1 Topic 2: Introduction to continental drift concept
The world map showing the distribution of continents and Oceans. There are seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia (listed from largest to smallest in size). Definition of Key concepts A continent is a large continuous mass of land conventionally regarded as a collective region In geology, a continent is defined as "one of Earth's major landmasses, including both dry land and continental shelves
Together, the continents add up to about 148 million square kilometers (57 million square miles) of land. Continents make up most—but not all—of Earth’s land surface. A very small portion of the total land area is made up of islands that are not considered physical parts of continents. 29% of earth is covered by continents.
Coastlines, however, do not indicate the actual boundaries of the continents. Continents are defined by their continental shelves. A continental shelf is a gently sloping area that extends outward from the beach far into the ocean. A continental shelf is part of the ocean, but also part of the continent. OCEAN • A very large expanse of waterbody, in particular each of the main areas into which the water body is divided geographically is an Ocean.
• The planet has one global ocean, though oceanographers and the countries of the world have traditionally divided it into four distinct regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic oceans and now the southern Oceans. OCEAN Cont’d • The ocean is a huge body of saltwater that covers about 71 percent of Earth’s surface.
• The planet has one global ocean, though oceanographers and the countries of the world have traditionally divided it into four distinct regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans. Beginning in the 20th century, some oceanographers labeled the seas around Antarctica the Southern Ocean,
• And in 2021 National Geographic officially recognized this fifth ocean
• An estimated 97 percent of the world’s water is found in the ocean. Because of this, the ocean has considerable impact on weather, temperature, and the food supply of humans and other organisms Oceans and Seas
Bering Sea
Sea of Okotsk
Seas are found on the margins of the ocean and are partially enclosed by land. Here, you can see that the Bering Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean
Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land. TOPIC 2: CONTINENTAL DRIFT Continental Drift is the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other. The hypothesis that continents 'drift' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 and was fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. However, it was not until the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s, that a sufficient geological explanation of that movement was found. Abraham Ortelius (1597), Francis Bacon (1625), Benjamin Franklin, Antonio Snider-Pellegrini (1858), and others had noted earlier that the shapes of continents on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean (most notably, Africa and South America) seem to fit together. W. J. Kious described Ortelius' thoughts in this way. Abraham Ortelius in his work Thesaurus Geographicus ... suggested that the Americas were "torn away from Europe and Africa ... by earthquakes and floods" and went on to say: "The vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves, if someone brings forward a map of the world and considers carefully the coasts of the three continents. The hypothesis that the continents had once formed a single landmass before breaking apart and drifting to their present locations was fully formulated by Alfred Wegener in 1912. Although Wegener's theory was formed independently and was more complete than those of his predecessor. Continental drift theory Topic 3: Harry Hess’s Sea floor spreading 1960s • Harry Hess in the 1960s suggested that convection currents within the mantle could be forcing magma to rise and crack the crust above it forcing it apart. • He believes that as it welled up and cooled on the ocean floor at divergent zones, new oceanic crust was forming at mid ocean ridges, pushing older, colder and more dense crust towards deep sea trenches, where it is subducted, recycled back into the mantle or creates volcanism. • However when there is no trench for old crust to subject under (such as the coast of Africa), then it pushes the continent along with it as crust accumulates. • As there are few trenches in the Atlantic Ocean it is expanding • As there are many trenches in the Pacific Ocean it is shrinking • How did Hess support his theory? Rock Magnetism. Hess looked at the polarity on either sides of the ridge, a correlation of identical bonds between the two sides supported his theory. • Magnetic grains in the rock align with the Earth’s magnetic field at the time of cooling (known as paleomagnetism) Sea floor spreading TOPIC 4: Plate tectonism J Wilson1965 • In 1965 J Wilson linked together ideas of continental drift and sea floor spreading, developing the concept of plate tectonics. • Wilson said that Earth’s crust, or lithosphere, was divided into large, rigid pieces called plates. These plates “float” atop an underlying rock layer called the asthenosphere. In the asthenosphere, rocks are under such tremendous heat and pressure that they behave like a viscous liquid (like very thick honey). The term “continental drift” was no longer fully accurate, because the plates are made up of continental and oceanic crust, which both “drift” over Earth’s face. Tuzo Wilson predicted three types of boundaries between plates: mid-ocean ridges (where ocean crust is created), trenches (where the ocean plates are subducted) and large fractures in the seafloor called transform faults, where the plates slip by each other. Types of Plateboundaries • Divergent/Constructive: These plates are moving away from each other. They are usually found in the middle of the oceans and mid ocean ridges are found here. • Convergent/Destructive: These plates are moving towards each other causing earthquakes, volcanoes, deep ocean trenches and fold mountains. • Transform/conservative: These plates are sliding past each other. At these zones land is not being created nor destroyed , however frequent earthquakes are common. An example is San Andrea Fault in California How do the platesmove? • There are three main theories explaining plate movement… 1. Convection currents: This states that huge convection currents occur in the earths interior causing hot magma to rise to the surface and then spread out at mid ocean ridges, whilst the cooler magma gets denser and sinks back deep into the mantle where it is reheated. 2. Dragging Theory: Plates are dragged or subducted by their oldest edge when they become cold and dense. Plates are hot at mid ocean ridges, but cool as they are pushed further away. As the cold plates descend at the trenches, pressure causes the rocks to become heavier and therefore they are subducted. 3. Hotspot: Hotspots are plumes of molten rock which rise underneath a plate penetrating weaknesses in the crust and resulting in volcanic activity. As plates are moving and hotspots stay still, these therefore led to chains of land creation such as Hawaii. Convection Currents
Hot Spots Dragging Theory
Subduction Zones • Subduction occurs when an oceanic lithospheric plate collides with another plate. As the density of the ocean plate Is similar to that of the asthenosphere it can easily be subducted. Subduction zones dip mainly at 30-70 degree angles. • If a continental and oceanic plate meet, the oceanic plate will be subducted beneath the continental as it is more dense. • Evidence of subduction: • The existence of certain landforms such as deep sea trenches and folded sediments (usually arc shaped and containing volcanoes) • Benioff zone – a deep active seismic area dipping away from the deep sea trench. • Earthquake focal mechanisms (ring of fire) Plate landforms Island Arcs • Island arcs are features of oceanic/continental convergence. They are chains of volcanoes which are aligned in an arc shape and sit close to the boundary where two plates meet. During subduction hot re- melted material from the subducting slab rises and leaks into the crust forming a series of volcanoes. These volcanoes can make a chain of islands called Island arcs. Many are found in the Pacific and Western Atlantic. Mountain Building • Plate tectonics are associated with mountain building. Where oceanic plates meet continental, the light less dense plate may be bulked and folded up creating fold mountains, such as the Andes. • Where two continental plates meet, both may be folded and buckled, forming mountains such as the Himalayas formed by the collision of the Eurasian and Indian plates.
• The Indian subcontinent moved rapidly north during the last
70 million years, eventually colliding with the main body of Asia. The huge ocean Tethys has been entirely lost between these masses in the collision zone and the crust has thickened because Asia overrides India, resulting in crust thickening causing the uplift of the Himalayas.
