Theory of plate tectonics

Earths crust is composed of numerous plates, which move due to

convection processes in the mantle.

The lithosphere is broken up into interconnected slabs that geologists call

plates. Plate tectonics is the theory that describes how these plates move
about and interact with each other at their boundaries.

What are Tectonic Plates?

The Earths crust consists of about a dozen large slabs of rock, or PLATES, that the continents
and oceans rest on. These tectonic plates can move centimeters per year (1-15 cm per year)
Tectonic plates are also called lithospheric plates because the crust and the upper-most
mantle make up a sub-layer of the earth called the lithosphere. The plates can move about
because the uppermost mantle, or the asthenosphere, is partially molten and possesses a physical
property called plasticity, allowing the strong, rigid plates of the crust to move over the weaker,
softer asthenosphere.

Plates and relative

plate motion.
Modified after NOAA

The word TECTONICS is of Greek origin and it means to build. The word tectonism refers
to the deformation of the lithosphere. This deformation most notably includes mountain building.
4

What are Tectonic Plates? (continued)

Earths Sublayers
Lithosphere: This layer combines the rigid crust plus the upper-most mantle. (Greek: Rock)
Asthenosphere: Partially molten part of upper mantle (Greek: weak). Tectonic plates are able
to move about on top of the softer, partially molten asthenosphere.

The outermost layers

of the earth.
McGraw Hill/
Glencoe, 1st ed., pg.
142.

Major Tectonic Plates in the world:

There are 8 primary plates on the planet (some time Indo-Australian
Plate is considered as a single plate), and they comprise of the
majority of the World's continents' landmass, along with most of the
surface area of the World's Ocean's.
The secondary plates (7) are smaller in size than the primary plates,
and they do not cover any substantial landmass, apart from the Arabian
Plate.
There are a further group of smaller plates, often called tertiary plates,
which are the disappearing remains of much larger ancient plates that
are now on the edges of our major plates, plus some micro-plates,
many of whom will be widely-considered as a part of a primary or
secondary plate on maps and in scientific publications.

Major Tectonic Plates in the world:

List of Major Tectonic Plates :

Primary Tectonic Plates

Secondary Tectonic Plates

1. African Plate

1. Arabian Plate

2. Antarctic Plate

2. Caribbean Plate

3. Australian Plate

3. Cocos Plate

4. Eurasian Plate

4. Juan de Fuca Plate

5. Indian Plate

5. Nazca Plate

6. North American Plate

6. Philippine Sea Plate

7. Pacific Plate

7. Scotia Plate

8. South American Plate

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Plate Tectonics: The Beginning

Background
At the beginning of the 20th Century, scientists realized that that they could not explain many of
the Earths structures and processes with a single theory. Many scientific hypotheses were
developed to try and support the conflicting observations. One hypotheses was continental drift,
which was proposed by Alfred Wegener in a series of papers from 1910 to 1928.
The principal thought of continental drift theory is that the continents are situated on slabs of
rock, or plates, and they have drifted across the surface of the Earth over time; however, originally,
they were all joined together as a huge super-continent at one time.

In the 1960s, the theory of

continental drift was combined with
the theory of sea-floor spreading to
create the theory of plate tectonics.

Alfred Lothar Wegener

(1880-1930)

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Plate Tectonics: The

Beginning
The idea for Wegener's theory was sparked by
his observation of the nearly perfect fit of the
South American and African continents.

The fit of two continents.

Additional evidence supporting the continental drift theory:

Fossils of the same plant (Glossopteris) found in Australia, India, Antarctica and
South America.
Fossils of same reptile (Mesosaurus) found in Africa and South America. This animal
could not have swum across the existing Atlantic Ocean
Glacial deposits found in current warm climates and warm climate plant fossils found
in what is now the Arctic (Paleoclimate Indicators).
Nearly identical rock formations found on the east coast of U.S. and the west coast of
Europe and eastern South America and western Africa.
Coal reserve found under ice cap of Antarctica.
12 4

Continents FIT together

like the pieces of a puzzle

13

Fossil evidence- Glossopteris & Mesosaurus

14

Paleoclimate Indicators
Glacial till of the same age is found in southern Africa, South America, India and
Australia-areas that it would be very difficult to explain the occurrence of glaciation.
At the same time, large coal deposits were formed from tropical swamps in
N.America and Europe.

Rock Type and Structural Similarities

We find similar rock types on continents on opposite sides of the Atlantic
Ocean.
Similar, age, structure and rock types are found in the Appalachian Mtns.
(N.A.) and mountains in Scotland and Scandinavia.

FT 18

FT 01

FT 02

FT 03

FT 04

FT 05

FT 06

FT 07

FT 08

FT 09

FT 10

FT 11

FT 12

FT 13

FT 14

FT 15

Plate Boundaries
There are three basic ways that plates interact with one another. Each of these plate
boundaries has the potential to create different geological features.
1. When plates collide with each other = Convergent boundary
2. When plates separate from each other = Divergent boundary
3. When plates slide along side each other = Transform boundary

34

The tectonic plates and plate boundaries.

McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg 143

35

1. Convergent Boundary:
Ocean-Continent Collision
Because the oceanic crust is more dense than continental crust, when these two
collide, the continental crust rides up over the oceanic crust and the oceanic crust is
bent down and sub ducted beneath the continental crust. This is called a subduction
zone, where the old oceanic crust is dragged downward and recycled.
Deep-sea trenches are created at subduction zones. Trenches are narrow, deep
troughs parallel to the edge of a continent or island arc. They typically have slopes
of 4-5 degrees, and they are often 8-10 km deep. The deepest spots on earth are
found in oceanic trenches. The Mariana Trench is the deepest ocean depth at 11 km
(35,798 ft) below sea level.

Figure depicting oceanic crust

subducting beneath continental
crust, creating volcanoes on the
land surface above, and a deepsea trench off of the coast.
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior/USGS

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Convergent Boundary:
Continent-Continent Collision
If two continental plates collide, mountain building usually takes place because they
are both relatively low in density.

Earthquake activity at these boundaries is common; however, because igneous

activity is different from ocean-continent collisions, volcanoes are rare.
Examples: The Himalayan and the Appalachian mountain chains.

The Himalaya mountains are still

forming today as the Ind-Australian
Plate collides with the Eurasian
Plate
37

11

Convergent Boundary:
Ocean-Ocean Collision
If 2 oceanic plates collide, the older, denser one is subducted downward into the
mantle and a chain of volcanic islands can form, called a volcanic arc.
Example: Mariana Islands (Mariana Trench). It is deeper than the earths tallest
mountain is tall. Mariana Trench: 11,000 meters deep. Mt. Everest: 8850 meters
high.
The interaction of the descending oceanic plate causes incredible amounts of
stress between the plates. This usually causes frequent earthquakes along the
top of the descending plate known as the Benioff Zone. The focii of Benioff
earthquakes can be as deep as 700 km below sea level.

Oceanic/oceanic collision
resulting in a chain of island
arcs.
Benioff Zone

Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

Department of the Interior/USGS

3812

39

2. Divergent Boundary: Sea-floor Spreading

At a divergent boundary, two oceanic plates pull apart from each other through a
process called sea-floor spreading.
Sea-floor spreading was proposed by Harry Hess in the early 1960s.
Hess proposed that hot magma rises from the asthenosphere and up into existing
ocean crust through fractures. The crust spreads apart making room for new magma
to flow up through it. The magma cools, forming new sea floor and resulting in a
build-up of basaltic rock around the crack, which is called a mid-ocean ridge.

Sea-floor spreading at an
oceanic divergent boundary.
Modified after McGraw Hill/ Glencoe, 1st ed., pg.
138 (with permission)

New material is constantly being created. This is the opposite of a convergent

boundary, where material is constantly being destroyed.

40

14

3. Transform Boundary
When two plates slide past each other moving in different directions or the same
direction, it is termed a transform boundary and is characterized by a transform
fault and earthquake activity.
An example of a transform fault is the San Andreas Fault in California. Here the
North American Plate joins the Pacific Plate. The difference in plate motion along
the contact (fault) leads to a buildup of strain energy that sometimes slips releasing
a huge amount of energy and causing an earthquake.

An aerial photo of the San Andreas

fault line. McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg.

Movement between the 2 plates at the San Andreas

Transform Fault. McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg. 146 (with
41

146 (with permission)

permission).

20

Tectonic Plate s
Boundaries

Earthquake
epicenters
(1963-1998)

43

Earthquakes

44

Introduction
Earthquake is a quaking or shaking of the
ground caused by the sudden release of energy
stored in the rocks beneath the earths surface

45

What causes earthquakes?

Tectonic plates move past each other causing stress.
Stress causes the rock to deform
Plastic deformation does not cause earthquakes
Elastic deformation rock stretches then reaches a
breaking point, releasing energy.

46

Energy released and

propagates in all
directions as seismic
waves causing
earthquakes

Epicenter = spot on
Earths surface directly
above the focus

Focus = location of initial slip on the fault;

47
where the earthquake originates

Body Waves
Seismic waves that travel through the earths
interior, spreading outward from the focus in all
directions
P (primary) wave: a compressional (or longitudinal)
wave in which rock vibrates back and forth parallel
to the direction of wave propagation; can travel
through rock, gas, or liquid

48

Body Waves (cont.)

S (secondary/shear) waves: a slower, transverse
wave that travels through near surface rocks at 2 to
5 kilometers per second; the rock vibrates
perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation;
can travel through rock but not gas or liquid

49

Surface Waves
surface waves: seismic waves that travel on the earths
surface away from the epicenter
Long waves: waves that have no vertical displacement;
they move side to side in a horizontal plane that is
perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling or
propagating; do not travel through liquids; because of
horizontal movement the waves tend to knock buildings
off their foundation

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Seismic Waves

51

How do scientists calculate how far a location

is from the epicenter of an earthquake?

Scientists calculate the difference between

arrival times of the P waves and S waves
The further away an earthquake is, the
greater the time between the arrival of the P
waves and the S waves

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Measuring Earthquakes
Seismograph: a recording device that produces a
permanent record of earth motion detected by a
seismometer, usually in the form of a wiggly line drawn
on a moving strip of paper

53

Seismogram Printout

54

Determining the magnitude of an earthquake

Magnitude -- measure of energy released during earthquake.
There are several different ways to measure magnitude.
Most common magnitude measure is Richter Magnitude, named for the
renowned seismologist, Charles Richter.
Richter Magnitude
Measure amplitude of largest S wave on seismograph record.
Take into account distance between seismograph & epicenter.
Richter Scale
Logarithmic numerical (NOT a physical) scale
Increasing one whole unit on Richter Scale represents 10 times greater
magnitude.
Going up one whole unit on Richter Scale represents about a 30 times
greater release of energy.
Intensity
Intensity refers to the amount of damage done in an earthquake
Mercalli Scale is used to express damage

55

Richter Scale
Measures the energy released by
fault movement
related to the maximum amplitude of
the wave measured from the
seismogram
31.5
Logarithmic-scale

992 times
more
energy!!

times
energy

5
56

57

Effects of Earthquakes

ground motion
fire
landslides
liquefaction (a special type of ground failure)
permanent displacement of the land surface
aftershocks: small earthquakes that follow the main shock
tsunami

Liquefaction of soil by a 1964 earthquake in Niigata, Japan, caused

earthquake-resistant apartment buildings to topple over intact. An example of permanent displacement of the land surface - fence
58
compressed by ground movement, Gallatin County, Montana, 1959.

Tsunamis
Tsunamis (seismic sea waves): huge ocean
wave produced by displacement of the sea floor

59

A tsunami is a series of
ocean waves with very long
wavelengths (typically
hundreds of kilometers)
caused by large-scale
disturbances (earthquake) of
the ocean

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World Distribution of Earthquakes

61

Pancake-Style Collapse 1985 Mexico City Quake

62

Timber-Frame Buildings in Turkey

Landslide from Seattle

Earthquake, 1965
63

Effects of Soil Liquefaction,

Japanese Quakes (Nigata), 1964

Sand Boils after Loma Prieta

Earthquake

64

Damage due to
the Tsunami in
2004, Sri Lanka

65

Japan earthquake,
March 2011

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Summary-Earthquake
1. Earthquakes generate waves that travel through
the earth

2. Earthquakes occur when rocks slip along faults

3. Magnitude and Intensity
4. Seismic waves are used to map the earths interior
5. Predicting earthquakes is not yet possible

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