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Litho
Astheno
Oceanic Crust (5 km thick) Lithosphere (100 km thick) Plates = Lithosphere Asthenosphere (100-200 km thick) Mesosphere (~2600 km thick)
versus
Crust low-density silicates Mantle high-density silicates Outer Core liquid Fe alloy Inner Core solid Fe alloy
Lithosphere strong, makes plates Asthenosphere weak (flows) Mesosphere not as weak (still flows)
This distribution indicates that faulting is largely restricted to curvilinear zones between broad areas where little deformation occurs
Volcanoes found above subduction zones and at hotspots Larger volumes of lava come out of mid-ocean ridges (underwater, and not shown here)
Earthquakes A closer look: Earthquake and Volcano distribution in the Aleutian Islands
Volcanoes
The close spatial (and temporal) relationship between earthquakes and volcanism argues that these phenomena are caused by the same process or mechanism.
Shallow earthquakes (blue) found at all boundary types. Deep (red) and intermediate earthquakes (yellow) are only found associated with trenches (subduction zones) and show an asymmetrical distribution.
Trench Topography
The surprisingly good jig-saw puzzle fit across the South Atlantic caused Alfred Wegener to propose the idea of mobile continents in the 1920s
Ocean-floor topography was largely unknown until World War II Navy Captain and Princeton Prof. Harry Hess kept his sonar on during trans-Atlantic crossings, discovering mountains in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
A
Continental Margin
Mid-ocean Ridge
Continental Margin
Black: White:
Ridge Axis
Iceland
Rock Magnetism
Igneous rocks contain some magnetic minerals, particularly magnetite Magnetism fades at temperatures above the Curie temperature (about 500 C) As an igneous rock cools below the Curie point, it acquires a magnetism because magnetic mineral grains align themselves to the Earths magnetic field The rock locks in the magnetic orientation of the Earths field as it cools, preserving it as long as it is not reheated to the Curie point
The Earths magnetic field has reversed many, many times over Earth history
Dark bars are Normal Polarity Light bars are Reversed Polarity
S N N
Radiometric dating can determine the ages of reversals
S N
High magnetic intensity - where rock magnetism adds Level due to present field Low magnetic intensity - where rock magnetism subtracts
Ship (or airplane) measures sum of present field and rock magnetism
Mirror symmetry demonstrates sea floor spreading, and marks the age of the ocean floor
R
N = Normal R = Reversed
Ages are assigned based on known ages of magnetic reversals, which are the same over the entire globe