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Earths Mantle
o Thought to be composed mainly of olivine-rich rock.
o It has different temperatures at different depth
o The temperature is lowest immediately beneath the crust and increases with
depth
o The highest temperatures occur where the mantle material is in contact with the
heat-producing core.
o The steady increase of temperature with depth is known as the geothermal
gradient
o The geothermal gradient is responsible for different rock behaviors and the
different rock behaviors are used to divide the mantle into two different zones.
o Rocks in the upper mantle are cool and brittle, while rocks in the lower mantle
are hot and soft (but not molten)
o Rocks in the upper mantle are brittle enough to break under stress and produce
earthquakes. However, rocks in the lower mantle are soft and flow when
subjected to forces instead of breaking. The lower limit of brittle behavior is the
boundary between the upper and lower mantle.
Earths Core
o thought to be composed mainly of an iron and nickel alloy.
o This composition is assumed based upon calculations of its density and upon the fact
that many meteorites (which are thought to be portions of the interior of a planetary
body) are iron-nickel alloys.
o The core is earth's source of internal heat because it contains radioactive materials
which release heat as they break down into more stable substances.
o The core is divided into two different zones. The outer core is a liquid because the
temperatures there are adequate to melt the iron-nickel alloy. However, the inner
core is a solid even though its temperature is higher than the outer core. Here,
tremendous pressure, produced by the weight of the overlying rocks is strong
enough to crowd the atoms tightly together and prevents the liquid state.
How do we measure what the earth is made of?
o Geophysical survey: seismic, gravity, magnetics, electrical, geodesy
Acquisition: land, air, sea and satellite. For example measuring different
gravity, magnetic and electrical anomalies by air and (or) satellite can help to
reconstruct shallow crustal features.
We can also go and examine rocks at and near the surface of the crust,
through fieldwork, drilling boreholes and mining.
ENDOGENIC PROCESSES
Are geological processes that occur beneath the surface of the Earth
It is associated with energy originating in the interior of the solid earth
The ground we live on is moving all the time.
The forces within the earth that cause the ground to move are called ENDOGENIC FORCES.
o Anticline convex up fold in rock that resembles an arch like structure with the rock
beds (or limbs) dipping way from the center of the structure
Anticline fold. Note how the rock layers dip away from the center of the fold are roughly
symmetrical.
o Syncline a fold where the rock layers are warped downward. Both anticlines and
synclines are the result of compressional stress
Syncline fold. Note how the rock layers dip toward the center of the fold and are roughly
symmetrical.
o More complex fold types can develop in situations where lateral pressures become
greater. The greater pressure results in anticlines and synclines that are inclined and
asymmetrical
The following illustration shows two anticline folds which are inclined. Also note how the
beds on either side of the fold center are asymmetrical.
o Recumbent fold - evelops if the center of the fold moves from being once vertical to
a horizontal position. Recumbent folds are commonly found in the core of mountain
ranges and indicate that compression and/or shear forces were stronger in one
direction. Extreme stress and pressure can sometimes cause the rocks to shear along
a plane of weakness creating a fault. We call the combination of a fault and a fold in
a rock an overthrust fault.
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 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.
Kinds of fault
o Normal fault - occur when tensional forces act in opposite directions
and cause one slab of the rock to be displaced up and the other slab
down
o Reverse fault develop when compressional forces exist. Compression causes one
block to be pushed up and over the other block.
o Graben fault is produced when tensional stress result in the subsidence of a block
of rock. On a large scale these features are known as rift valeys.
o Horst fault is the development of two reverse faults causing a block of rock to be
pushed up
o Strike-slip or transform fault these faults are vertical in nature and are produced
where the stresses are exerted parallel to each other. A well-known example of this
type of fault is the San Andreas fault in California
o EXAMPLE: The Andes mountain range along the western edge of the South
American continent is an example of a mountain belt formed by subduction.
The continental crust of the South American plate has buckled under the
compressional strain of converging with the Nasca and Antarctic plates.
Additionally there are many volcanoes, the result of melting of the
subducting slab and the production of new material that has risen through
the crust to the surface.
o OCEAN-OCEAN PLATE COLLISION. When two oceanic plates converge,
because they are dense, one runs over the top of the other causing it to sink
into the mantle and a subduction zone is formed.
o The subducting plate is bent down into the mantle to form a deep
depression in the seafloor called a trench.
o Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean and remain largely unexplored.
E.g. The Mariana Trench is 11 km deep!
Transform Boundaries
o Where plates slide past each other
o The San Andreas fault, adjacent to which the US city of San Francisco is built
is an example of a transform boundary between the Pacific plate and the
North American plate.
This map summarises all the known plate boundaries on Earth, showing whether they are
divergent, convergent or transform boundaries.
Hotspots commonly form volcanic island chains (like the Hawaiian islands). These result
from the slow movement of a tectonic plate over a FIXED hotspot.
Persistent volcanic activity at a hotspot will create new islands as the plate moves the
position of the old volcanic island from over the hotspot.
Therefore at one end of the island chain you see the youngest, most active volcanic
islands (directly over the hotspot) and along the island chain the extinct volcanoes become
older and more eroded (see diagram).
This way geologists can use hotspot volcano chains to track the movement of the tectonic
plate through time.
Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
o As with volcanoes, earthquakes are not randomly distributed over the globe
o At the boundaries between plates, friction causes them to stick together. When
built up energy causes them to break, earthquakes occur.
o Depending on the type of movement, the earthquakes occur in either a shallow or
deep level in the crust.
o The majority of tectonic earthquakes originate at depths not exceeding tens of
kilometers.
o In subduction zones, where old and cold oceanic crust descends beneath another
tectonic plate, Deep Focus Earthquakes may occur at much greater depths (up to
seven hundred kilometers!).
o These earthquakes occur at a depth at which the subducted crust should no longer be
brittle, due to the high temperature and pressure. A possible mechanism for the
generation of deep focus earthquakes is faulting.
o Earthquakes may also occur in volcanic regions and are caused there both by tectonic
faults and by the movement of magma (hot molten rock) within the volcano. Such
earthquakes can be an early warning of volcanic eruptions.