Chapter 7 Lecture

Earth Science
Fourteenth Edition, Global Edition

Plate Tectonics:
A Scientific
Revolution Unfolds

Jennifer Mangan
James Madison University

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 A. Endogenous Processes
Endogenous Processes are large-scale landform
building and transforming processes
– they create relief.

1. Igneous Processes

a. Volcanism: Volcanic eruptions  Volcanoes

b. Plutonism: Igneous intrusions

2. Tectonic Processes (Also called Diastrophism)

a. Folding: anticlines, synclines, mountains

b. Faulting: rift valleys, graben, escarpments
c. Lateral Faulting: strike-slip faults

Earthquakes  evidence of present-day tectonic activity

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 Continental Drift: An Idea Before Its Time

• Alfred Wegener
– First proposed hypothesis, 1912
– Published The Origin of Continents and Oceans
• Continental drift hypothesis
– Supercontinent called Pangaea began breaking apart
about 200 million years ago
– Continents “drifted” to present positions
– Continents “broke” through the ocean crust

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 Theory of Continental Drift

• 1900’s Alfred
Wegener
proposed that the
earth used to be
one giant
landmass that
split to form
today’s
continents
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Plate Tectonics 4
 Continental Drift

• Pangaea • Panthalassa
–“all lands” – “all seas”
–a single landmass
– giant ocean
–origin of all the
continents
that must have
surrounded
Pangaea.

Plate Tectonics 5
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 Possible Configuration of Rodinia

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 Pangaea 200 Million Years Ago

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 Continental Drift: An Idea Before Its Time

• Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis

– Evidence used by Wegener
• Fit of South America and Africa
• Fossils match across the seas
• Rock types and structures match
• Ancient climates

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 Wegener's Evidence for Continental Drift

• Fossils – The glossopterus flora and fauna are now

found in widely separated continents in the southern
Hemisphere.

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 Fossil Evidence
• Fossils
support
Wegener’s
theory
• Glossopteris
• Mesosaurus
• Lystrosaurus
• Cynognathus
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 Similar Fossils on Different Continents

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 Wegener's Evidence for Continental Drift

• Paleoclimate evidence
• Distribution of Paleozoic
– Coral reefs
– Coal beds
– Deserts
• 250-300 million years ago
• Rock types and mountain ranges can
be traced across now widely
separated continents.
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 Rock Evidence

• Glacial
deposits
• Folded
mountains
• Coal
deposits
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 The Great Debate

• Rejection of the drift hypothesis

– Main objection to Wegener’s proposal was its inability to
provide a mechanism

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 Plate Tectonics 16
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 What is Plate Tectonics
• The Earth’s crust and upper
mantle are broken into
sections called plates
• Plates move around on top of
the mantle like rafts

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 Lithosphere

• Thin outer shell of the earth

crust and the

• Consisting of the

rigid upper mantle

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 Lithosphere

• Rigid layer
• Broken up
into 7
major
lithospheric
plates
Plate Tectonics 19
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 Earth’s Lithospheric Plates

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 Plate Tectonics 21
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 Theory of Plate Tectonics

• Asthenosphere
– Exists beneath the lithosphere
– Hotter and weaker than lithosphere
– Allows for motion of lithosphere

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 ASIA EUROPE
NORTH A

AFRICA

SOUTH A
AUSTRALIA

ANTARCTICA

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 Distribution of quakes
equal or greater than M5 (1980-
1990)

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 Location of some of
Earth’s major volcanoes

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 Earth’s major mountain chains

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 Plate Boundaries

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 Three Types of Plate Boundaries

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 Divergent Boundary

• Formed by two lithospheric plates that are

moving apart

Plate Tectonics 33
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 Plate Boundaries

• Divergent plate boundaries (constructive margins)

– Two plates move apart
– Mantle material upwells to create new seafloor
– Ocean ridges and seafloor spreading
• Oceanic ridges develop along well-developed boundaries
• Along ridges, seafloor spreading creates new seafloor
• Continental rifts form at spreading centers within a continent

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  According to this
theory, convection
currents are set in the
crust and heat comes
from the disintegration
of radioactive elements.
 As heat accumulates,
rocks become plastic
and moves upward
causing the surface of
the earth to bulge.

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  convection
within the
Earth's mantle
pushes the
plates
 movement of a
fluid, caused
by differences
in temperature

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 Rift Valley

• Steep, narrow valley

• Formed as lithospheric plates separate

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 Divergent Plate Boundary

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 Plate Boundaries

• Convergent plate boundaries (destructive margins)

– Plates collide, an ocean trench forms and lithosphere is
subducted into the mantle
• Oceanic-continental convergence
– Denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere
– Pockets of magma develop and rise
– Continental volcanic arc forms
– Examples include the Andes, Cascades, and the Sierra-
Nevadan system

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 Oceanic-Continental Convergence

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 Plate Boundaries

• Convergent plate boundaries (destructive margins)

– Oceanic-oceanic convergence
• Two oceanic slabs converge and one descends beneath the
other
• Often forms volcanoes on the ocean floor
• Volcanic island arc forms as volcanoes emerge from the sea
• Examples include the Aleutian, Mariana, and Tonga islands

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 Ocean-Ocean Convergence

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 Marianas Trench

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 Plate Boundaries

• Convergent plate boundaries (destructive margins)

– Continental-continental convergence
• When subducting plates contain continental material, two
continents collide
• Can produce new mountain ranges such as the Himalayas

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 Continent-Continent Convergence

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 Plate Boundaries

• Transform fault boundaries

– Plates slide past one another
• No new crust is created or destroyed
– Transform faults
• Most join two segments of a mid-ocean ridge
• Aid the movement of oceanic crustal material

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 Transform Fault Boundaries

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 Changing Plates and Plate Boundaries

• Plates and boundaries migrate and are created and

destroyed
• Breakup of Pangaea
– Formed a new ocean basin – the Atlantic

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 Breakup of Pangaea

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 Testing the Plate Tectonics Model

• Evidence from ocean drilling

– Some of the most convincing evidence confirming seafloor
spreading has come from drilling directly into ocean-floor
sediment
• Age of deepest sediments
• Thickness of ocean-floor sediments verifies seafloor
spreading

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 Deep-Sea Drilling

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 Testing the Plate Tectonics Model

• Hot spots and mantle plumes

– Caused by rising plumes of mantle material
– Volcanoes can form over them (Hawaiian Island chain)
– Mantle plumes
• Long-lived structures
• Some originate at great depth, perhaps at the mantle-core
boundary

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 Hot Spots and Hot Spot Tracks

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 Testing the Plate Tectonics Model

• Evidence for the plate tectonics model

– Paleomagnetism
• Probably the most persuasive evidence
• Ancient magnetism preserved in rocks
• Paleomagnetic records show
– Polar wandering (evidence that continents moved)
– Earth’s magnetic field reversals
• Recorded in rocks as they form at oceanic ridges

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 Polar wandering paths for Eurasia and
North America

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 Magnetic Reversals and Seafloor Spreading

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 Measuring Plate Motion

• By using hot spot “tracks” like those of the Hawaiian

Islands – Emperor Seamount chain
• Using space-age technology to directly measure the
relative motion of plates
– Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)
– Global Positioning System (GPS)

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 Directions and Rates of Plate Motions

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 What Drives Plate Motions

•No one model explains all facets of plate tectonics

•Earth’s heat is the key driving force
•Several models have been proposed
– Slab-pull and ridge-push model
• Descending oceanic crust pulls the plate
• Elevated ridge system pushes the plate

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 Forces Acting on Plates

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 What Drives Plate Motion

• Plate-mantle convection
– Mantle plumes extend from mantle-core boundary and
cause convection within the mantle
– Models
• Layering at 660 kilometers
• Whole-mantle convection

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 Layering at 660 km

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 Whole-Mantle Convection

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