Marine Geology

Text

Outline
1. Basic Morphology of the Seafloor

2. Plate Tectonic Theory Development

supporting evidence/observations

formulation of the tectonic concept

3. Details of Plate Boundaries

divergent

convergent

transverse

4. Mantle hot spots

5. Marine Sediments

Measuring Ocean Bathymetry=Bottom Depth

Sonar Methods

Towed Multi-Beam Sonar

Single-Beam Sonar

Creates a high-resolution swath of

bottom depth as the ship moves forward

Creates a trackline of
bottom depth as the
ship moves forward

Multi-Beam Sonar

Creates a swath of
bottom depth as the
ship moves forward

Global Ocean Bathymetry (Artists Rendition)

Bathymetry of Satellite
Measurements
gravity

gravity

Ocean Bathymetry From Satellite Altimetry

Continental Shelf

Main Sea Floor Features

(besides mid-ocean ridges)

Abyssal Plain

Development of Plate Tectonic Theory

where we are heading in the coming slides...

1. The development of Plate Tectonic theory took its first steps

forward when Alfred Wegener proposed the Theory of
Continental Drift in 1915

His theory of continental drift was not well accepted at the time because while the evidence
was overwhelming that continental drift had occurred, the forcing mechanism he proposed
(i.e., tidal action of moon) was certainly wrong. The concept of moving tectonic plates was
not known at this time

2. Plate Tectonic Theory was finally accepted after Sea-Floor

Spreading and Sea-Floor Subduction were discovered in PostWWII exploration.

This was the correct forcing mechanism that Alfred Wegener had missed when he first
proposed continental drift theory

Before We Begin

Earth Composition

1. Rigid Outer Crust

Thin and Rigid and floats on
the higher density mantle

2. Plastic Upper Mantle

Although solid, the high
temperatures cause the
material to be sufficiently
ductile to flow on very long
timescales

!

4. Molten Outer Core

5. Solid Inner Core

Numerical Simulation of Mantle Convection

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Theory of Plate Tectonics

the steady accumulation of evidence leading to the
birth of a new theory

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Part 1:
Continental Drift

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1.1 Fit of Continents

Many naturalists had
noticed the apparent
fit of the continents,
including
Englishman Francis
Bacon and Italian
geographer Antonio
Snider-Pellegrini,
whose 1858 map is
shown above.

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1.2. Paleobiogeography
Alfred Wegener noted in 1915 that
in addition to the apparent good fit of
continental boundaries, the
distribution of fossil and mineral
belts made sense if continents were
joined together in the past.

He noted specifically that: it was as if
pieces of a torn newspaper were placed
back together and all the letters lined up
- one could not help but conclude that
the pieces at one point in time formed a
whole page.

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Part 2:
Seafloor Spreading

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2.1 Mid-Ocean Ridges

(Discovered with WWII Sonar)

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2.2. Extensional Faulting

Some indication of seafloor spreading at
mid-ocean ridges was inferred based
purely on observed morphology of the
faulting* patterns along the ridge center
classic pattern of extensional faulting

* Faulting = Movement which produces relative displacement of adjacent rock masses

along a fracture in the rock

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Strong Evidence of Seafloor Spreading Was Provided
By Magnetic Anomaly Patterns in Ocean Crust Along
the Ridge

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The Earths Magnetic Field

not as stable as you might think

Past, Present and Future

Magnetic North Pole Location

Earths Magnetic Field

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The Earths magnetic field has undergone

many reversals over geologic time

Dark bands = normal polarity

White bands = reversed polarity

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2.3. Magnetic Anomalies that are Symmetric Across the Mid-Ocean Ridge

Magnetic anomalies are a proxy measure of geologic time - each anomaly can be assigned
a specific geologic date. Consequently, observing symmetric magnetic banding is really a
round-about way of observing the rock getting symmetrically older as you move away from
the ridge axis - and this is strong evidence that the ridge is slowly spreading away from the
ridge axis in opposite directions.

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2.3b. Age of Ocean Crust is Youngest at Ridges and Symmetrically

Older Off-Axis

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Part 3:
Seafloor Subduction

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3.1 Discovery of Deep Sea Trenches, and Associated Seismic Activity, Helped to Explain
The Eventual Loss Of Ocean Crust that was Initially Formed at Mid-Ocean Ridges.
This really sealed the deal!
Ocean Bathymetry
Subduction Zone

Major Ocean Trenches

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4.0 - Finally, Seismic Activity Around the World Delineates Plate

Boundaries (both spreading and subduction boundaries)

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Plate Tectonics
putting it all together

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Major Tectonic Plates of the World and their Relative Motion

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The Driving Mechanism

Convection in the Mantle and Slab Pull

Hot molten rock rises

to the surface at
divergent boundaries,
spreads laterally,
cools and gets more
dense and then sinks
and is pulled by
gravity back into the
mantle at subduction
boundaries

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Plate Tectonic Movement

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1. The earths outer crust

is is composed of many
individual crustal plates
called tectonic plates
that move relative to
one another

2. Tectonic Plates can be
composed of both ocean
crust and continental
crust

3. When a Tectonic Plate
moves so too does the
continent that is a part
of that plate

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The Breakup of Pangaea

Pangaea is the the name give to the
super continent that split apart to
form the present-day configuration
of continents
Note: if you go back even further in
time you find that the continents
have repeatedly broken apart and
collided back together in a process
know as the Wilson Rock Cycle

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Plate Boundary Details

1. Divergent Boundary

continent-continent

ocean-ocean

2. Convergent Boundary

ocean-continent

ocean-ocean

continent-continent

3.Transform Boundary

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But First, Some Important Background Information

Oceanic and Continental Crust

Earth has Two Fundamentally Different kinds of Crust

Oceanic Crust

thin (~5 km) and has a
relatively higher density

consists mostly of basalt

Continental Crust

thick (~70 km) and has a
relatively lower density

consists mostly of granite

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Oceanic and Continental Crust

1. Continents are thicker and much less dense than mantle material and so they float much
higher in the mantle and create a topographic high spot (dry land)

2. Ocean crust is thiner and only slightly less dense that mantle material so it floats deeper in
the mantle and creates a topographic low spot for ocean water to rush in to form ocean basins

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Tectonic Plate Divergence and Convergence

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Divergent Boundaries

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Examples of Divergent Boundaries

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Divergent plate
Fig. 3.24
boundaries occur where
plates are moving apart.
Most of these boundaries
are mid-oceans ridges,
less commonly they are
continental rifts as in this
example.

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East Africa Rift Zone

(A New Divergent Plate Boundary)

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Mid-Ocean Ridge
(A Mature Divergent Boundary)

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Hydrothermal Vent Systems

(found at mid-ocean ridge spreading centers )

1. seawater is drawn down through cracks in

the off-axis region

2. seawater is heated by, and reacts with, hot
rock material

3. mineral elements are extracted from the
rock and dissolved into the hot seawater

4. heated seawater that is rich in rock
minerals rises to ocean floor along the ridge
axis

5. rock minerals in the hot seawater
precipitate when the hot water hits the
surrounding cold seawater

6. dissolved rock minerals support
microbial life that forms the base of
large vent ecosystems

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Convergent Plate
Boundaries

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Three Possible Convergent Boundaries

1. Oceanic Crust & Continental Crust

Because ocean crust is more dense than continent crust, this is the plate that is
subducted under the continent crust and pushed back down into the mantle

2. Oceanic Crust & Oceanic Crust

The plate that gets subducted is often the one that is furthest from its respective
spreading center and thus older, colder, and more dense that the newer plate

3. Continental Crust & Continental Crust

This is a battle of titans because neither wants to subduct under the other.

Mountain-building is a common result.

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Examples of Convergent Boundaries

Figure 2.22

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Ocean Crust Colliding with Continental Crust

1.
2.
3.
4.

dense ocean crust slides under less dense continental crust

generates a deep ocean trench

forms explosive volcanoes

Examples: North Cascade Mountains in Washington State and/or Andes
Mountains in Chile

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Ocean Crust Colliding with Continental Crust

1. Subduction-related volcanoes are particularly explosive and dangerous.

2. This relates to their magma composition

SiO2-rich and very viscous

Rich in H2O

3. Water is derived from subducting oceanic crust.

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Mount Saint Helens

Example of Explosive Volcano Caused from
Ocean Crust Colliding with Continental Crust

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Ocean Crust Colliding with Ocean Crust

1. Deep oceanic trench (but sometimes filled with sediment)

2. Chain of volcanoes called an Island Arc.

3. Examples: Aleutian Islands, Japan, and Indonesia.

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Island Arcs in the Pacific

Example of an Island Arc Formed
from Ocean Crust Colliding with
Ocean Crust

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Continental Crust Colliding with Continental Crust

1.Both plate boundaries are of

roughly equal density so there is
no preferential subduction of one
plate over the other

2.forms large mountain range

3.example: Indias collision with
Asia

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Mt. Everest

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Transform Plate Boundaries

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Transform Boundary

Plates Slide Laterally Relative to One Another

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The San Andreas Fault of a

Transform Plate Boundary

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Mantle Hot Spots

(Hawaiian Islands)

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Stationary Mantle Plume Underlying A Moving

Tectonic Plate

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Figure 2.22

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Generation of Seamount Chains

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Marine Sediments

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Marine Sediments Outline

1. Brief Overview of Sediment Accumulation

2. Qualitative Look at Marine Sediments

Thickness

Composition

Rate of Deposition

3. Deep Sea Drilling Programs

paleo-temperatures and biological productivity from analysis of sediments

fossil species

chemical isotope ratios

4. Example of Applying Sediment Core Analysis to Reconstructing Results

from a Meteor Impact with Earth about 65 Million Years Ago

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Marine Sediment Thickness,

Composition, and Deposition Rate

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Marine Sediment Types

Biological

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Sedimentation Rates

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Summary of Sediment Accumulation

1. Wide range of material raining down

continental dust, biological material, river-born sediments

2.Sediment thickness is high near coast

due to river runoff of terrigenous sediment, and high productivity that leads to
high rain rate of biological material

3. Red Clays found in open-ocean:

Slow rain of continental dust (and very low biological addition) creates red clays

4.Calcareous or Siliceous Sediments found In high biological productivity regions
(and in absence of river outflows containing terrigenous material):

Downward rain of biological material cause red clays to be flooded/diluted by
biologically-derived calcareous or siliceous material

5.Rate of accumulation very-very slow and a 10 meter sediment core can represent a
record of up to a million years of earth history

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Deep-Sea Drilling
Process

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Proxy Measurements of Past Ocean Conditions

Remains of planktonic
organisms contained within
sediment cores reveal
information about growth
conditions of the overlying
ocean

For Example

surface water temperatures

biological productivity

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Ocean Proxy Temperatures in the Geologic Past

1. Many microorganisms shells found in sediment cores are constructed of calcite (CaCO3 and sometimes
MgCO3).

2. All oxygen atoms have 8 protons and Most oxygen atoms also have 8 neutrons giving it a molecular
mass of 16 (8 protons + 8 neutrons): 16O

3. Some oxygen atoms have 10 neutrons giving it a molecular mass of 18
(8 protons + 10 neutrons): 18O

4. Indirect (proxy) estimates of the temperature of seawater can be obtained from calcite fossils using
the isotope ratio 18O:16O preserved in the oxygen atoms of their shells.

18O

is preferentially removed from the water and incorporated into the calcite shells during growth.

This effect diminishes as temperature increases so that, all other things being equal, calcite in shells
grown in colder temperatures will have more 18O than calcite in shells grown at warmer
temperatures.

Important additional information of Ca/Mg ratio, which is also temperature sensitive, adds to the
precision/accuracy of the paleotemperature estimates derived from standard 18O proxy methods.
See: Baker et al. Quaternary Science Reviews 24:821-834, 2005

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An Example of Reconstructing Earth

History Using Sediment Core Analysis

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A deep-sea sediment core, taken

480 km west of Florida, records the
debris caused from a 10-km wide
asteroid that struck what is now
the Yucatan Peninsula 65 million
years ago

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Of all species that have existed

on Earth, 99.9 percent are now
extinct. Many of them perished
in five cataclysmic events.

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American bison
skull heap

According to a recent poll,

seven out of ten biologists
think we are currently in
the throes of a sixth mass
extinction. Some say it
could wipe out as many as
90 percent of all species
living today. Yet other
scientists dispute such dire
projections.

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Summary
1. Deep-Sea Sediments Accumulate at Very Slow Rates

On the order of centimeters per thousand years

2. Deep-Sea Sediment Cores Provide a Time Series of Ocean Events
Dating Back Nearly 200 Million Years

3. Sediment Cores Can Record the Past Conditions of Ocean Primary
Production and Ocean Temperatures

4. Sediment Cores Can Also Record Past Extinction Events in the
Ocean

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