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    Science of The Environment: The Earth's Cross Section

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    Gian Banares
    The document discusses the science of the environment and the Earth's geology. It covers topics like continental drift, Pangaea, tectonic plate movement, subduction zones, hot spots, and fault types. Maps and diagrams are included to illustrate these concepts.

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    Science of The Environment: The Earth's Cross Section

    Uploaded by

    Gian Banares
    22 views7 pages
    The document discusses the science of the environment and the Earth's geology. It covers topics like continental drift, Pangaea, tectonic plate movement, subduction zones, hot spots, and fault types. Maps and diagrams are included to illustrate these concepts.

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    1 Plate Tectonics

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    The document discusses the science of the environment and the Earth's geology. It covers topics like continental drift, Pangaea, tectonic plate movement, subduction zones, hot spots, and fault types. Maps and diagrams are included to illustrate these concepts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    22 views7 pages

    Science of The Environment: The Earth's Cross Section

    Uploaded by

    Gian Banares
    The document discusses the science of the environment and the Earth's geology. It covers topics like continental drift, Pangaea, tectonic plate movement, subduction zones, hot spots, and fault types. Maps and diagrams are included to illustrate these concepts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 7

    200.

    16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Scienc e of the Environment

    Science of the Environment

    The Earth’s Cross Section

    LITHOSPHERE

    Lithosphere
    100 km

    © J.M. Piwowar 1
    200.16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Continental Drift
    • Continents move along
    the plates of the
    lithosphere
    • Convection effects:
    warm portions of the
    mantle rise and cold
    portions settle causing
    continental drift
    • Astenosphere: liquid
    part of the mantle
    convection occurs
    leading to movement of
    plates

    Pangaea: the supercontinent

    • Alfred Wegener
    proposed his
    Theory of
    Continental Drift
    • All the continents
    were once joined
    in a single super-
    continent which he
    named Pangaea

    Pangaea: the supercontinent

    300 M yrs ago

    135 M yrs ago

    65 M yrs ago

    Present

    © J.M. Piwowar 2
    200.16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Evidences of the Continental Drift Theory


    • Map of the world
     Africa and South America fit
    together
     Southern Australia can be linked
    to Antarctica, etc.
    • Analyses of rocks
     rocks of the same type and age
    has been found both in Brazil
    and southwest Africa. Such rock
    is at least 2 million years old.

    • Identical succession of glaciation, sedimentation, coal formation, etc.


    show that these continents once were one.
    • Fossil of a reptile that lived approximately 250 million years ago
    (Permian period) was found both in South Africa and southern Brazil.
    • Resources that can only be formed under certain climatic conditions
    are today found in places where such conditions never existed
     coal deposits in the Antarctic
     evidence of giant masses of ice in South Africa

    Map of Tectonic Plates

    Oceanic Plate
    Continental Plate

    Tectonic Plates
    Oceanic Plate and Continental Plate
    • Plates of the lithosphere on which the continents
    move and new oceanic crust form

    © J.M. Piwowar 3
    200.16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Tectonic Processes
    Plates Converging: Oceanic Plate and Continental Plate
     When an oceanic plate collides with a continental
    landmass, the continental plate will ride up over the
    seafloor and the oceanic plate will subduct down into the
    mantle.
     Mountain ranges pushed up at the margins of colliding
    plates.
    - Andes Mountains
     Deep ocean trenches mark subduction zones
    - Marianas Trench
     the world's deepest part of the ocean

     over 11,000 meters below the seal level.

    - Philippine Deep-
     The world's second deepest spot underwater.

     This spot, about 34,440 feet (10,497 meters) below sea level

     also known as the Mindanao Trench

     The German ship Emden first plumbed the trench in 1927

    Tectonic Processes
    Plates Converging: Subduction Zones

    Map

    Marianas Trench

    • The Marianas Trench, marks where the fast-moving Pacific


    Plate converges against the slower moving Philippine Plate.
    Map

    © J.M. Piwowar 4
    200.16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Tectonic Processes
    Plates Diverging: 2 Oceanic Plates moving oppositely

    Map

    Mid-Oceanic Ridge

    Tectonic Processes
    Transform Plate: Plates Move Past One Another

    Map

    © J.M. Piwowar 5
    200.16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Types of Transport Plate


    • A fault is a fracture in the
    Earth's crust where two blocks
    of crust have slipped against
    each other
    • A is a Normal Fault where the
    blocks are pulled apart
    allowing for one block to slip
    down on the other
    • B indicates a Thrust Fault
    which occurs when blocks are
    pushed against each other
    raising one of the blocks
    • C is a Strike-Slip Fault which
    occurs when stress causes
    the blocks to move
    horizontally past one another

    San Andreas Fault

    Active Faults in the Philippines

    • Marikina Fault

    © J.M. Piwowar 6
    200.16 Environmental Geology 7/11/2011

    Tectonic Processes
    Hot Spots

    Map

    Prominent Hotspots

    Hawaiian Islands Chain

    • The islands formed as the Pacific Plate moved over a stationary hot spot. Hawaii
    is now over the hot spot and has active volcanoes. Volcanoes on the other
    islands shown in this figure are no longer active, because they are no longer
    located over the hot spot. Map

    © J.M. Piwowar 7

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