The Earth’s internal forces

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The Earth’s crust
•The crust is the Earth’s
outer shell, around 5 km
thick.
•Sial is made up of lighter
rocks.
•Sima is made up of heavier
rocks.
•Below the crust is the
mantle.
•Around the centre of the
Earth is the core.

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The Earth’s surface is made up of crustal plates
•The plates are in motion,
moving a few cm each year.
•Earthquakes and volcanoes
are concentrated close to
plate boundaries.

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Divergent plate margins
•Divergent plate boundaries
are where two plates are
moving apart.
•They are also called
constructive plate
boundaries.
•There are volcanoes and
earthquakes at divergent
plate boundaries.

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Convergent plate margins
•Convergent plate boundaries
are where two plates are
moving towards each other.
•They are also called
destructive plate boundaries.
•There are earthquakes and
volcanoes at convergent plate
boundaries.

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Transform plate margins
•Transform plate boundaries
are where two plates are
moving past each other.
•They are also called
conservative plate
boundaries.
•There are earthquakes at
transform plate boundaries …
•…. but there are not usually
any volcanoes.

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The position of the continents 135 million years ago

Tectonic plates have moved great distances over millions of years.

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 Caribbean plate boundaries
Convergent plate boundaries Transform plate boundaries
•Eastern Caribbean •Northern Caribbean
•Central America •Southern Caribbean

Note: there is a short section of divergent or constructive

plate boundary at the Cayman Islands Ridge.

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The Caribbean plate and its neighbours

Caribbean islands are close to plate boundaries.

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 Around the Caribbean plate, are …

•Faulting and earthquakes in Jamaica, Haiti and northern

margin
•Volcanic islands in the eastern Caribbean
•Volcanoes and mountains in Central America
•Mountains and earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia
•A constructive plate margin at the Cayman Islands Ridge
•Ancient stable rocks in the Guyana shield
•A stable limestone platform in the Bahamas

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Earthquakes
•During an earthquake, rocks
fracture along a fault.
•Most energy is released at
the focus or hypocentre,
below the surface.
•Shockwaves travel outwards
from the focus.
•The epicentre is at the
surface, directly above the
focus.

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Faulting and landforms
•A horst or block mountain
is faulted upwards.
•A graben or rift valley is
faulted downwards.
•A tilt block is faulted
upwards on one side, to form
an escarpment.

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Folding and landforms
•In a syncline, rocks are
folded downwards.
•In an anticline, rocks are
folded upwards.
•Overfolds and recumbent
folds form complex patterns.
•An overthrust fold
combines folding and
faulting.

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The Great Rift Valley
•The Great Rift Valley extends
for hundreds of km in eastern
Africa.
•There are lakes along the
valley floor.
•There are volcanoes as well
as faulted features.

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Faulting has influenced landforms in Jamaica

Major faults affect mountain ranges and the line of the coast.

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Caymanas, near Spanish Town, Jamaica
•This block of land to the E of
Spanish Town W of Kingston
has been faulted downwards
to form a graben.
•In the foreground are the
Rio Cobre and the Mandela
Highway.

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 Features formed by viscous and basic
lava
Viscous lava
•At convergent or destructive
plate boundaries, as in eastern
Caribbean
•Acid lava with high silica
content
•Does not flow easily.
•Forms steep-sided lava domes.
•Violent eruptions may form
ash cones.
Basic lava
•At divergent or constructive
plate boundaries, as in Iceland
•Basic lava with low silica
content
•Flows easily.
•Forms lava plateaux and
gently-sloping shield volcanoes.
•Eruptions are less violent.
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Composite volcanic cones
•Associated with destructive
plate margins
•Alternate layers of ash and
lava
•Crater at summit
•Side vents and parasitic
cones
•Many examples in the
eastern Caribbean

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Intrusive volcanic features
•A vertical sheet of magma
forms a dyke.
•A horizontal sheet of magma
forms a sill.
•A plug forms at the vent of
an extinct volcano.
•A batholith is formed from
a large mass of magma
which cools beneath the
surface.

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A resistant dyke forms a headland in St Lucia
•A resistant dyke at the
Moule à Chique on the
southern tip of St Lucia has
been exposed by coastal
erosion and forms a
headland.

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Features of the St Vincent Soufrière
•This is a composite volcano
formed over the past million
years. It has:
– a conical shape
– a radial drainage
pattern of steep-sided
valleys
– a summit with outer
caldera, inner crater,
and lava dome
– lava flows forming
ridges, such as the
headland at Owia.
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How a volcano is eroded over time
•Radial streams erode the
mountain sides.
•The cone becomes irregular,
with deep V-shaped valleys.
•The cone is removed by
erosion.
•A resistant plug remains at
the former vent.

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Volcanic features in St Lucia
•Most activity in the north
was many millions of years
ago.
•Deep valleys have been
eroded in the interior.
•Dykes form ridges of high
ground.
•Volcanoes have been active
in the south-west within the
past 300,000 years.

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The Pitons
•The Pitons represent the
core of two viscous lava
domes.
•Pyroclastic flows left thick
deposits in south-western St
Lucia.
•These deposits have been
altered by erosion. Rivers
have eroded deep valleys.
Waves have eroded cliffs.

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The St Lucia Soufrière
•The St Lucia Soufrière is a
fumarole, or hot water
spring.
•Water is heated below the
ground, and comes to the
surface carrying sulphur and
other minerals.

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The Soufriére Hills in Montserrat
•The most recent eruption is
still in progress.
•A new lava dome is
surrounded by older volcanic
peaks.
•Pyroclastic flows have left
thick deposits of ash, and
created a strip of new land
up to one km in width.

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Igneous, sedimentary and
metamorphic rocks

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