Plate tectonics

Layers of the earth

●​ The earth has a three layered structure

○​ Core
▾​ highest, max 6000 degrees
▾​ Thickness - 3300km
○​ Mantle
▾​ Mid, max at 3700 degrees
▾​ Thickness - 2900 km
○​ Crust
▾​ Lowest temperature
▾​ Thinnest - 6-70 km
●​ Earth's internal structure
○​ Lithosphere
▾​ The upper most part of the mantle and the crust above it are the solid
parts of the Earth
▾​ The earth's lithosphere is broken up into huge pieces called tectonic
plates which move to form landforms
○​ Asthenosphere
▾​ Below the lithosphere is the semi solid asthesnosphere
▾​ Heat from the core causes the rocks in the asthenosphere to melt
●​ Two types of crusts that make up tectonic plates
○​ Continental
▾​ Makes up land masses
○​ Oceanic
▾​ Makes up seafloor
▾​ Denser than continental plates
●​ Three types of plate boundaries
○​ Convergent - plates move towards each other
○​ Divergent - plates move away from each other
○​ Transform - plates slide past one another
●​ Forces responsible for plate movement
○​ Slab pull force
○​ convection currents
How do convection currents lead to tectonic movements

1.​ Heat from earth’s core causes the mantle material to become less dense
2.​ The rising mantle material rises towards the surface
3.​ The rising mantle material then spreads beneath the plates and drag them apart,
causing divergent movement
4.​ The material in the mantle then loses heat, becomes dense and sinks to the core,
5.​ The convergent plate movements occur where the convection currents collide
6.​ The material gets heated up again and the process repeats

How does slab pull force lead to tectonic movements

1.​ When two plates converge, the denser oceanic crust is pulled down by gravity as it
subducts beneath the less dense crust
2.​ The denser oceanic crust sinks deeper into the mantle under its own weight pulling the
rest if the plate with it, contributiong to further convergence

Seafloor spreading

●​ What is seafloor spreading

1.​ When two plates move away from each oher at diverging plate boundaries,
seafloor spreading occurs
2.​ Magma from deep within the earth rises, through the mid ocean ridge cools and
solidifies, constructing new oceanic crust
3.​ New oceanic crust is formed
●​ How does evidence of seafloor spreading support the plate tectonic theory
○​ Rocks nearer to the crest of the mid oceanrideg are the youngest
 ○​ Rocks further away from the ridge are progressively older
●​ This shows us how new oceanic crust is being created at divergent boundaries and then
moves laterally on both side of the mid oceanridge as sea floor spreading continues
●​ Little sendiment accumulation is found at oceanic trenches as older oceanic crust is
being destroyed at oceanic trenches
○​ Hence oceanic crust is usually younger than continental crust
What is magnetic striping

●​ The earth has a geographic north and a geographic south as well as a magnetic north
and magnetic south
●​ The geographic north and geographic south do not change
●​ The magnetic north and magnetic south can shift and they have reversed multiple times
over geological time
●​ Currently, the magnetic north is roughly towards the geographic north and the magnetic
south is roughly towards the geographic south
○​ This is known as normal poloratiy
●​ Reverse polarity occurs when the magnetic north is roughly towards the geographic
south
●​ Over geological time, the earth's polarity has flipped a lot, from normal to reverse polarity
●​ Magnetic striping is the zebra like pattern where there are strips of normal polarity ricks
alternating alonside strips of reverse polarity rock
●​ There are reversals of earth’s polarity which are evidneced by studying the magnetic
properties of the rock from the ocean floor
●​ The stripes are symmetrical on both sides of the mid oceanic ridge
●​ Reversals are irregular and only happen roughly every 200,000 to 1million years
●​ Sometimes the field weakens without fully flipping — called an excursion.

●​ How does magnetic striping support the plate tectonic theory

○​ When plates diverge, iron-rich lava erupts from the centre of the ridge.
○​ This lava cools and solidifies to form a new oceanic crust.
○​ The crust is then pushed in both directions away from the centre of the ridge, as
the oceanic plates continue to move away from each other.
○​ When Earth’s polarity reverses, the rocks record these magnetic reversals since
they have iron-rich minerals.
○​ Over time, as more lava moves away from the mid-ocean ridge due to plates
diverging, a symmetrical zebra-like magnetic pattern forms.
○​ The evidence of magnetic striping shows how plates are moving apart from each
other over time, supporting the theory of seafloor spreading.
○​ Therefore, this supports the plate tectonics theory.
Divergent plate boundaries

Plate boundary type Movement Example

Divergence 1. Moves APART,

2. which decreases
Oceanic oceanic pressure
3. causing underlying
mantle to melt
4. which forms magma

Oceanic Oceanic plate divergence

●​ Two oceanic plates move apart

●​ The decreases in overlying pressure causes the parts of the underlying mantle to melt
forming magma
●​ Magma rises through the weak areas in the crust to the earth's surface and fills gaps
caused by the spreading plates
●​ Lava cools and solidifies to form basaltic rocks
●​ The rocks make up a new oceanic crust

EXAMPLE :
●​ The south american plate and the african plate move apart
○​ FORMS the mid atlantic ridge
▾​ The centre of the ridge is a deep rift valley with steep sides
▾​ Maga rises through the weak areas in the crust to earth’s surface forming
submarine volcanoes
▾​ After many eruptions the volcanoes may break the surface of the ocean to
form volcanic islands (Surtesy, iceland)
▾​ Earthquakes also occur here because of the stress and tensions released
when the plates move
Continental Continental divergence

●​Two continental plates move apart

●​Rocks eventually fracture to form parallel faults
●​The rocks between these faults collapses to form a deep rift valley with steep sides
●​As the plates move apart, the decreases in overlying pressure causes the underlying
parts of the mantle to melt, forming magma
●​ Magma rises through weak areas in the the crust to earth's surface forming volcanoes
●​ Earthquakes occur as stress and tension are released when plates move
EXAMPLE
●​ The nubian plate pulls apart from the somali plate
●​ This forms the great rift valley
○​ Mount kilimanjaro
○​ Mount kenya

How do these rift valleys look like?

●​ Rift valleys is a lowland/depression in the land with steep sides ford along fault lines
●​ The highlands left on the sides are called block mountains

Oceanic oceanic plate convergence

●​ When two oceanic plates converge, one subducts under the other
●​ A subduction zone forms, creating a deep depression in the ocean floor called the
oceanic trench
●​ During subduction of the oceanic plate, the high pressure squeezes water out of the
oceanic plate
●​ The water mixes with the mantle above, making it easier to melt
●​ This causes the melting of solid mantle material and magma is formed
●​ The magma rises through weak areas in the crust to the Earth’s surface
●​ This forms a chain of volcanoes known as a volcanic island

EXAMPLES
●​ The oceanic plate subducts beneath the oceanic philippine plate
○​ This forms the mariana trench
Continental continental plate convergence
●​ Two continental plates collide
●​ Subduction doesnt take place because continental plates are too buoyant to subduct
●​ Ernamous pressure causes the rocks to be uplifted and buckled to form fold mountains
●​ Friction along the convergent plate boundary also causes earthquakes to occur
●​ Magma doesnt rise to the surface hence no volcanoes are formed

Example
●​ The continental indo australian plate converges with the continental eurasian plate
○​ This forms the himalayan mountain range
○​ This area experiences many earthquakes such as the 2015 one

Oceanic continental convergent plate boundaries

●​ An oceanic plate cooliides with a continental plate
●​ The denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate
●​ This forms an oceanic trench in the subductin zone
●​ As the subducting plate sinks into the mantle, the high pressure forces water out of the
oeanic crust and water lowers the melting point of the overlying mantle which causes it
to melt, forming magma
○​ Friction along the subducting oceanic plate causes earthquake to occur
●​ Ernamous pressure at this plate boundary causes rocka on the continental plate ot be
lifted and buckled , forming fold mountains
EXAMPLE
●​ Oceanic nazca plate converges with the cintinential south american plate
●​ Denser nazca plate subducts beneath the south american plate
○​ Form the peru chile trench
○​ The andes folsmountain range
○​ The nevado del ruiz volcano

Transform plate boundaries

●​ Tectonic plates slide past each other
●​ No crust is created or destroyed
●​ Stress caused by plate movements produces a fault witch is a zone of fractures
●​ Magma doesnt rise = no volcanoes
EXAMPLE
●​ The [acific plate sliding pasr the north american plate
●​ Forming the san andreas fault in california USA
●​ Earthquakes are common here con