to the generally
accepted Plate Tectonics Theory,
the crust is broken into several
crustal or tectonic plates which are
shifting due to convection currents
in the mantle

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Tectonic plates and their boundaries

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Before the Plate Tectonics Theory

• Idea that all the continents once formed a supercontinent
now called Pangaea (meaning ‘all land’)
• The continents eventually drifted apart and this
supercontinent was split up
• In 1912, German geographer Alfred Wegener proposed
the Theory of Continental Drift
• According to his theory, the continents floated over
denser rock

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

250 million years ago 180 million years ago

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Evidence for Continental Drift Theory

• The west coast of Africa fitted with the east coast of
South America
• Matching reptile fossils in Africa and South America
• Presence of coal, formed in warm wet conditions, under
the Antarctic ice cap
• Rocks of the same age and geological structure formed
in southwest Africa and southeast Brazil
• Presence of the same fossil fern in all the southern
continents

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Evidence for Plate Tectonics Theory

1. Mid-oceanic ridges
• Presence underwater chains of mountains and volcanoes
running along the central part of major oceans
• Hot magma constantly rises through a gap in the crust called
a rift and forms new crust upon cooling
• Submarine volcanoes form occasionally
• Rocks nearer the rift are newer while those further away are
older
• The sea floor is composed of rocks younger than the earth,
an indication of sea floor renewal
• The Atlantic Ocean is growing wider at a rate of 2cm per year

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Evidence for Plate Tectonics Theory

2. Ocean trenches
• Long, narrow and deep depressions
along the sea floor
• Mark the boundaries where the sea
floor suddenly plunges to great
depths
• Marianas Trench off the Philippines
is the world’s deepest ocean trench
with a depth of 11,033m

3. Island arcs
• Chains of islands of volcanic origin
• Develop along the margins of
continents
• Usually parallel to the coast Peru-Chile
Trench

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Ocean trench

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Evidence for Plate Tectonics Theory

4. Volcanoes
• Found where the sea floor is spreading or near subduction zones (i.e. where
one plate moves under another one)
• They can be in the oceans or on continental surfaces or at “hot spots”
• Concentrated in the Pacific Ring of Fire which stretches from the Andes to
California, Japan and New Zealand
N

0 2,500km

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Evidence for Plate Tectonics Theory

5. Earthquakes
• Result from sudden movements of the Earth’s crust
• Often occur where there is frequent volcanic activity

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Mechanism of plate tectonics

• Intense heat in the mantle leads to convection
currents which drive the movement of the plates
above

Mid-oceanic
ridge

Continent Continent

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

• The plates move very slowly with an average speed of

about 7cm per year

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Types of Plate Movement

1. Divergent plate movement
• Plates move away from each other
• Heated magma rises at the rift and cools to form new crust
• Boundary where the new crust is created is called a
constructive plate boundary

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

• When only oceanic plates are involved, results in:

– Mid-oceanic ridges (e.g. Mid-Atlantic Ridge)
– Earthquakes
• When only continental plates are involved, results in:
– Rift valleys (e.g. Great Rift Valley)
– Earthquakes

A view of the
Great African
Rift Valley

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

2. Convergent plate movement

• Plates move towards each other
• Boundary is known as a destructive plate boundary
• The denser crust dips under the lighter crust and is destroyed
in the magma
• Magma rises through breaks in the plates to form volcanoes
• Folding of plates results in the formation of mountains

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

• When only oceanic plates are

involved, results in:
– Ocean trenches (e.g. Marianas
Trench)
– Island arcs
– Earthquakes
– Volcanoes

• When only continental

plates are involved,
results in:
– Fold mountains (e.g.
Himalayas)
– Earthquakes

The Himalayas

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

• When the collision is between an oceanic plate and a

continental plate, it results in:
– Ocean trenches (e.g. Peru-Chile Trench, Java Trench)
– Fold mountains (e.g. Andes)
– Earthquakes
– Volcanoes

World distribution of fold mountains

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

3. Transform plate movement

• Plates slide past each other
• Boundary is known as a transform, conservative or neutral
plate boundary

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Case study: Puerto Rico Trench and the Lesser

Antilles
• The Puerto Rico Trench lies to the north of Puerto Rico
• It is located at a boundary where there is sliding as well as
convergence of plates
• The rising of the eastern border of the Caribbean Plate
forms the Lesser Antilles
• The Caribbean Plate slides eastwards at its northern
boundary with the North American Plate
• At its eastern border, the Caribbean Plate overrides parts
of the North American and South American Plates
• This subduction zone explains the formation of the island
arc of the Lesser Antilles with its active volcanoes
• The trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean
(9,219m) and is poorly studied because of its depth

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Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

Chapter 8: Plate Tectonics: Processes and Landforms

• A transform fault is formed at the boundary (where two plates

slide past each other), e.g. the San Andreas Fault in
California, USA
• Earthquakes are a common occurrence along transform
boundaries

San Andreas Fault

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