Chapter 2

PLATE BOUNDARIES AND THEIR TYPES

2.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Earth's lithosphere is divided into mobile plates.

Plate tectonics describes the distribution and motion of the plates.

The theory of plate tectonics grew out of earlier hypotheses and observations

collected during exploration of the rocks of the ocean floor. There are three major

layers (crust, mantle, and core) within the earth that are identified on the basis of their

different compositions.

The uppermost mantle and crust can be subdivided vertically into two layers

with contrasting mechanical (physical) properties. The outer layer, the lithosphere, is

composed of the crust and uppermost mantle and forms a rigid outer shell down to a

depth of approximately 100 km (63 miles). The underlying asthenosphere is

composed of partially melted rocks in the upper mantle that acts in a plastic manner

on long time scales. The asthenosphere extends from about 100 to 300 km (63-189

miles) depth. The theory of plate tectonics proposes that the lithosphere is divided into

a series of plates that fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Although plate tectonics is a relatively young idea in comparison with

unifying theories from other sciences (e.g., law of gravity, theory of evolution), some

of the basic observations that represent the foundation of the theory were made many

centuries ago when the first maps of the Atlantic Ocean were drawn. Geographer

Abraham Ortellus noted the similarity between the coastlines of Africa, Europe and

the Americas in the third edition of his Thesaurus Geographicus, published in 1596.

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Ortellus, adapting Plato's story of the demise of Atlantis, suggested that America was

“torn away” from Europe and Africa and that the “projecting parts of Europe and

Africa” would fit the “recesses” of America. Such observations were little more than

idle speculation until Austrian climatologist Alfred Wegener used the fit of opposing

coastlines as one of the pieces of evidence to support his hypothesis of continental

drift. Continental drift proposed that the continents were once assembled together as a

single supercontinent Wegener named Pangaea. Wegener was unable to suggest a

suitable mechanism to explain the motion of the continents across Earth's surface and

his hypothesis received relatively little support until technology revealed the secrets

of the ocean floor. Scientists gradually amassed additional data that would resurrect

Wegener's hypothesis over 30 years after his death. By the 1960s the building blocks

were in place to support a new hypothesis, Seafloor spreading that would provide the

mechanism for continental drift. Together these concepts would become the theory of

plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics provides an example of the evolution of

scientific thought. The first two sections of the chapter reveal the basic observations

that were used to make predictions on the geologic processes that shaped the face of

Earth. The theory of plate tectonics links Earth’s internal processes to the distribution

of continents and oceans; it is the big picture view of how the earth works. Plate

tectonics reveals that the lithosphere is divided into eight major pieces ("plates") with

several smaller plates. The plates are mobile, moving in constant, slow motion

measured in rates of centimeters per year. The movements of plates over millions of

years resulted in the opening and closure of oceans and the formation and disassembly

of continents. Plates interact along plate boundaries. There are three principal types

of plate boundary (divergent, convergent, and transform). Plates move apart at

divergent plate boundaries such as the oceanic ridge system that separates the North

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American and Eurasian plates in the North Atlantic Ocean. Plates crash into each

other along convergent plate boundaries marked by volcanoes and mountain belts.

Finally, plates slide past each other along a transform plate boundary such as the San

Andreas Fault, California that separates the North American and Pacific plates.

2.2 CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Alfred Wegener proposed the hypothesis that the continents were once

assembled together as a supercontinent hem named Pangaea.

He noted that opposing coastlines were similar on opposite sides of the

Atlantic Ocean, mountains belts matched when continents were reassembled, fossils

matched between different continents, and climate evidence suggested continents

were once in different locations.

Wegener's observations supported his hypothesis but he could not offer a

suitable explanation for how the continents had moved around Earth. The concept of

continental drift was proposed by Alfred Wegener. Wegener suggested that the earth's

continents once formed a single super-continent landmass that he named Pangaea . He

suggested that Pangaea split apart into it constituent continents about 200 million

years ago and the continents "drifted" to their current positions.

Fig 1 A reconstruction of the supercontinent Pangaea.

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Wegener’s principal observations were:

Fit of the continents: The opposing coastlines of continents often fit together. An

even better fit occurs if the edge of the continent shelf is used, a little offshore.

Wegener was not the first person to notice the similarities between continental

coastlines. Early map makers several centuries before had made the same observation.

Match of mountain belts, rock types: If the continents are reassembled as Pangaea,

mountains in West Africa, North America, Greenland, and Western Europe match up.

Distribution of fossils: The distribution of plants and animal fossils on separate

continents forms definite linked patterns if the continents are reassembled. For

example, fossils of the reptile Mesosaurus are found in both southern Africa and

South America. The fossil is preserved in rocks deposited in streams so it is

concluded that the reptile lived in freshwater environments a fossil fern, Glossopteris,

is found on several continents with different climates today. Wegener believed the

distribution of Glossopteris could be accounted for by initially spreading across

Pangaea prior to the breakup of the supercontinent.

Pale climates: Wegener assembled geologic evidence that showed that rocks formed

200 million years ago in India, Australia, South America, and southern Africa all

exhibited evidence of continental glaciation. Such a glaciation would have required a

global ice age if the continents were in their present positions. However, at the same

time there were tropical swamps in southern Ohio and much of the eastern U.S.

Clearly, the rest of the world was not in a deep freeze. Such apparently widespread

glaciation could be explained if the continents were located close to the South Pole.

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 Fig 2 Distribution of key fossils between continents.

Evidence for continental drift was embraced by some scientists but was rejected by

others, primarily because Wegener was unable to propose an acceptable mechanism to

cause the continents to move. He suggested that the continents pushed through the

rocks of the ocean floor because of tidal forces; much like a plow cuts through the

soil. Unfortunately for Wegener this idea was shown to be physically impossible.

Consequently, continental drift, although providing a compelling explanation for the

distribution of common features on different continents, would wait another 50 years

to make a triumphant return.

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2.3 Plate Motions

The rates and directions of plate motions were originally determined by

computing the distance of oceanic floor of a known age from the oceanic ridge

system. Rates were computed by dividing age (years) by distance (centimeters). Such

simple but effective calculations were compared to motion rates determined using the

age of volcanic islands formed above mantle hot spots. Some volcanic islands in the

interiors of plates form above fixed plumes of magma rising from the mantle. The

locations of these mantle plumes are known as hot spots. The islands form as the plate

moves over the magma source, much like a tectonic conveyer belt. Islands are

progressively older with increasing distance from the hot spot. The relationship

between age and distance yields the rate of plate motion.

Today satellite technology is used to determine the current rates of plate

motion. Satellites anchored in space can record tiny movements of fixed sites on

Earth, thus constraining the motions of plates. Rates of seafloor spreading range from

a little as 1-2 centimeters per year along the oceanic ridge in the northern Atlantic

Ocean to more than 15 cm/yr along the East Pacific Rise spreading center. Current

seafloor spreading rates are approximately five times higher for the East Pacific Rise

than the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Spreading rates changed through time but consistently

higher rates in the Pacific Ocean basin can account for the contrast in size of the

Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Pacific Ocean floor would be even wider if oceanic

crust were not consumed at subduction zones along much of its margin.

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2.4 DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES

Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centers where plates are moving

apart and new crust is created by magma pushing up from the mantle. Picture two

giant conveyor belts, facing each other but slowly moving in opposite directions as

they transport newly formed oceanic crust away from the ridge crest. Perhaps the best

known of the divergent boundaries is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

This submerged mountain range, which extends from the Arctic Ocean to

beyond the southern tip of Africa, is but one segment of the global mid-ocean ridge

system that encircles the Earth.

The rate of spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge averages about 2.5

centimeters per year (cm/yr), or25 km in a million years.

This rate may seem slow by human standards, but because this process has

been going on for millions of years, it has resulted in plate movement of thousands of

kilometers. Seafloor spreading over the past 100 to 200 million years has caused the

Atlantic Ocean to grow from a tiny inlet of water between the continents of Europe,

Africa, and the Americas into the vast ocean that exists today.

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Fig 3 Map showing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge splitting Iceland and separating the North

American and Eurasian Plates. The map also shows Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland,

the Thingvellir area, and the locations of some of Iceland's active volcanoes (red

triangles), including Krafla.

The volcanic country of Iceland, which straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,

offers scientists a natural laboratory for studying on land the processes also occurring

along the submerged parts of a spreading ridge. Iceland is splitting along the

spreading center between the North American and Eurasian Plates, as North America

moves westward relative to Eurasia.

The consequences of plate movement are easy to see around Krafla Volcano,

in the northeastern part of Iceland. Here, existing ground cracks have widened and

new ones appear every few months. From 1975 to 1984, numerous episodes of rifting

(surface cracking) took place along the Krafla fissure zone. Some of these rifting

events were accompanied by volcanic activity; the ground would gradually rise 1-2 m

before abruptly dropping, signalling an impending eruption. Between 1975 and 1984,

the displacements caused by rifting totalled about 7 m.

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 Fig 3 Lava fountains (10 m high) spouting from eruptive fissures during

the October 1980 eruption of Krafla Volcano. (Photograph by Gudmundur E.

Sigvaldason, Nordic Volcanological Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland.)

In East Africa, spreading processes have already torn Saudi Arabia away from

the rest of the African continent, forming the Red Sea. The actively splitting African

Plate and the Arabian Plate meet in what geologists call a triple junction, where the

Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. A new spreading center may be developing under

Africa along the East African Rift Zone. When the continental crust stretches beyond

its limits, tension cracks begin to appear on the Earth's surface. Magma rises and

squeezes through the widening cracks, sometimes to erupt and form volcanoes. The

rising magma, whether or not it erupts, puts more pressure on the crust to produce

additional fractures and, ultimately, the rift zone.

East Africa may be the site of the Earth's next major ocean. Plate interactions

in the region provide scientists an opportunity to study firsthand how the Atlantic may

have begun to form about 200 million years ago. Geologists believe that, if spreading

continues, the three plates that meet at the edge of the present-day African continent

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will separate completely, allowing the Indian Ocean to flood the area and making the

easternmost corner of Africa (the Horn of Africa) a large island.

Fig 4 Helicopter view (in February 1994) of the active lava lake within the

summit crater of 'Erta 'Ale (Ethiopia), one of the active volcanoes in the East African

Rift Zone. Two helmeted, red-suited volcanologists -- observing the activity from the

crater rim -- provide scale. Red color within the crater shows where molten lava is

breaking through the lava lake's solidified, black crust. (Photograph by Jacques

Durieux, Groupe Volcans Actifs.)

2.5 CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES

The size of the Earth has not changed significantly during the past 600 million

years, and very likely not since shortly after its formation 4.6 billion years ago. The

Earth's unchanging size implies that the crust must be destroyed at about the same rate

as it is being created, as Harry Hess surmised. Such destruction (recycling) of crust

takes place along convergent boundaries where plates are moving toward each other,

and sometimes one plate sinks (is subducted) under another. The location where

sinking of a plate occurs is called a subduction zone.

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The type of convergence -- called by some a very slow "collision" -- that takes place

between plates depends on the kind of lithosphere involved. Convergence can occur

between an oceanic and a largely continental plate, or between two largely oceanic

plates, or between two largely continental plates.

2.5.1 Oceanic-continental convergence

If by magic we could pull a plug and drain the Pacific Ocean, we would see a

most amazing sight -- a number of long narrow, curving trenches thousands of

kilometers long and 8 to 10 km deep cutting into the ocean floor. Trenches are the

deepest parts of the ocean floor and are created by subduction.

Off the coast of South America along the Peru-Chile trench, the oceanic Nazca Plate

is pushing into and being subducted under the continental part of the South American

Plate. In turn, the overriding South American Plate is being lifted up, creating the

towering Andes

Off the coast of South America along the Peru-Chile trench, the oceanic Nazca Plate

is pushing into and being subducted under the continental part of the South American

Plate. In turn, the overriding South American Plate is being lifted up, creating the

towering Andes Mountains, the backbone of the continent. Strong, destructive

earthquakes and the rapid uplift of mountain ranges are common in this region. Even

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though the Nazca Plate as a whole is sinking smoothly and continuously into the

trench, the deepest part of the subducting plate breaks into smaller pieces that become

locked in place for long periods of time before suddenly moving to generate large

earthquakes. Such earthquakes are often accompanied by uplift of the land by as much

as a few meters.

Fig 5 The convergence of the Nazca and South American Plates has deformed and

pushed up limestone strata to form towering peaks of the Andes, as seen here in the

Pachapaqui mining area in Peru. (Photograph by George Ericksen, USGS.)

On 9 June 1994, a magnitude-8.3 earthquake struck about 320 km northeast of

La Paz, Bolivia, at a depth of 636 km. This earthquake, within the subduction zone

between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate, was one of deepest and

largest subduction earthquakes recorded in South America. Fortunately, even though

this powerful earthquake was felt as far away as Minnesota and Toronto, Canada, it

caused no major damage because of its great depth.

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Fig 6 Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin form the

so-called Ring of Fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The

trenches are shown in blue-green. The volcanic island arcs, although not labelled, are

parallel to, and always landward of, the trenches. For example, the island arc

associated with the Aleutian Trench is represented by the long chain of volcanoes that

make up the Aleutian Islands.

Oceanic-continental convergence also sustains many of the Earth's active

volcanoes, such as those in the Andes and the Cascade Range in the Pacific

Northwest. The eruptive activity is clearly associated with subduction, but scientists

vigorously debate the possible sources of magma: Is magma generated by the partial

melting of the subducted oceanic slab, or the overlying continental lithosphere, or

both?

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2.5.2 Oceanic-oceanic convergence

As with oceanic-continental convergence, when two oceanic plates converge,

one is usually subducted under the other, and in the process a trench is formed. The

Marianas Trench (paralleling the Mariana Islands), for example, marks where the fast-

moving Pacific Plate converges against the slower moving Philippine Plate. The

Challenger Deep, at the southern end of the Marianas Trench, plunges deeper into the

Earth's interior (nearly 11,000 m) than Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain,

rises above sea level (about 8,854 m).

Subduction processes in oceanic-oceanic plate convergence also result in the

formation of volcanoes. Over millions of years, the erupted lava and volcanic debris

pile up on the ocean floor until a submarine volcano rises above sea level to form an

island volcano. Such volcanoes are typically strung out in chains called island arcs.

As the name implies, volcanic island arcs, which closely parallel the trenches, are

generally curved. The trenches are the key to understanding how island arcs such as

the Marianas and the Aleutian Islands have formed and why they experience

numerous strong earthquakes. Magmas that form island arcs are produced by the

partial melting of the descending plate and/or the overlying oceanic lithosphere. The

descending plate also provides a source of stress as the two plates interact, leading to

frequent moderate to strong earthquakes.

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2.5.3 Continental-continental convergence

The Himalayan mountain range dramatically demonstrates one of the most

visible and spectacular consequences of plate tectonics. When two continents meet

head-on, neither is subducted because the continental rocks are relatively light and,

like two colliding icebergs, resist downward motion. Instead, the crust tends to buckle

and be pushed upward or sideways. The collision of India into Asia 50 million years

ago caused the Eurasian Plate to crumple up and override the Indian Plate. After the

collision, the slow continuous convergence of the two plates over millions of years

pushed up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to their present heights.

Most of this growth occurred during the past 10 million years. The Himalayas,

towering as high as 8,854 m above sea level, form the highest continental mountains

in the world. Moreover, the neighboring Tibetan Plateau, at an average elevation of

about 4,600 m, is higher than all the peaks in the Alps except for Mont Blanc and

Monte Rosa, and is well above the summits of most mountains in the United States.

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 Fig 6 The collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates has pushed up the

Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Below: Cartoon cross sections showing the

meeting of these two plates before and after their collision. The reference points

(small squares) show the amount of uplift of an imaginary point in the Earth's crust

during this mountain-building process.

2.5.3.1 The Himalayas: Two continents collide

Among the most dramatic and visible creations of plate-tectonic forces are the

lofty Himalayas, which stretch 2,900 km along the border between India and Tibet.

This immense mountain range began to form between 40 and 50 million years ago,

when two large landmasses, India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided.

Because both these continental landmasses have about the same rock density, one

plate could not be subducted under the other. The pressure of the impinging plates

could only be relieved by thrusting skyward, contorting the collision zone, and

forming the jagged Himalayan peaks.

About 225 million years ago, India was a large island still situated off the Australian

coast, and a vast ocean (called Tethys Sea) separated India from the Asian continent.

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When Pangaea broke apart about 200 million years ago, India began to forge

northward. By studying the history -- and ultimately the closing-- of the Tethys,

scientists have reconstructed India's northward journey. About 80 million years ago,

India was located roughly 6,400 km south of the Asian continent, moving northward

at a rate of about 9 m a century. When India rammed into Asia about 40 to 50 million

years ago, its northward advance slowed by about half. The collision and associated

decrease in the rate of plate movement are interpreted to mark the beginning of the

rapid uplift of the Himalayas.

The Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to the north have risen very rapidly. In

just 50 million years, peaks such as Mt. Everest have risen to heights of more than 9

km. The impinging of the two landmasses has yet to end. The Himalayas continue to

rise more than 1 cm a year -- a growth rate of 10 km in a million years! If that is so,

why aren't the Himalayas even higher? Scientists believe that the Eurasian Plate may

now be stretching out rather than thrusting up, and such stretching would result in

some subsidence due to gravity.

Fifty kilometers north of Lhasa (the capital of Tibet), scientists found layers of

pink sandstone containing grains of magnetic minerals (magnetite) that have recorded

the pattern of the Earth's flip-flopping magnetic field. These sandstones also contain

plant and animal fossils that were deposited when the Tethys Sea periodically flooded

the region. The study of these fossils has revealed not only their geologic age but also

the type of environment and climate in which they formed. For example, such studies

indicate that the fossils lived under a relatively mild, wet environment about 105

million years ago, when Tibet was closer to the equator. Today, Tibet's climate is

much more arid, reflecting the region's uplift and northward shift of nearly 2,000 km.

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Fossils found in the sandstone layers offer dramatic evidence of the climate change in

the Tibetan region due to plate movement over the past 100 million years.

At present, the movement of India continues to put enormous pressure on the

Asian continent, and Tibet in turn presses on the landmass to the north that is

hemming it in. The net effect of plate-tectonics forces acting on this geologically

complicated region is to squeeze parts of Asia eastward toward the Pacific Ocean.

One serious consequence of these processes is a deadly "domino" effect: tremendous

stresses build up within the Earth's crust, which are relieved periodically by

earthquakes along the numerous faults that scar the landscape. Some of the world's

most destructive earthquakes in history are related to continuing tectonic processes

that began some 50 million years ago when the Indian and Eurasian continents first

met.

2.5.4 Transform boundaries

The zone between two plates sliding horizontally past one another is called a

transform-fault boundary, or simply a transform boundary. The concept of transform

faults originated with Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson, who proposed that these

large faults or fracture zones connect two spreading centers (divergent plate

boundaries) or, less commonly, trenches (convergent plate boundaries). Most

transform faults are found on the ocean floor. They commonly offset the active

spreading ridges, producing zig-zag plate margins, and are generally defined by

shallow earthquakes. However, a few occur on land, for example the San Andreas

fault zone in California. This transform fault connects the East Pacific Rise, a

divergent boundary to the south, with the South Gorda -- Juan de Fuca -- Explorer

Ridge, another divergent boundary to the north.

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 The San Andreas fault zone, which is about 1,300 km long and in places tens

of kilometers wide, slices through two thirds of the length of California. Along it, the

Pacific Plate has been grinding horizontally past the North American Plate for 10

million years, at an average rate of about 5 cm/yr. Land on the west side of the fault

zone (on the Pacific Plate) is moving in a northwesterly direction relative to the land

on the east side of the fault zone (on the North American Plate).

Fig 7 Aerial view of the San Andreas fault slicing through the Carrizo Plain in

the Temblor Range east of the city of San Luis Obispo. (Photograph by Robert E.

Wallace, USGS.)

Oceanic fracture zones are ocean-floor valleys that horizontally offset

spreading ridges; some of these zones are hundreds to thousands of kilometers long

and as much as 8 km deep. Examples of these large scars include the Clarion,

Molokai, and Pioneer fracture zones in the Northeast Pacific off the coast of

California and Mexico. These zones are presently inactive, but the offsets of the

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patterns of magnetic striping provide evidence of their previous transform-fault

activity.

2.6 PLATE-BOUNDARY ZONES

Not all plate boundaries are as simple as the main types discussed above. In

some regions, the boundaries are not well defined because the plate-movement

deformation occurring there extends over a broad belt (called a plate-boundary zone).

One of these zones marks the Mediterranean-Alpine region between the Eurasian and

African Plates, within which several smaller fragments of plates (microplates) have

been recognized. Because plate-boundary zones involve at least two large plates and

one or more microplates caught up between them, they tend to have complicated

geological structures and earthquake patterns.

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 REFERENCES

Attenborough, David, 1986, The Living Planet: British Broadcasting

Corporation, 320 p. (An informative, narrative version of the highly successful

television series about how the Earth works.)

Coch, N.K., and Ludman, Allan, 1991, Physical Geology: Macmillan

Publishing Company, New York, 678 p. (Well-illustrated college textbook that

contains excellent chapters on topics related to Earth dynamics and plate tectonics.)

Cone, Joseph, 1991, Fire Under the Sea: William Morrow and Company, Inc.,

New York, 285 p. (paperback). (A readable summary of oceanographic exploration

and the discovery of volcanic hot springs on the ocean floor.)

Decker, Robert, and Decker, Barbara, 1989, Volcanoes: W.H. Freeman and

Company, New York, 285 p. (paperback). (An excellent introduction to the study of

volcanoes written in an easy-to-read style.)

Duffield, W.A., Sass, J.H., and Sorey, M.L., 1994, Tapping the Earth's Natural

Heat: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1125, 63 p. (A full-color book that describes,

in non-technical terms, USGS studies of geothermal resources-one of the benefits of

plate tectonics-as a sustainable and relatively nonpolluting energy source.)

Ernst, W.G., 1990, The Dynamic Planet: Columbia University Press, New

York, 280 p. (A comprehensive college-level textbook that includes good chapters on

plate tectonics and related topics.)

Heliker, Christina, 1990, Volcanic and seismic hazards of the Island of

Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey general-interest publication, 48 p. (A full-color

booklet summarizing the volcanic, seismic, and tsunami hazards.)

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 Krafft, Maurice, 1993, Volcanoes: Fire from the Earth: Harry N. Abrams, New

York, 207 p. (paperback). (A well-illustrated, non-technical primer on volcanoes;

Maurice Krafft and his wife Katia were the world's foremost photographers of

volcanoes before they were killed during the June 1991 eruption of Unzen Volcano,

Japan.)

Lindh, A.G., 1990, Earthquake prediction comes of age: Technology Review,

Feb/March, p. 42-51. (A good introduction to the basis and techniques used by

scientists in attempting to predict earthquakes.)

McNutt, Steve, 1990, Loma Prieta earthquake, October 17, 1989: An

overview: California Geology, v. 43, no. 1, p. 3-7. (Along with the companion article

by D.D. Montgomery, gives the essential information about this destructive

earthquake along the San Andreas Fault).

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