UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

CIVIL ENGINEERING
GEM 319 (GENERAL GEOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS)
GROUP 5

GEOTECTONICS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH PLATE TECTONICS

Geotectonics deals with solid earth phenomena on a global scale and the timescale of the earth’s
history. Large-scale geotectonic processes move rocks along particular paths in pressure–temperature–
time (P–T–t) space. During movement along this path, the rocks re-equilibrate, and when chemical
equilibrium is attained (when the reaction kinetics is fast enough), the mineral assemblage and the
compositions of the individual minerals will react continuously by adapting to the new physical
conditions.
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory describing the large-scale motion of the plates making up Earth's
lithosphere since tectonic processes began on Earth between 3.3 and 3.5 billion years ago.
It deals with the horizontal motion of the earth’s thermal boundary layer (lithosphere) over the
convecting mantle (asthenosphere) and its mostly driven by lithospheres sinking in subduction zones.
The geoscientific community accepted plate-tectonic theory after seafloor spreading was validated in
the mid to late 1960s. The astenopsphere from the Greek word ‘asthenos’ meaning “weak.
Plate tectonics is an unusual way for a silicate planet to lose heat, as it exists on only one of the large
five silicate bodies in the inner solar system. It is not known when this mode of tectonic activity and
heat loss began on Earth. All silicate planets probably experienced a short-lived magma ocean stage.
After this solidified, stagnant lid behavior is the common mode of planetary heat loss, with interior heat
being lost by delamination and “ hot spot ” volcanism and shallow intrusion.

Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to planet Earth. This is a
branch of science dealing with the physical and chemical constitution of Earth and its atmosphere.
Earth science can be considered to be a branch of planetary science, but with a much older history.
Earth science encompasses four main branches of study, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the
atmosphere, and the biosphere,The lithosphere, which is the rigid outermost shell of a planet (the crust
and upper mantle), is broken into tectonic plates. Earth's lithosphere is composed of seven or eight
major plates (depending on how they are defined) and many minor plates. Where the plates meet, their
relative motion determines the type of boundary. The boundaries can be convergent,divergent, or
transform. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur
along these plate boundaries (or faults). The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero
to 100 mm annually.

Tectonic plates are composed of the oceanic lithosphere and the thicker continental lithosphere, each
topped by its own kind of crust. Along convergent boundaries, the process of subduction (subduction
occurs when a dense oceanic plate meets a more buoyant plate, like a continental plate or
warmer/younger oceanic plate, and descends into the mantle or one plate moving under another) carries
the edge of the lower one down into the mantle. The area of material lost is roughly balanced by the
formation of new (oceanic) crust along divergent margins by seafloor spreading. In this way, the total
geoid surface area of the lithosphere remains constant. This prediction of plate tectonics is also referred
to as the conveyor belt principle.
Tectonic plates are able to move because Earth's lithosphere has greater mechanical strength than the
underlying asthenosphere. Lateral density variations in the mantle result in convection; that is, the slow
creeping motion of Earth's solid mantle. Plate movement is thought to be driven by a combination of
the motion of the seafloor away from spreading ridges due to variations in topography (the ridge is a
topographic high) and density changes in the crust (density increases as newly-formed crust cools and
moves away from the ridge). At subduction zones the relatively cold, dense oceanic crust is "pulled" or
sinks down into the mantle over the downward convecting limb of a mantle cell. subduction zones are
known for having the largest earthquakes and tsunamis; they are the only places with fault surfaces
large enough to create magnitude-9 earthquakes. These subduction-zone earthquakes not only are very
large, but also are very deep. When a subducting slab becomes stuck and cannot descend, a massive
amount of energy builds up between the stuck plates. If this energy is not gradually dispersed, it may
force the plates to suddenly release along several hundred kilometers of the subduction zone.

Plate boundary zones occur where the effects of the interactions are unclear, and the boundaries,
usually occurring along a broad belt, are not well defined and may show various types of movements in
different episodes.Three types of plate boundaries exist with a fourth, mixed type, characterized by the
way the plates move relative to each other. They are associated with different types of surface
phenomena. The different types of plate boundaries are:

Divergent boundaries (Constructive)

occurs where two plates slide apart from each other. At zones of ocean-to-ocean rifting,
divergent boundaries form by seafloor spreading, allowing for the formation of new ocean basin. As the
ocean plate splits, the ridge forms at the spreading center, the ocean basin expands, and finally, the
plate area increases causing many small volcanoes and/or shallow earthquakes.
Convergent boundaries (Destructive or active margins)
occur where two plates slide toward each other to form either a subduction zone
or a continental collision. At zones of ocean-to-continent subduction. the dense oceanic lithosphere
plunges beneath the less dense continent.

Transform boundaries (Conservative)

occur where two lithospheric plates slide, or perhaps more accurately, grind past each
other along transform faults, where plates are neither created nor destroyed.

It has generally been accepted that tectonic plates are able to move because of the relative density of
oceanic lithosphere and the relative weakness of the asthenosphere. Dissipation of heat from the mantle
is acknowledged to be the original source of the energy required to drive plate tectonics through
convection or large scale upwelling and doming. When the new crust forms at mid-ocean ridges, this
oceanic lithosphere is initially less dense than the underlying asthenosphere, but it becomes denser with
age as it conductively cools and thickens. The greater density of old lithosphere relative to the
underlying asthenosphere allows it to sink into the deep mantle at subduction zones, providing most of
the driving force for plate movement. The weakness of the asthenosphere allows the tectonic plates to
move easily towards a subduction zone. When the subducting oceanic plate, or slab, sinks into the
mantle, the immense heat and pressure pushes volatile materials like water and carbon dioxide into an
area below the continental plate and above the descending plate called the mantle wedge. The volatile
materials are released mostly by hydrated minerals that revert to non-hydrated minerals in these higher
temperature and pressure conditions. When mixed with asthenospheric material above the plate, the
volatile lower the melting point of the mantle wedge, and through a process called flux melting it
becomes liquid magma. The molten magma is more buoyant than the lithospheric plate above it and
migrates to the Earth’s surface where it emerges as volcanism. The resulting volcanoes frequently
appear as curved mountain chains, volcanic arcs, due to the curvature of the earth. Both oceanic and
continental plates can contain volcanic arcs.

In short, the driving forces advocated at the moment can be divided into three categories based on the
relationship to the movement wich are the Mantle dynamics related, Gravity related (main driving
force accepted nowadays), and Earth rotation related. In more recent literature, these driving forces
are
1. Tidal drag due to the gravitational force the Moon (and the Sun) exerts on the crust of Earth.

2. Global deformation of the geoid due to small displacements of the rotational pole with respect to
Earth's crust.

3. Other smaller deformation effects of the crust due to wobbles and spin movements of Earth's rotation
on a smaller timescale.

Different theories are stated on the driving force behind tectonics and which one of it is stated by
Arthur Holmes. This theory stated that the leading theory of the driving force behind tectonic plate
motions envisaged large scale convection currents in the upper mantle, which can be transmitted
through the asthenosphere and was immediately recognized as the solution for the acceptance of the
theory as originally discussed in the papers of Alfred Wegener. Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was a
German scientist who specialized in meteorology and climatology. His knack for questioning accepted
ideas started in 1910 when he disagreed with the explanation that the Bering Land Bridge was formed
by isostasy, and that similar land bridges once connected the continents. After reviewing the scientific
literature, he published a hypothesis stating the continents were originally connected, and then drifted
apart. While he did not have the precise mechanism worked out, his hypothesis was backed up by a
long list of evidence. The concept of plate tectonics was just as revolutionary for geology. The theory
of plate tectonics attributes the movement of massive sections of the Earth’s outer layers with creating
earthquakes, mountains, and volcanoes. Wegener’s first piece of evidence was that the coastlines of
some continents fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

In summary, Plate tectonics is a unifying theory; it explains nearly all of the major geologic processes
on Earth. Since its early inception in the 1950s and 1960s, geologists have been guided by this
revolutionary perception of the world. The theory of plate tectonics states the surface layer of the Earth
is broken into a network of solid, relatively brittle plates. Underneath the plates is a much hotter and
more ductile layer that contains zones of convective upwelling generated by the interior heat of Earth.
These convection currents move the surface plates around—bringing them together, pulling them apart,
and shearing them side-by-side. Earthquakes and volcanoes form at the boundaries where the plates
interact, with the exception of volcanic hotspots, which are not caused by plate movement.
Plate tectonics become sustainable when earth cooled sufficiently that decompression melting beneath
spreading ridges made thin oceanic crust , allowing oceanic lithosphere to become negatively buoyant
after a few tens of millions of years. Ultimately the question of when plate tectonics began must be
answered by the information retrieved from the geologic record. Criteria for the operation of plate
tectonics includes ophiolites, blueschist and ultra high pressure metamorphic belt, eclogites, passive
margins, transform faults, paleomagnetic demonstration of different motions of different cratons, and
the presence of diagnostic geochemical and isotopic indicators in igneous rocks.