TEORI DASAR

PERKEMBANGAN
BUMI
Theory of Continental Drift
 In 1910 American geologist Frank B. Taylor proposed that lateral
(sideways) motion of continents caused mountain belts to form on their
front edges. Building on this idea in 1912, German meteorologist
Alfred Wegener proposed a theory that came to be known as
Continental Drift: He proposed that the continents had moved and were
once part of one, large supercontinent called Pangaea. Wegener was
attempting to explain the origin of continents and oceans when he
expanded upon Taylor’s idea. His evidence included the shapes of
continents, the physics of ocean crust, the distribution of fossils, and
paleoclimatology data. Continental drift helped to explain a major
geologic issue of the 19th century: the origin of mountains. Theories
commonly called on the cooling and contracting of the earth to form
mountain chains.
 The mountain-building theories of German geologist
Leopold von Buch and French geologist Leonce Elie de
Beaumont were catastrophic in nature. American
geologists James Hall and James Dwight Dana proposed
the geosynclinal theory of mountain building—a theory
based on the downward bending of the earth’s crust (a
geosyncline). Austrian geologist Eduard Suess
developed a related theory. Hall, Dana, and Suess believed
that continents and ocean basins were ancient, permanent
features on earth and that mountain belts formed at their
edges
 Most geologists did not accept the theory of continental drift in the
1920s and 1930s. British geologist Arthur Holmes supported
continental drift and proposed that convection (a type of heat
movement) inside the earth drove continental drift. Others who
favored the idea included South African geologist Alex du Toit, who
studied geologic evidence for the southern continents of
Gondwanaland, part of the hypothetical supercontinent Pangaea.
Other scientists, such as British geophysicist Harold Jeffreys, argued
that continental drift was physically impossible. Paleontologists, such
as American George Gaylord Simpson, said that the
distribution of fossils could be explained by other means.
Theory of Seafloor Spreading
American marine geologists Robert S. Dietz and Harry H. Hess proposed
the seafloor spreading hypothesis, the concept that the oceanic crust is
created as the seafloor spreads apart along midocean ridges. American
oceanographers Bruce C. Heezen, Marie Tharp, and others prepared detailed
maps of the ocean floors and the mid-Atlantic ridge and rift system, a
mountainous chain found throughout the ocean. These maps provided
additional evidence that seemed to support the continental drift theory.
Further evidence came from paleomagnetism, the record of the orientation
of earth's magnetic field recorded in rocks. In the 1950s, British geophysicist
S. Keith Runcorn determined that this evidence indicated that the continents
had moved relative to the earth’s magnetic poles and to each other.
 British marine geophysicists Fred J. Vine and Drummond
Matthews described the record of changes in the earth’s magnetic
field when they discovered “magnetic stripes” formed at spreading
centers of the mid-ocean ridges, leading to the Vine-Matthews
hypothesis. Magnetic stripes were also independently described by
Canadian geophysicist Lawrence Morley and confirmed by
American marine geologist Walter Pitman and others. These stripes
indicated reversals of the direction of the earth’s magnetic field
recorded in rock as new ocean crust was created at mid-ocean ridges.
Scientists used paleomagnetism and seafloor spreading to determine
that the continents had moved relative to the magnetic poles and to
each other.
 Theory of Plate Tectonics
 Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson and American
geophysicist Jason Morgan, among others, proposed the outline
of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s. This theory
stated that the earth’s lithosphere is made up of several rigid
plates. These plates slide and move over a less-rigid layer called
the asthenosphere. A plate may be composed entirely of oceanic
crust, like the Pacific Plate, or of part ocean crust and part
continental crust, like the North American Plate. New ocean crust
is generated at ocean ridges (underwater mountain chains formed
by the young ocean crust). Older ocean crust sinks down, or
subducts, into the earth’s mantle at subduction zones, which are
found at the deepest parts of the ocean, called trenches. As the
plates move, they collide and form mountains.
 The plates recycle crust, generate volcanoes, and move
past each other along faults. Using satellites, scientists can
now measure movement of the continental plates in
centimeters per year. Plate boundaries are the sites of most
of the earth's earthquakes and the majority of earth's
volcanoes. The continents are made of remelted sediments
and partially melted oceanic crust, forming a lower density
layer that has collected through time. The mechanism that
drives the earth’s crustal plates is still not known, but
geologists can use plate tectonics to explain most geologic
activity.
 Earth as a Planetary Body
 The full recognition by scientists of earth as a planetary
body, combining the fields of solar-system astronomy and
geology, is perhaps the latest revolution in the earth
sciences. Although scientists have recognized earth as a
planet for centuries, space exploration that began in the
1960s created a new view of the earth. Photographs of
earth taken from space had a profound effect on how
people saw the earth. The exploration of neighboring
moons and planets has led to a new understanding of the
earth as an evolving planet
Plate Tectonics
 Theory first proposed in late 1960's and early 1970's. A
unifying theory for all of geology. A revolution in the earth
sciences. An outgrowth of the old theory of continental drift,
supported by much data from many areas of geology.
 Based on intensive geophysical data collection in Earth's
oceans following World War II, including "International
Geophysical Year," 1957-1958. Sea floor mapping discovered
patterns of midocean ridges and deep sea trenches.
Magnetometers to detect submarines also recorded differences
in magnetic properties of rocks on sea floor. Global network
of seismometers was established to monitor atomic
explosions, and also provided information on worldwide
earthquake patterns
 Evidence in support of the Theory of Plate Tectonics

1. Shape of the coastlines (jigsaw puzzle fit)

2. Fossil evidence implies once continuous land
connections between now-separated areas
 Distribution of Glossopteris flora (plant fossils)
Late Paleozoic seed fernsGondwanaland (India, Africa,
Australia, S. America, Antarctica)
 Distribution of Mesosaurus (fish-eating freshwater reptile)
 Distribution of Lystrosaurus (plant-eating freshwater
reptile)
 Distribution of Cynognathus (small carnivorous reptile
transitional to mammals)
 Distribution of Paleozoic fishes and amphibians
3. Distribution of present-day organisms indicates that they
evolved in genetic isolation on separated continents
4. Geologic similarities between South America, Africa, and
India
 Same stratigraphic sequence (i.e., same sequence of
layered rocks of same ages in each place)

 Mountain belts and geologic structures (trends of folded

and faulted rocks line up)
 Precambrian basement rocks are similar in Gabon (Africa)
and Brazil
5. Geologic similarities between Appalachian Mountains and
Caledonian Mountains in British Isles and Scandinavia
6. Paleoclimatic (=ancient climate) evidence
(ancient climatic zones match up when continents are moved to their
past positions)
 Layers of glacial deposits (tillites) are found at same place in
sequence of rocks
Note directions of glacial ice movement as indicated by striations or
grooves in the rock
 Coal seams with logs from tropical (low latitude) trees found at high
latitudes
 Distribution of carbonate deposits (including reefs) and evaporite
deposits
7. Rift Valleys of East Africa indicate continent breaking up
8. Youth of ocean basins and sea floor
Thin layer of sediment on basalt
Basalt dates to less than 200 million years (most less than 150 million
years)
9. Evidence for subsidence in oceans –
 Guyots - flat-topped sea mounts (erosion when at or above sea
level)
 Chains of volcanic islands that are older away from site of current
volcanic activity -
Hawaiian Islands and Emperor Sea Mounts
(also subsiding as they go away from site of current volcanic
activity)
10. Mid-ocean ridges located near ocean centers are sites of sea floor
spreading
 High heat flow
 Seismic wave velocity decreases due to high temperatures
 Valley along center of ridge ( graben)
 Volcanoes along ridge
 Earthquakes along ridge
11. Benioff Zones - inclined zone of earthquake foci (plural of focus)
near deep sea trenches
12. Magnetic stripes on the sea floor
Symmetrical about mid-ocean ridge
 Contributions to plate tectonic theory from
paleomagnetism

 Recently magnetized rocks show alignment of magnetic field

consistent with Earth's current magnetic field
 Magnetization in older rocks has different orientations (as
determined by magnetometer towed by ship).
Can determine direction to north magnetic pole and distance
to north magnetic pole from inclination and declination of
magnetic field in the rock
 Polar wandering curves
Different polar wandering paths seen in rocks of different
continents.
Put continents "back together" and the polar wandering curves
are superimposed (match up)
 test of the hypothesis of sea floor spreading (Vine and
Matthews, 1963)
Magnetic reversal "stripes" are SYMMETRICAL
about the ridge.
 Magnetic reversal time scale -
Pattern of reversals in sea floor basalts matches
known reversal time scale as determined from rocks
exposed on land.
Width of magnetic stripes on sea floor is related to
time.
(Wide stripes = long time; narrow stripes = short
time)
 Basic Terminology of Plate Tectonics
 The Earth's surface or lithosphere is divided into plates
(about 7 large plates and 20 smaller ones).
Lithosphere consists of the rigid, brittle crust and uppermost
mantle.
 Asthenosphere is partially molten part of mantle. Below
lithosphere.
 Rigid lithospheric plates rest (or "float") on flowing
asthenosphere.

 Two types of crust are present in the upper part of the

lithosphere:
 thin, dense, basaltic oceanic crust
 thick, low density, granitic continental crust
 Types of plate boundaries:
 Divergent - where plates move apart from one
another (tensional stress).
Rifting or spreading or "pull-apart" occurs. Rift ing
may occur in either oceanic or continental crust.
Rift zones tend to have normal faults and intrusions
of igneous rock coming up from below (commonly
basalt - rich in Mg and Fe).
Examples: mid-ocean ridges, East African Rift Valley
Convergent - where plates move toward one another ( compressional stress).
 Continental collisions form mountain belts
Examples: Himalaya Mountains, Ural Mountains, Appalachian Mountains
 Subduction - where one plate is pushed beneath another plate, forming a
submarine trench.
 Ocean-to-ocean subduction - A plate topped by oceanic crust (or "oceanic
plate") may be subducted beneath another plate topped by oceanic crust,
forming a deep sea trench with an associated basaltic volcanic island arc.
Examples: Java Trench adjacent to Java, Sumatra, and Sunda Islands in the Indonesian
region.
 Ocean-to-continent subduction - An oceanic plate may also be subducted
beneath a continental plate, forming a trench adjacent to a continent, with
volcanic mountains along the edge of the continent.
Example: Peru-Chile Trench adjacent to the western coast of South America with the
Andes Mountains. Note that the volcanic rocks in this setting tend to be andesite (named
for Andes Mountains).
 Transform - where two plates slide past one another (shear
stress).
Transform faults cut across and offset the mid-ocean ridges.
Transform faults are a natural consequence of horizontal
spreading of the seafloor on a curved globe.
Many examples can be seen cutting the Mid-Atlantic Ridge or
East Pacific Rise.
The San Andreas Fault is also a transform fault, occurring
where the North American Plate has overridden the East
Pacific Rise (part of the oceanic ridge-system).