Previous Class – This Class –
1. Seismic waves 1. Lithospheric plates
2. Discontinuities 2. A bit about history
of plate tectonics
3. Earth’s
Magnetism 3. Types of plate
boundaries
Lithospheric plate
What is lithosphere?
The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of
Earth consisting of the brittle upper portion
of the mantle and the crust.
Lithospheric plates - oceanic and continental
– solid, brittle
Remember?
Density of continental
and oceanic crust -
▪ These plates lie/float on the partially
molten layer of rock asthenosphere.
▪ Asthenosphere – viscoelastic – can deform
and flow
▪ Convection cells in the asthenosphere –
driving force for plate tectonics
▪ Plate movement manifestations ?
History
The theory of Plate Tectonics
states that the Earth’s outer
layer is made up of plates that
have moved throughout the
history of our planet
Alfred Wegener
Basic concept - theory of Continental Drift
proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a German
meteorologist
History
Continental Drift states that the continents
were compressed into a single super-continent
(which he named Pangea) and in time have
separated (about 225-300 million years ago)
and drifted to their present positions
Although initially rejected, the continental
drift theory was accepted after …
Dr. Harry Hess proposed the theory of Sea
Floor Spreading in 1960
Read (if interested to know more)
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/techist.htmlMountain-building
How has this theory helped geoscientists?
Explaining
❑ Mountain ranges
❑ Volcanoes
❑ Presence of same species of flora and fauna
across widely spaced landmasses
❑ Oceanic basins
❑ Absence of oceanic crust older than Jurassic
http://www.scotese.com/
http://www.scotese.com/
http://www.scotese.com/
http://www.scotese.com/
http://www.scotese.com/
http://www.scotese.com/
http://www.scotese.com/
Total number of plates
Major plates (by size) - 7
1. Pacific plate
2. North American plate
3. Eurasian plate
4. African plate
5. Antarctic plate
6. Indo-Australian plate
7. South American plate
Total number of plates
Minor plates (by size) (>8)
1. Somali plate 8. Scotia plate
2. Nazca plate 9. Burma plate
3. Philippine plate 10. New Hebrides plate
4. Arabian plate 11. Juan de Fuca plate
5. Caribbean plate
Juan de Fuca will
6. Cocos plate be consumed under
7. Caroline plate the North
American plate!!!
Rate of movement – mm/y
Try this out!!!
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant/atlas/index.html?appid=0cd1cdee853c4
13a84bfe4b9a6931f0d&webmap=16127f8086aa49e489aed1414914533e
Main types of plate boundaries - 3
1. Convergent
2. Divergent
3. Transform
Convergent Plate Boundaries
▪ Subduction occurs when plates of
differing density converge.
▪ The colder, typically older, more dense
tectonic plate is pushed below the less
dense plate, forcing it back down into the
Earth’s mantle.
▪ Subduction zones form deep-ocean
trenches up to 11,034 meters (36,201
feet) deep at the Mariana Trench)
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Oceanic-oceanic plate convergence
e.g. Pacific plate subducting under Philippine
plate forming Mariana Trench, Aleutian Islands
Have you heard of Dr. Kathy Sullivan?
How deep is
Challenger
Deep?
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Continental-continental plate convergence
e.g. Indian plate subducting beneath Eurasian
plate forming Himalayas
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Continental-oceanic plate convergence
e.g. Nazca plate subducting under South-American
plate forming Andes – destructive plate margin
Divergent Plate Boundaries
▪ Two plates move away from each other
▪ Occurs above rising convection current
▪ Lateral movement of the convection
current drags the lithospheric plate in the
direction of movement of the underlying
current
Oceanic
▪ Rising magma lifts the lithosphere forming
a ridge – extensional forces due to the
convection currents underneath stretches
the ridges forming a fissure
▪ Hot magma flows into this fissure and then
solidifies forming oceanic crust
Oceanic
▪ Later, younger crust is formed by splitting
the crust at the ridge and filling up of the
ridge by fresh magma
Example ??
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Scuba diving in Iceland between
North American plate and Eurasian plate
Continental
▪ Rising mantle plume lifts the lithosphere
forming a ridge – extensional forces due to
the convection currents underneath
stretches the rides forming a rift
▪ Eventually, normal faults develop, and the
central blocks slide downwards
Continental
▪ Often the rift is initially filled by a stream
and as the rifting increases and grows
deeper – a new basin develops
Example??
East African Rift Valley
https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop425/0033_SCORM_M
FFTT600120-EN/sco_08_01.scorm
https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop425/0033_SCORM_M
FFTT600120-EN/sco_08_01.scorm
http://www.geologyin.com/2018/03/crack-in-east-
african-rift-valley-is.html
