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Continental Margins

Technical Report · February 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18278.22088

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A. Balasubramanian Somashekar KN Mysore

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 CONTINENTAL MARGINS

by
Prof.A. Balasubramanian
Centre for Advanced Studies in earth Science,
University of Mysore, Mysore

and

Dr. K.N. Somashekara

Dept of Civil Engineering,
National Inst. of Engineering, Mysore

Abstract

Oceanography is an interesting subject. Geological oceanography deals with a lot of unique aspects of
the oceans including the ocean morphology and relief, continental margins, tectonic processes acting
on the ocean bottoms, marine mineral resources, and the deep sea deposits. The subject also focuses
on the never ending dynamic processes like ocean waters, ocean currents and their impacts with
reference to space and time. Understanding the tectonic disposition and movement of crustal plates
are an important part while studying the earth and atmospheric sciences, in general and
oceanography, in particular. The continental margins and the deep ocean basins are the two major
aspects to be understood in this subject. This report is on the characteristics of continental margins.

1.0 The Earth’s Crust

Based on the seismic observations, the earth’s lithosphere is made of three major layers as the crust,
mantle and the core. The Crust is the outermost solid layer of the earth. Although, the crust is
composed of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, more than 95% of the rocks are of igneous
in origin. The crust is not a layer of uniform thickness. It is thinnest beneath the oceans and thickest
under the continents. These rock masses are extending 5 to 70 kilometres downwards from the
surface up to the Mohorovicic discontinuity which is called as Moho. The crustal layer that is
underlying the continents is called as continental crust. The crustal layer found under the oceans is
called as oceanic crust.

2.0 The Continental Crust

The Continental crust is thicker – about 35 to 70 km. This layer is usually older than the oceanic
crust. Some rocks of these may date back to 4 billion years. The Continental crust is composed mostly
of rocks containing minerals such as feldspar and quartz, which form less-dense, lighter-coloured,
granitic masses. This less dense mass floats on the mantle, in the state of acquiring a balance, due to
the concept of Isostasy.

2.1 The Oceanic Crust

The oceanic crust is about 7 to 10 km in thickness. The oceanic crust is made up of rocks
containing minerals that are high in iron and magnesium. These masses are much dense and dark-
coloured. They are of basaltic in composition. The basaltic rocks of the oceanic crust are relatively
young. None of them is older than 200 million years.

3.0 The Asthenosphere

The soft layer which is underlying beneath the oceanic and continental crust, is known as the
Asthenosphere. The Asthenosphere is composed of partially molten material that is heated unevenly
by the radioactive decay of mass present below which include both the mantle and the hot core. The

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earth’s temperature increases with reference to depth. At about 100 km depth, inside the lithosphere,
the temperature reaches to a maximum of 1,400 degree celcius. This temperature condition is enough
to melt the materials present in most of the rocks. As a result, the rock masses melted and are able to
flow slowly. On this zone, the rigid plates lying above are found to be floating or drifting. The
drifting of plates away from each other leads to spreading of ocean floors and creation of rift valleys.
In some areas, there is a collision and subduction of merging plates.

4.0 The Age of Ocean Floor

The Age of the ocean floor is about 200 million years, although age of the earth is estimated about
4600 million years. Such a geologically younger age is found due to ocean floor spreading. The Mid
oceanic ridges are continuously filled by magma which cools and helps in expanding or spreading of
ocean floor. Mantle convection currents , on the other side, help in dragging the ocean floor. As
result of this, new crust forms along the ridges and the old ones sink along the trenches.

4.1 The Continental Margins

The continental margins are the submerged continental shelf and slope zones, forming the outer edge
of a major landmass. The Continental margins represent the shallowest parts of the oceans. The
differenc between the composition of the continental and oceanic crusts are fundamental to
continental margin development. The difference in densities and isostatic balance between the
continental and oceanic blocks are reflected on the continental slope. The shallowest part of a
continental margin, extending seaward from the shore, is the continental shelf. Seaward of the
continental margin is the Ocean Basin.

5.0 The Continental drift hypothesis

It was Alfred Luthar Wegener (1880-1930), a German Meteorologist, who proposed the theory of
continental drift. It was cited that the Earth’s continents had once been united as a single landmass
that broke apart and moved as continental drift. This super-continent is called as Pangaea, a Greek
word that means “all the earth”. This concept also suggested that the Pangaea began to break apart
about 200 million years ago. Since that time, the continents have continued to slowly move and came
to their present positions.

Wegener was the first to put forward his ideas. He assembled the continents just like a puzzle like fit
of continental coastlines on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. For Wegener, these gigantic puzzle
pieces were just the beginning. The hypothesis was supported by stratigraphy, climatic conditions,
geology, structure and fossil data. The theory of continental drift was never accepted by the scientific
community and concept of plate tectonics was introduced.

6.0 The Concept of Plate Tectonics

The world’s widely accepted theory is the theory of plate tectonics. It was formulated in the late
1960s. According to this concept, the Earth's crust and upper mantle consist of moving plates lying
above a weaker semi-plastic layer called as the asthenosphere. The theory revolutionized the
geological sciences in the 1960s by combining the earlier idea of continental drift and the new
concept of seafloor spreading into a coherent whole. It explains how tectonic plates move and shape
Earth’s surface.

The lithosphere is made up of tectonic plates. These tectonic plates are able to move because the
earth’s lithosphere has a higher strength than the underlying asthenosphere. Plate tectonics provides
the framework for interpreting the history and character of the continental margins. The plate
movements and the basic difference in the density of oceanic and continental crustal units initiate the
structural pattern of continental margins and result in a tectonic classification of coastlines as active

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(Pacific, leading edge) or passive (Atlantic, trailing edge) margins, each of which have certain
fundamental characteristics.

6.1 The Convection Currents

The cause of plate movement is not accessible to anybody’s direct observation. The various features
of plate movement, and the increased heat flow along the mid-oceanic ridges are consistent with the
idea that plate movement is caused by convection in the mantle. The driving force behind the
convection is heat generated by radioactive decay in the earth. The heat released by this decay
(radiogenic heat) is transferred by convection (slow movement of hot, plastic rock) to the surface of
the earth.

Scientists think that these convection currents are set in motion by subducting slabs. The rising
material in the convection current spreads out as it reaches the upper mantle and causes both upward
and sideways forces. These forces lift and split the lithosphere at divergent plate boundaries. As the
plates separate, material rising from the mantle supplies the magma that hardens to form new ocean
crust. The downward part of convection current occurs where a sinking force pulls tectonic plates
downward at convergent boundaries.

6.2 The Sea Floor Spreading

The data collected from topographic, sedimentary, and paleomagnetic research, prompted the
scientists to propose the concept of seafloor spreading. Seafloor spreading is the process by which
new oceanic crust is formed at the ocean ridges. The crust slowly moves away from the spreading
centre, until it is subducted and recycled at deep-sea trenches.

Deep-seated magma is also expected intrude into the ocean floor along a ridge and fills the gap that is
created. When the molten material solidifies, it becomes new oceanic crust. The continuous spreading
and intrusion of magma result in the addition of new oceanic crust. Two halves of the oceanic crust
spread apart slowly, and move apart like a conveyor belt. The far edges of the oceanic crust sink
beneath continental crust. As it descends, water and the minerals cause the oceanic crust to melt,
forming a new magma. This magma rises and forms a new part in the continental crust.

6.3 Spread of Continental Margins

Continental shelves vary greatly in width, averaging 60 km wide. The average depth of the water
above continental shelves is about 130 m. Beyond the continental shelves; the sea-floor drops away
quickly to depths of several kilometres, with slopes averaging nearly 100 m/km. These sloping
regions are the continental slopes. The gently sloping zone with the accumulation of deposits from
turbidity currents that forms at the base of the continental slope is called as continental rise. A
continental rise can be of several kilometres in thickness. The rise gradually becomes thinner and
eventually merges with the sediments of the seafloor beyond the continental margins.

6.4 Plates and Plate Boundaries

Earth’s tectonic plates have been named based on the overlying landmasses and oceans. There are
about 15 major plates existing on the earth’s surface. They are namely North American Plate, Jaun de
Fuca plate, Caribbean Plate, Cocos Plate, Pacific Plate, Nazca Plate, South American Plate, Scotia
plate, African plate, Arabian plate, Eurasian plate, Indian plate, Australian plate, Philippine plate and
Antarctic plate. The line where the two plates meet each other is called as a plate boundary.

7.0 Types of Plate Movement

The plates are all moving in different directions and at different speeds. The rate of movement is
from 2 cm to 10 cm per year. During their movements, the plates may crash together, pull apart, or

3
sideswipe each other. Most of the movement occurs along narrow zones between plates where the
results of plate-tectonic forces are most evident. There are basically three different types of plate
boundaries exiting in the world as divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.

7.1 Divergent Plate Boundaries

Divergent boundaries are regions where two tectonic plates are moving apart are called divergent
boundaries. Most divergent boundaries are found along the seafloor, where they form mid ocean
ridges. The actual plate boundary is located in a fault-bounded valley called as an oceanic rift, which
forms along a ridge. Almost all divergent boundaries are characterised by for the high heat flow,
active volcanism, and continuing earthquakes.

Although most divergent boundaries form ridges on the ocean floor, some divergent boundaries exist
on the continents. When continental crust begins to separate, the stretched crust forms a long, narrow
depression called a rift valley. The rift valley which is under formation currently is in East Africa. The
rifting might eventually lead to the formation of a new ocean basin. It is the divergent plate
boundaries that split the continents move them apart and create new continental margins.

7.2 Features of Divergent Plate Boundaries

The oceanic crusts that are generated at the divergent plate boundaries are composed of form kinds of
geological layers. They are the deep marine sediments, pillow basalts, sheeted dykes and the gabbroic
layer. It is also expected to generate basaltic magmatism due to decompression melting of the mantle.
Seawater is heated along with these sediments which may create mud volcanoes.

7.3 Convergent Plate Boundaries

Convergent boundaries occur where two plates slide towards each other to form either a subduction
zone or continental collision. At convergent boundaries, two tectonic plates are expected to move
toward each other. When two plates collide, the denser plate eventually descends below the other,
“less-dense plate” This process is called as subduction. This convergence can create the most
remarkable structural and topographic features on the earth’s surface. Deep ocean trenches are the
typical examples.

7.4 Features of Convergent Boundaries

The subduction zones of these convergent boundaries possess an outer swell, a trench fore arc,
magmatic arc and a back arc basin. Continental collision is characterised by the horizontal
compression which is reflected in folding and thrust faulting. Magma is also generated at the
subduction zones. Andesitic and silicic magmas processes also create low temperature high pressure
facies near the trenches. Continents grow larger due to addition of crusts at some parts.

7.5 Types of Convergent Plate Boundaries

There are three types of convergent boundaries, classified according to the type of crust involved, and
on the differences in density of the crustal material. They are
a) The convergence of two oceanic plates (O-O Type)
b) The convergence of a continental plate and an oceanic plate (C-O Type) and
c) The convergence of two continental plates (C-C Type).

7.6 Oceanic-Oceanic (O-O Type)

In the oceanic-oceanic convergent boundary, a subduction zone is formed when one oceanic plate,
which is denser as a result of cooling, descends below another oceanic plate. The process of
subduction creates a deep-sea trench. Some examples of trenches and island arcs are the Marianas

4
Trench and Marianas Islands in the West Pacific Ocean and the Aleutian Trench and Aleutian Islands
in the North Pacific Ocean.

7.7 Oceanic-Continental (O-C Type)

The Subduction zones are also found where an oceanic plate converges with a continental plate. The
denser oceanic plate is subducted below less dense continental plate. Oceanic continental convergence
also produces a trench and volcanic arc. However, instead of forming an arc of volcanic islands,
oceanic-continental convergence results in a chain of volcanoes along the edge of the continental
plate. The result of this type of subduction is a mountain range with many volcanoes. The Peru-Chile
Trench and the Andes mountain range, which are located along the western coast of South America,
formed in this way.

7.8 Continental-Continental (C-C Type)

This type of convergent boundary forms, when two continental plates collide. Continental-continental
boundaries form long after an oceanic plate has converged with a continental plate. Continents are
often carried along attached to oceanic crust. Over time, an oceanic plate can be completely
subducted, dragging an attached continent behind it toward the subduction zone. As a result of its
denser composition, oceanic crust descends beneath the continental crust at the subduction zone. The
Himalayan mountain range, dramatically demonstrates one of the most visible and spectacular
consequences of plate tectonics. When two continents meet head-on, neither is subducted because the
continental rocks are relatively light and, like two colliding icebergs, resist downward motion.
Instead, the crust tends to buckle and be pushed upward or sideways.

7.9 Transform Boundaries

A region where two plates slide horizontally past each other is a transform boundary. Transform
boundaries are characterized by long faults, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in length, and by
shallow earthquakes. Transform boundaries were named based on the way the Earth’s crust changed,
or transformed.

Crust is only deformed or fractured somewhat along transform boundaries. Sometimes transform
boundaries occur on continents. The San Andreas Fault is probably the best-known example. The San
Andreas Fault system is part of a transform boundary that separates south western California from the
rest of the state. Movements along this transform boundary create situations are responsible for most
of the earthquakes that strike California every year.

8.0 Volcanism

Volcanoes are fuelled by magma. Magma is a slushy mixture of molten rock, mineral crystals, and
gases. Once magma forms, it rises toward Earth’s surface because it is less dense than the surrounding
mantle and crust. Magma that reaches Earth’s surface is called lava. Volcanism describes all the
processes associated with the discharge of magma, hot fluids, and gases.

Approximately 20 volcanoes are erupting. In a given year, volcanoes will erupt in about 60 different
places on Earth. The distribution of volcanoes on Earth’s surface is not random. A map of active
volcanoes reveals striking patterns on Earth’s surface. Most volcanoes form at plate boundaries. The
majority form at convergent and divergent boundaries. Along these margins, magma rises toward
Earth’s surface. Only about 5 percent of magma erupts far from plate boundaries.

8.1 Convergent Volcanism

Tectonic plates collide at convergent boundaries, which can form subduction zones - places where
slabs of oceanic crust descend into the mantle. An oceanic plate descends below another plate into the

5
mantle magma forms. As it rises, the magma mixes with rock, minerals, and sediment from the
overlying plate. Most volcanoes located on land result from oceanic-continental subduction. These
volcanoes are characterized by explosive eruptions.

8.2 Major Volcanic Belts

The volcanoes associated with convergent plate boundaries form two major belts. The larger belt, the
Circum-Pacific Belt, is also called the Pacific Ring of Fire. The name Circum-Pacific gives a hint
about the location of the belt. The outline of the belt corresponds to the outline of the Pacific Plate.
The belt stretches along the western coasts of North and South America, across the Aleutian Islands,
and down the eastern coast of Asia. The smaller belt, which is called the Mediterranean Belt, includes
Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius, two volcanoes in Italy. Its general outlines correspond to the
boundaries between the Eurasian, African, and Arabian plates.

8.3 Divergent Volcanism

At divergent plate boundaries tectonic plates move apart and new ocean floor is produced as magma
rises to fill the gap. At ocean ridges, this lava takes the form of giant pillows and is called pillow lava.
Unlike the explosive volcanoes, volcanism at divergent boundaries tends to be non-explosive, with
effusions of large amounts of lava. About two-thirds of Earth’s volcanism occurs underwater along
divergent boundaries at ocean ridges.

8.4 Hot Spots

Some volcanoes form far from plate boundaries over hot spots. Scientists hypothesize that hot spots
are unusually hot regions of Earth’s mantle where high-temperature plumes of magma rise to the
surface. Hot spot volcanoes of Earth’s best-known volcanoes formed as a result of hot spots under the
ocean. For example, the Hawaiian Islands are located over a plume of magma. As the rising magma
melted through the crust, it formed volcanoes.

The hot spot formed by the magma plume remained stationary while the Pacific Plate slowly moved
northwest. Over time, the hot spot has left a trail of volcanic islands on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
The volcanoes on the oldest Hawaiian island, Kauai, are inactive because the island no longer sits
above the stationary hot spot.

Even older volcanoes to the northwest are no longer above sea level. The world’s most active
volcano, Kilauea, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is currently located over the hot spot. Another volcano,
Loihi, is forming on the seafloor southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii and might eventually rise
above the ocean surface to form a new island.

Hot spots and plate motion creates chains of volcanoes that form over stationary hot spots provide
information about plate motions. The rate and direction of plate motion can be calculated from the
positions of these volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are at one end of the Hawaiian-Emperor volcanic
chain. The oldest seamount, Meiji, is at the other end of the chain and is about 80 million years old,
which indicates that this hot spot has existed for at least that many years. The bend in the chain at
Daikakuji Seamount records a change in the direction of the Pacific Plate that occurred in 43 millions
years.

8.5 Flood Basalts

When hot spots occur beneath continental crust, they can lead to the formation of flood basalts. Flood
basalts form when lava flows out of long cracks in Earth’s crust. These cracks are called fissures.
Over hundreds or even thousands of years, these fissure eruptions can form flat plains called plateaus.

6
 Columbia River Basalts volume of basalt erupted by fissure eruptions is a good example. However,
the Columbia River Basalts are small in comparison to the Deccan Traps of India. The volume of
basalt in the Deccan Traps is estimated to be about 5,12,000 cubic kilometers.

8.6 Earthquake

Most earthquakes are caused by movements along faults that some slippage along faults is relatively
smooth but other movements, modelled by the sandpaper-covered blocks, show that irregular surfaces
in rocks can snag and lock. As stress continues to build in these rocks, they reach their elastic limit;
undergo plastic deformation, then break, and the vibrations from the energy that is released produce
an earthquake.

8.7 Tsunami

Another type of earthquake hazard is a tsunami. It is a large seismic ocean wave generated by vertical
motions of the seafloor during an earthquake. These motions displace the entire column of water
overlying the fault, creating bulges and depressions in the water. The disturbance then spreads out
from the epicentre in the form of extremely long waves. While these waves are in the open ocean,
their height is generally less than 1 m. When the waves enter shallow water, however, they can form
huge breakers with heights occasionally exceeding 30 m. These enormous wave heights, together with
open-ocean speeds between 500 and 800 km/h, make tsunamis dangerous threats to coastal areas both
near to and far from earthquake’s epicentre.

The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, originated with a maximum magnitude of 9.0. The
30-m-tall tsunami wave radiated across the Indian Ocean and struck the coasts of Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, and several other nations.

9.0 Conclusion

The extensive work on the bathymetry of the ocean basins carried out using echo-sounding devices,
has revealed many morphological features that were previously unknown, such as oceanic ridges,
abyssal plains (and hills), seamounts, trenches, and continental margins. A continental margin that
has a broad continental shelf, a gentle continental slope, and a pronounced continental rise is known
as a passive continental margin. This type of margin experiences little, if any, volcanic or earthquake
activity. The build-up of sediment is the primary activity affecting a passive margin.

A continental margin that has a very narrow continental shelf and a narrow and steep continental
slope is known as an active continental margin. Earthquakes and volcanic activities are prominent
around the active continental margins. Delineating their boundaries and monitoring their conditions
are necessary in order to forecast their dynamic impacts.

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