I. What is plate tectonics?

1) Plate tectonics is a theory that describes the formation, movements, and

interactions of Earth’s lithospheric plates.
a) The Earth’s lithosphere is broken into plates that move on the
asthenosphere.
b) In some places they are moving toward each other, moving apart or
sliding apart.

A. Early Ideas About Plate Movements:

1) Alfred Wegner (VAY-guh-nuhr) – proposed the continental drift
a) continental drift – hypothesis that states that the continents have
moved, or drifted, from one location to another over time.
(i) supporting evidence:
(1) similarities in the shapes of the continents, and

(2) fossil remains – eg. Mesosaurus (a reptile that lived about 270
mya are found in parts of South America and Africa.
(3) distinct rock formations - indicate that they were joined in the
past.
- several mountain belts that end at one coastline, only to
reappear on a landmass across the ocean.
(4) ancient climates – Wegener was a meteorologist, so he was
interested in obtaining data about ancient climates to support
continental drift.
- found glacial deposits showing that between 220 m and 300
mya, ice sheets covered large areas in southern Africa and South
America, as well as India and Australia.
 - proof that ice moved from sea to land.
- much of the land that shows glaciation lies in the equatorial
regions.
- while large swamps existed in the Northern Hemisphere –
lush vegetation of these ancient swamps became our source of coal.

(ii) criticized because his hypothesis did not explain how continents
moved.

II. Theory of Plate Tectonics:

1. The continents are embedded in lithospheric plates.
2. As these plates move, they carry the continents with them.
3. Supported by a wealth of evidence and explains many geologic processes
a) Explains why earthquakes are likely to occur in particular locations and
how new crust forms along the ocean floor.
4. John Tuzo Wilson – geophysicist at the University of Toronto
a) came up with the theory of plate tectonics.
b) Theory states:
(1) Earth’s outer layer consists of about a dozen separate major
lithospheric plates floating on the asthenosphere.
(2) Plate movement appears to be caused by two forces acting in nearly
equal proportion:
(i) plates form and slide off the raided ridges of the spreading
centers.
(ii) plates are pulled downward into the mantle by their cool dense
leading edges.
5. Plate movement is slow in human terms, ave. about 5 cm (2 in) per year.
a) caused by uneven distribution of heat within Earth.
b) Hot material deep in the mantle moves slowly upward as part of Earth’s
internal convection system.
c) At the same time, cooler, denser slabs of oceanic lithosphere descend
into the mantle, setting Earth’s rigid outer shell into motion.
d) The grinding movements of Earth’s lithospheric plates generate
earthquakes, create volcanoes, and deform large masses of rock into
mountains.
 6. The plates interact at converging, diverging, or sideways-moving
boundaries, sometimes forcing one another below the surface or wrinkling into
mountains.

A. Location of Earthquakes and Volcanoes:

1. Earthquakes and volcanic activity occur in particular locations, primarily in
concentrated belts.
a) They mark the location of plate boundaries.
b) These boundaries are places where 2 plates are pushing toward,
pulling away, or sliding past each other.
c) Strain occurs in the boundaries and when it becomes too great,
fractures form and earthquakes occur.
d) High heat flow in these locations, where molten rock moves
upward causing volcanic activity.

B. Magnetism and the Age of the Ocean Floor:

Paleomagnetism:
1. The age of the ocean floor comes from studies of magnetic property and
age of igneous rocks in the ocean floor.
a) Changes of the magnetic pole over millions of years. Sometimes the
magnetic pole points north and at other times, it points south. These
reversals allow us to date the age of the sea floor.
b) Tiny particles of an iron-bearing magnetic mineral called magnetite occur
naturally in basaltic magma.
(1) when this magma erupts at mid-ocean ridges, it cools to form
solid rock.
(2) the magnetic minerals act like miniature compass needles.
(3) As it cools to form a new seafloor, the magnetic minerals fields
align with Earth’s magnetic field.
(4) Thus, the orientation of Earth’s magnetic filed at that particular
time becomes frozen in rock.
(5) The magnetic minerals act like miniature compass needles.
(6) As it cools to form new seafloor, the magnetic minerals align with
the earth’s magnetic field.
(7) Thus, the orientation of Earth’s magnetic filed at that particular
time becomes frozen in rock.
2. Magnetometer – measures the amount and direction of residual magnetism in
a rock sample.
3. By 1974, scientists had compiled charts showing the paleomagnetic orientation
and age of the seafloors of the eastern Pacific and the Atlantic for about the last
200 million years.

III. PLATE TECTONICS:

1. 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) The outer shell lies over a weaker region in the mantle known as the
asthenosphere.
b) The lithosphere is divided into segments called plates, which move and
continually change shape and size.
2. There are seven major plates:
a) North American
b) South American
c) Pacific
d) African
e) Eurasian
f) Australian-Indian
g) Antarctic
3. There are six intermediate plates:
a) Carribean
b) Nazca
c) Philippine
d) Arabian
e) Cocos
f) Scotia
IV. Earth’s Major Plates:
Types of Plate Boundaries:
A. Divergent Boundaries: (also called spreading centers) – occur when two plates
move apart.
1. process results in upwelling of material from the mantle to create new
seafloor.
a) East African Rift Valley – relatively new divergent boundary.

B. Convergent Boundaries: form where two plates move together.

1. results in oceanic lithosphere plunging beneath an overriding plate, and
descending into the mantle.
2. Also – plates carrying continental crust are moving towards each other.
a) Eventually, these continents may collide and merge. Making the
boundary between the two plates disappear.

C. Transform Fault Boundaries: margins where two plates grind past each other
without the production or destruction of lithosphere.
1. San Andreas Fault

V. DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES:
1. Most are located along the crests of oceanic ridges.
a) thought of as constructive plate margins – new oceanic lithosperhere is
generated.
 b) as the plate moves away from the ridge axis, fractures are created.
These fractures are filled with molten rock that wells up from the hot
mantle below.
c) Gradually, this magma cools to produce new slivers of seafloor.

A. Oceanic Ridges and Seafloor Spreading:

1. oceanic ridges – form along divergent plate boundaries.
a) longest physical feature along the Earth’s surface.
b) 70,000 km in length.
c) not narrow but 1000 to 4000 km wide.
d) rift valley – found along the axes of some of the segments.
2. seafloor spreading: no older than 200 mya.
a) dated ocean floor – none older than 180 million years ago.

B. Continental Rifts:
1. Examples of Continental Rifts are East African rift valley and the Rhine Valley in
Northwest Europe.
2. continental breakup:
a) forces that are stretching the lithosphere are acting on the plate. (not
enough by itself to cause the rift).
b) hot spot activities – plumes of rock rise up on the mantle.
i) weakens the lithosphere and creates domes.
c) forces (stretching) + hot spots = rift valley
3. African rift valley
a) Kilimajaro and Mount Kenya – show the kind of activity that accompanies
continental rifting.
b) eventually the African continent will split into two.
c) will then form a narrow sea that will feed into the ocean.

C. Convergent Boundaries:
1. destructive plate margins – as the plate slowly converge, the leading edge of
one is bent downward, allowing it to slide beneath the other.
a) subduction zone – destructive plate margins where oceanic crust is being
pushed down into the mantle.
2. Convergent boundaries can form between two oceanic plates, between one
oceanic plate and one continental plate or between two continental plates.
3. Oceanic – Continental – when the leading edge of a continental plate
converges with an oceanic plate, the less dense continental plate remains
floating.
a) Denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere.
b) when a descending plate reaches a depth of about 100 to 150
kilometers, some of the asthenosphere above the descending plate melts.
c) the newly formed magma, being less dense than rocks of the mantle,
rises.
d) Eventually some of this magma may reach the surface and cause volcanic
eruptions.
e) continental volcanic arc – eg. Andes – (in western South America)
product of magma generated as the Nazca plate descends beneath the
continent.
(i) mountain produces by subduction.

4. Oceanic- Oceanic – when two ocean slabs converge, one descends beneath the
other.
a) causes volcanic activity that form in the ocean floor.
b) if it continues, it becomes a chain of volcanic structures that become
islands.
c) volcanic island arc – results from ocean to ocean convergence.
d) Aleutian islands – example of volcanic island arc resulting from ocean to
ocean convergence.

5. Continental – Continental – when an oceanic plate is subducted beneath a

continental lithosphere, a continental volcanic arc develops along the margin of
the continent.
a) if the subducting plate also contains continental lithosphere, the
subduction eventually brings the two continents together.
b) before continents collide, the landmasses involved are separated by an
ocean basin.
(i) as the continents move toward each other, the seafloor between
them is subducted beneath one of the plates.
c) when the continents collide, a new mountain range forms that is
composed of deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, fragments
of volcanic arc, and possibly slivers of oceanic crust.
d) eg. India colliding with Asia and producing the Himalayas.
 e) eg. Alps, Appalachians and Urals are formed as a result of continental
collisions.

D. Transform Fault Boundaries.

1. Plates grind past each other without destroying the lithosphere.
a) most transform fault boundaries – join two segments of a mid-ocean
ridge.
b) present in about every 100 km along the ridge axis.
c) land – eg. San Andreas Fault in California.