PLATE TECTONICS

A theory that says that the Earths outer shell consists of individual plates that interact to produce earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and the crust

From PANGEA to PANGEA?

How did the plate tectonic theory begin?

CONTINENTAL DRIFT HYPOTHESIS

Proposed by Alfred Wegener

Suggested a supercontinent
Pangea (all land)

What evidence did Wegener use?

fit of the land
Fossils Rock structures Ancient climates

WHAT WAS THE MAIN OBJECTION TO WEGENERS HYPOTHESIS?

HE COULD NOT PRODUCE A MECHANISM FOR HOW THE CONTINENTS MOVED

UPPER MANTLE solid, rocky shell

LITHOSPHERE Top
Stiff Oceanic crust Continental crust Able to move independently of the asthenosphere

ASTHENOSPHERE Bottom
Weaker than lithosphere Soft Top portion of asthenosphere has temperatures/pressures that result in some melting

Beginning of Plate Tectonics

Oceanic ridge system was discovered
Winds through all the major oceans Oceanic crust was less than 200 million years old

Theory breaks lithosphere into plates

North American South American Pacific African Eurasian Australian-Indian Antarctic

Theory states:
Distance between 2 places on the same plate will stay (relatively) the same Distance between 2 places on different plates will gradually change

Movement is driven by unequal heating within the Earth

Boundaries between the plates

DIVERGENT

CONVERGENT TRANSFORM FAULT

DIVERGENT

Also called constructive plate margins

Oceanic lithosphere is generated

Also called spreading centers

What is observed?
Sea floor is elevated forming the oceanic ridge system Down the middle of the ridge is a rift valley

What is happening? (ocean rifting)

Sea floor is stretched
Molten rock from the asthenosphere breaks through the surface (volcanic activity)

Rock in the middle portion sinks creating the rift valley

What is happening (continental rifting)

Continental crust is stretched and thinned

Volcanic activity starts

Ridge and rift valley result

Does this mean that the planet is expanding (new crust is formed, meaning more land)?

NO surface area remains the same

HOW?

CONVERGENT
Also called destructive late margins (lithosphere destroyed here) 2 plates move towards each other
Also called subduction zones (sub under, duct land)

Subduction results from a denser plate sliding under the other plate

Oceanic lithosphere is more dense than the asthenosphere

Continental lithosphere is less dense than the asthenosphere It will resist subduction

OCEANIC / CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE

Denser oceanic lithosphere sinks into the mantle, continental lithosphere stays above
subduction

Volcanic eruptions result

OCEANIC / OCEANIC CONVERGENCE

One oceanic lithosphere sinks into the mantle, the other stays above
subduction

Volcanic eruptions result Volcanoes grow from the ocean floor and will eventually build a chain of islands
this arc shaped chain of volcanic islands is called a volcanic island arc

CONTINENTAL / CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE

Continental lithosphere is less dense than the asthenosphere so it will not be subducted The two land masses collide

Land is deformed and mountain range is the result

TRANSFORM FAULT
Also called conservative plate margins
Plates slide past each other
No construction or destruction is involved

Most are along a ridge axis

TESTING PLATE TECTONICS MODEL

1. Ocean Drilling
Ocean basins are less than 200 million years old Hardly any sediment on ridge crests Sediment increases as one moves away from crest

WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?

2.Hot Spots -- areas of volcanism and high heat flow -- as a plate moves over a hot spot, volcanoes are successively built

WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?

3. Paleomagnetism
-- minerals loose magnetism when heated above a certain temperature -- as they cool, they become magnitized in the direction of the Earths existing magnetic field

-- the Earths magnetic field reverses its polarity ** seafloor spreading shows reverse magnetic field

WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?

What is used to measure plate motion?

Hot spots Magnetic stripes

GPS

WHAT DRIVES PLATE MOTION?

None of the plate tectonic models account for everything, BUT Scientists agree on the following:
Convective flow (warm rock rises, cooler/denser material sinks) Mantle convection (subduction of oceanic plates & volcanic eruptions) Movements driven by unequal heat distribution

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF PLATE TECTONICS?

Another supercontinent?
PANGEA all over again

Plates will stop moving when enough of the Earths internal heat has been lost