Tectonic Processes

Landform Processes
Endogenic
Internal forces beneath or at Earths surface
Mountain building
Earthquakes

Exogenic
External forces
Erosion, water, wind, chemical

Tectonic Processes

 Fixed Earth Theory

States that continents and oceans have
always been fixed in place

Plate Tectonics Theory

Proposed by Alfred Wegener, 1900s
Became popular in the 1960s

Pangaea Hypothesis
First a supercontinent, and the tectonic
plates moved (see next slide plate
boundaries)

Continental Drift
An Idea Before Its Time
Wegeners continental drift hypothesis
stated that the continents had once been
joined to form a single supercontinent.
Wegener proposed that the supercontinent,
Pangaea, began to break apart 200 million years
ago and form the present landmasses.

Breakup of Pangaea

Continental Drift
An Idea Before Its Time
Evidence
The Continental Puzzle
Matching Fossils
- Fossil evidence for continental drift includes
several fossil organisms found on different
landmasses.

Continental Drift
An Idea Before Its Time
Evidence
Rock Types and Structures
- Rock evidence for continental exists in the
form of several mountain belts that end at
one coastline, only to reappear on a
landmass across the ocean.
Ancient Climates

Matching Mountain Ranges

Glacier Evidence

Continental Drift
Rejecting the Hypothesis
A New Theory Emerges
Wegener could not provide an explanation of
exactly what made the continents move. New
technology lead to findings which then lead to
a new theory called plate tectonics.

What happens at tectonic

plate boundaries?

World Plates

Plate Tectonics
Earths Major Roles
According to the plate tectonics theory,
the uppermost mantle, along with the
overlying crust, behaves as a strong, rigid
layer. This layer is known as the
lithosphere.
A plate is one of numerous rigid sections of the
lithosphere that move as a unit over the material
of the asthenosphere.

Plate Tectonics
Types of Plate Boundaries
Divergent boundaries (also called
spreading centers) are the place where two
plates move apart.
Convergent boundaries form where two
plates move together.
Transform fault boundaries are margins
where two plates grind past each other
without the production or destruction of the
lithosphere.

Three Types of
Plate Boundaries

Actions at Plate Boundaries

Convergent Boundaries

A subduction zone occurs when one

oceanic plate is forced down into the
mantle beneath a second plate.
Oceanic-Continental
Denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere.
Pockets of magma develop and rise.
Continental volcanic arcs form in part by volcanic
activity caused by the subduction of oceanic
lithosphere beneath a continent.

Examples include the Andes, Cascades, and

the Sierra Nevadas.

Oceanic-Continental
Convergent Boundary

Actions at Plate Boundaries

Convergent Boundaries
Oceanic-Oceanic
Two oceanic slabs converge and one descends
beneath the other.
This kind of boundary often forms volcanoes on
the ocean floor.
Volcanic island arcs form as volcanoes emerge
from the sea.

Examples include the Aleutian, Mariana, and

Tonga islands.

Oceanic-Oceanic
Convergent Boundary

Subduction

Oceanic lithosphere
subducts underneath the
continental lithosphere
Oceanic lithosphere heats
and dehydrates as it
subsides
The melt rises forming
volcanism
E.g. The Andes

Actions at Plate Boundaries

Convergent Boundaries
Continental-Continental
When subducting plates contain continental
material, two continents collide.
This kind of boundary can produce new
mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas.

Continental-Continental
Convergent Boundary

The Philippine Plate collides with the Pacific

Plate

Philippine plate

Pacific plate

Magma converges
Mantle

The Philippine Plate collides with the Pacific

Plate

Sediment is folded up

Ocean trench forms (Pacific Plate)

Cracks form
Sediment
Philippine Plate
Magma rises
through cracks
Mantle

Pacific Plate

Denser plate subducts

Subducted plate melts

into magma

The Philippine Plate collides with the Pacific

Plate
Volcanic islands
formed as magma
rises up to the
floor

The Philippine Islands formed as a volcanic island arc

Philippine trench

Sediment
Philippine Plate

magma rises
Mantle

Pacific Plate

Collision of India and Asia

Himalayas

Actions at Plate Boundaries

Divergent Boundaries
Oceanic Ridges and Seafloor Spreading
Oceanic ridges are continuous elevated zones
on the floor of all major ocean basins. The rifts at
the crest of ridges represent divergent plate
boundaries.
Rift valleys are deep faulted structures found
along the axes of divergent plate boundaries.
They can develop on the seafloor or on land.
Seafloor spreading produces new oceanic
lithosphere.

Age of Oceanic Crust

Courtesy of www.ngdc.noaa.gov

Spreading Center

Actions at Plate Boundaries

Divergent Boundaries
Continental Rifts
When spreading centers develop within a
continent, the landmass may split into two
or more smaller segments, forming a rift.

East African Rift Valley

Iceland: An example of continental rifting

Iceland has a divergent
plate boundary running
through its middle

Actions at Plate Boundaries

Transform Fault Boundaries
At a transform fault boundary, plates grind
past each other without destroying the
lithosphere.
Transform faults
Most join two segments of a mid-ocean ridge.
At the time of formation, they roughly parallel the
direction of plate movement.
They aid the movement of oceanic crustal
material.

Transform Fault Boundary

Testing Plate Tectonics

Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Paleomagnetism is the natural remnant
magnetism in rock bodies; this permanent
magnetization acquired by rock can be
used to determine the location of the
magnetic poles at the time the rock became
magnetized.
Normal polaritywhen rocks show the same
magnetism as the present magnetism field
Reverse polaritywhen rocks show the
opposite magnetism as the present magnetism
field

Paleomagnetism Preserved
in Lava Flows

Testing Plate Tectonics

Evidence for Plate Tectonics
The discovery of strips of alternating
polarity, which lie as mirror images across
the ocean ridges, is among the strongest
evidence of seafloor spreading.

Polarity of the Ocean Crust

Testing Plate Tectonics

Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Earthquake Patterns
Scientists found a close link between deep-focus
earthquakes and ocean trenches.
The absence of deep-focus earthquakes along
the oceanic ridge system was shown to be
consistent with the new theory.

Testing Plate Tectonics

Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Ocean Drilling
The data on the ages of seafloor sediment
confirmed what the seafloor spreading
hypothesis predicted.
The youngest oceanic crust is at the ridge crest,
and the oldest oceanic crust is at the continental
margins.

Testing Plate Tectonics

Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Hot Spots
A hot spot is a concentration of heat in the
mantle capable of producing magma, which rises
to Earths surface; The Pacific plate moves over
a hot spot, producing the Hawaiian Islands.
Hot spot evidence supports that the plates move
over the Earths surface.

Hot Spot

Mechanisms of Plate Motion

Causes of Plate Motion
Scientists generally agree that convection
occurring in the mantle is the basic driving
force for plate movement.
Convective flow is the motion of matter resulting
from changes in temperature.

Mechanisms of Plate Motion

Causes of Plate Motion
Slab-Pull and Ridge-Push
Slab-pull is a mechanism that contributes to
plate motion in which cool, dense oceanic crust
sinks into the mantle and pulls the trailing
lithosphere along. It is thought to be the primary
downward arm of convective flow in the mantle.
Ridge-push causes oceanic lithosphere to slide
down the sides of the oceanic ridge under the
pull of gravity. It may contribute to plate motion.

Mechanisms of Plate Motion

Causes of Plate Motion
Mantle Convection
Mantle plumes are masses of hotter-thannormal mantle material that ascend toward the
surface, where they may lead to igneous activity.
The unequal distribution of heat within Earth
causes the thermal convection in the mantle that
ultimately drives plate motion.

Mantle Convection Models

Volcanoes and Plate

Tectonics
whats the connection?

Pacific Ring of Fire

Volcanism is
mostly
focused at
plate margins

Volcanoes are formed by:

- Subduction - Rifting - Hotspots

Pacific Ring of Fire

Hotspot
volcanoes

What are Hotspot Volcanoes?

Hot mantle plumes breaching the
surface in the middle of a tectonic plate

The Hawaiian island chain are examples

of hotspot volcanoes.
Photo: Tom Pfeiffer / www.volcanodiscovery.com

The tectonic plate moves over a fixed hotspot

forming a chain of volcanoes.

The volcanoes get younger from one end to the other.

Volcano Types
Shield volcanoes
Sedate
Runny lava
The Hawaiian Islands: Mauna Loa, Hawaii (still active,
but not explosive)

Composite cone volcanoes

Explosive
Pyroclasts this explosive material includes sticky
lava, hot ash, sulfurous gas, rock bombs, etc e.g.
Pompei
Krakatau in Indonesia, largest recorded eruption.

Earthquakes and Plate

Tectonics
whats the connection?

Where do earthquakes form?

Figure showing the tectonic setting of earthquakes

 As with volcanoes, earthquakes are not

randomly distributed over the globe

Figure showing the

distribution of
earthquakes around
the globe

At the boundaries between plates, friction

causes them to stick together. When built up
energy causes them to break, earthquakes
occur.

Earthquakes
There are thousands of small earthquakes every day
Strong earthquakes (~M7) occur once a month. >M8 occur about once/year.
Where are the deepest earthquakes?

For earthquakes of the past 2 weeks, go to http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

Earthquakes & Plate Boundaries

Notice that the earthquakes coincide with plate boundaries,

and the deepest quakes (blue) are in subduction zones.
Question: Where would you expect to see volcanoes?

Create your own maps at http://www.iris.edu/quakes/maps.htm

Modified from USGS Graphics

Volcanoes & Plate Boundaries

This map shows that locations of volcanoes (ones above sea
level) also tend to occur along the plate boundaries

Modified from USGS Graphics

Folding
Folding is one of the endogenetic
processes.When two forces push towards each
other from opposite sides, the rock layers will
bend into folds. The process by which folds are
formed are due to compressional forces known as
folding.
There are large-scale and small-scale folds. Largescale folds are found mainly along destructive plate
boundaries.

Faulting
Faulting is the fracturing and displacement of more brittle rock
strata along a fault plane either caused by tension or
compression.
A break in rock along which a vertical or horizontal rock
movement has occurred is called a fault.
The process of forming a fault is faulting.
The line of fault which appears on land surface is known as fault
line. These lines are often lines of weakness which allow molten
rock to rise up onto the earth surface when there is active
volcanic activity nearby.
There are three types of fault which are caused by different
endogenetic forces:
- Normal fault
- Reverse fault
- Tear fault
Faulting forms two major landforms - block mountains and rift
valleys.

Normal fault

Philippine plate

Pacific Plate

Reverse fault

Philippine plate

Pacific Plate

Tear fault

Philippine plate

Pacific plate

Vulcanicity
Vulcanicity (also known as volcanic activity or
igneous activity) is one of the endogenetic
processes.
Magma beneath the crust is under very great
pressure. When folding and faulting occur, cracks
or fractures which are lines of weakness. When
these lines of weakness develop downward in the
crust and reach the magma, they will release the
pressure in the magma.
This allows magma to rise up along the lines of
weakness and intrude into the crust. Some magma
may even reach the earth's surface.
There are two types of vulcanicity: intrusive
vulcanicity and extrusive vulcanicity.

Plate Tectonics Summary

The Earth is made up of 3 main layers (core,
mantle, crust)
On the surface of the Earth are tectonic
plates that slowly move around the globe
Plates are made of crust and upper mantle
(lithosphere)
There are 2 types of plate
There are 3 types of plate boundaries
Volcanoes and Earthquakes are closely
linked to the margins of the tectonic plates