Plate Tectonic
CHARMAINE C. TALENTO
MEd GENERAL SCIENCE
EARTH
Earth is known to be the
only planet in the universe
that sustains life. While it
may appear to be one huge
solid rock, it is actually
made up of various
components, some of which
are constantly shifting and
The Layers of the Earth
The earth is divided into three main layers namely the crust, the
mantle and the core. Understanding the different layers of the
Earth helps us learn about what the Earth is made of, how it is
structured, and how it behaves.
Crust Mantle Core
Crust Mantle Core
Earth's Crust
The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. It is the thinnest
layer, ranging from about 5 to 70 kilometers in thickness. The
crust can be further divided into two types: continental crust
and oceanic crust.
Continental Crust Oceanic Crust
Continental
The continental crust is Oceanic Crust
The oceanic crust is the
Crust
the thicker layer of the thinner layer of the
Earth's crust that is Earth's crust that is
found under the found under the ocean
continents. It is about 35 basins. It is about 7
kilometers thick on kilometers thick on
Earth's Mantle
The mantle is the layer beneath the Earth's crust. It is the
thickest layer, extending from the base of the crust to a depth
of approximately 2,900 kilometers. The mantle can be divided
into an upper and lower layer.
Upper Mantle Lower Mantle
Upper Mantlemantle is
The upper Lower Mantle
The solid lower mantle
relatively rigid and contributes to the overall
contains the convection and heat
asthenosphere, a semi- transfer within the
fluid layer that allows the Earth's interior.
movement of tectonic
Earth's Core
The core is the innermost layer of the Earth, situated
beneath the mantle. It is divided into two distinct
regions: the outer core and the inner core.
Outer Core Inner Core
Outer
The Core
outer core is a liquid Innerinner
The Corecore is the
layer composed mainly of solid, central part of the
molten iron and nickel. It earth. It has a radius of
has a thickness of about about 1,220 kilometers
2,300 kilometers. and is composed of solid
iron and nickel.
Crust
The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. It is the
thinnest layer, ranging from about 5 to 70 kilometers
in thickness.
Mantle
The mantle is the layer beneath the Earth's crust. It is
the thickest layer, extending from the base of the
crust to a depth of approximately 2,900 kilometers.
Core
The core is the innermost layer of the Earth, situated
beneath the mantle. It is divided into two distinct
regions: the outer core and the inner core.
PLATE TECTONICS
World Plates
What is Plate Tectonics?
Plate tectonics is a scientific
theory that explains how
landforms are created from
the movement of the Earth.
The earth's crust is broken into
Seven large plates and into
several smaller plates.
Why Does it Matter?
These plate locations give us
an insight into other patterns.
The locations of mountain
ranges, deep ocean trenches,
ocean floor structures,
earthquakes and volcanos all
occur in patterns.
What are Tectonic Plates?
• The Earth’s crust is divided into 12 major plates which are
moved in various directions.
• This plate motion causes them to collide, pull apart, or scrape
against each other.
• Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set of Earth
structures or “tectonic” features.
• The word, tectonic, refers to the deformation of the crust as a
consequence of plate interaction.
What are Tectonic Plates made of?
• Plates are made of rigid
LITHOSPHERE.
The lithosphere is
made up of the crust
and the upper part of
the mantle.
What lies beneath the tectonic
plates?
• Below the lithosphere (which makes up the tectonic plates) is the
ASTHENOSPHERE.
• The asthenosphere, beneath the lithosphere, is part of
the upper mantle and is so hot that it is 1 – 5% liquid
(I.e. 95 – 99% solid). This liquid, usually at the
junctions of the crystals, allow it to flow – which is why
‘astheno’ means weak.’ Beneath the asthenosphere is
the rest of the mantle, which is completely solid – but
can also flow (on geological time scales) because of
the intense temperatures and pressures involved.
• The base of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary
corresponds approximately to the depth of the melting
temperature in the mantle.
Plate Movement
• “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by the underlying hot mantle
convection cells.
Plate How and Why do Tectonic Plates Move
Around?
• The question of how tectonic plates are moved around the globe is answered by
understanding mantle convection cells.
• In the mantle hot material rises towards the lithosphere (like hot air rising out of
an open oven - ever opened an oven door and felt the blast of hot air
coming past your face?). The hot material reaches the
base of the lithosphere where it cools and sinks back
down through the mantle. The cool material is replaced
by more hot material, and so on forming a large
“convection cell” (as pictured in the diagram).
• This slow but incessant movement in the mantle causes
the rigid tectonic plates to move (float) around the earth
surface (at an equally slow rate).
What Happens at Tectonic Plate
Boundaries?
What are Tectonic
Plates?
The Earth's crust is divided into large
pieces called tectonic plates. These
plates float on the semi-fluid mantle
below them.
Divergent Tectonic Boundary
Convergent Tectonic Boundary
Transform Tectonic Boundary
Types of Plate Boundaries
Divergent Plate Convergent Plate Transform Plate
Divergent Boundaries
At divergent boundaries, plates
move away from each other. This
movement results in the creation of
new crust as magma rises from the
mantle, solidifies, and forms new
oceanic crust.
Divergent boundaries are
On land, divergent plate boundaries create rift responsible for the continuous
valleys. The crust in these areas stretches and
thins, causing the land to sink and create a valley.
reshaping and formation of Earth's
Magma from the mantle can rise to the surface, crust.
leading to volcanic activity.
ICELAND
Iceland has a divergent plate boundary
running through its middle.
Convergent Boundaries
Convergent boundaries are places
where tectonic plates collide or
come together. When two plates
meet, their interactions can result
in various geological phenomena.
Convergent boundaries contribute
When two continental plates collide, neither plate is to the formation of mountains,
subducted due to their low density. Instead, the two
plates compress and crumple, creating highly
volcanic activity, and earthquakes.
folded and uplifted mountain ranges.
Convergent Boundaries
There are three styles of
convergent plate boundaries
• Continent-continent collision
• Continent-oceanic crust
collision
• Ocean-ocean collision
Continent-Continent Collision
When continental crust pushes against continental crust both sides of the
convergent boundary have the same properties (think back to the
description of continental crust: thick and buoyant). Neither side of the
boundary wants to sink beneath the other side, and as a result the two
plates push
against each other and the crust buckles
and cracks, pushing up (and down
into the mantle) high mountain
ranges. For example, the
European Alps and Himalayas
formed this way.
Himalayas
Example:
• India used to be an island, but about
15 million years ago it crashed into
Asia.
• As continental crust was pushing
against continental crust the
Himalayan mountain belt was
pushed up.
• “Mountains” were also pushed down
into the mantle as the normally 35
km thick crust is approximately 70
km thick in this region.
• Mt Everest is the highest altitude
mountain on our planet standing
8,840 metres high. This means that
below the surface at the foot of the
mountain the crust is a further 61
Continent-Oceanic Crust Collision
• At a convergent boundary where continental crust pushes against oceanic crust, the oceanic crust which is
thinner and more dense than the continental crust, sinks below the continental crust. This is called a
Subduction Zone.
• The oceanic crust descends into the mantle at a rate of centimetres per year. This oceanic crust is called
the “Subducting Slab” (see diagram).
• When the subducting slab reaches a depth of around 100 kilometres, it dehydrates and releases water into
the overlying mantle wedge .
• The addition of water into
the mantle wedge changes
the melting point of the
molten material there
forming new melt which
rises up into the overlying
continental crust forming
volcanoes.
• Subduction is a way of
recycling the oceanic crust.
Eventually the subducting
slab sinks down into the mantle to be recycled. It is for this reason that the oceanic crust is much
younger than the
Subduction
• Oceanic lithosphere subducts
underneath the continental
lithosphere
• Oceanic lithosphere heats and
dehydrates as it subsides
• The melt rises forming volcanism
• E.g. The Andes
• The Andes mountain range along the western edge
of the South American continent is an example of a
mountain belt formed by subduction.
• The continental crust of the South American plate
has buckled under the compressional strain of
converging with the Nasca and Antarctic plates.
Additionally there are many volcanoes, the result of
melting of the subducting slab and the production of
new material that has risen through the crust to the
surface.
Ocean-Ocean Plate Collision
• When two oceanic plates collide,
one runs over the other which
causes it to sink into the mantle
forming a subduction zone.
• The subducting plate is bent
downward to form a very deep
depression in the ocean floor called
a trench.
• The worlds deepest parts of the
ocean are found along trenches.
• –E.g. The Mariana Trench is 11 km
deep!
TRENCH
• Manned or unmanned submersible
vehicles (top right photo) have
explored small parts of trenches
discovering new species (like the
fish photographed here) and
amazing ecosystems.
Transform Boundaries
Transform boundaries occur when
two plates slide past each other
horizontally. The movement along
these boundaries can cause
earthquakes, as the plates grind
against each other.
Transform boundaries redistribute
Unlike convergent or divergent boundaries, there is stress and accommodates the
no creation or destruction of crust at transform
boundaries. The plates simply grind against each
movement between neighboring
other horizontally. plates.
Transform Boundaries
The San Andreas fault, adjacent to
which the US city of San Francisco is
built is an example of a transform
boundary between the Pacific plate and
the North American plate.
Above: View of the San Andreas
transform fault
Divergent
Boundaries
At divergent boundaries, plates move away from
each other. This movement results in the creation of
new crust.
Convergent
Boundaries
Convergent boundaries are places where tectonic
plates collide or come together. When two plates
meet, their interactions can result in various
geological phenomena.
Transform
Boundaries
Transform boundaries occur when two plates slide
past each other horizontally. The movement along
these boundaries can cause earthquakes.
THEORIES
Plate Tectonic Theory
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that explains how major
landforms are created as a result of Earth’s subterranean
movements. The theory, which solidified in the 1960s,
transformed the earth sciences by explaining many phenomena,
including mountain
building events, volcanoes, and
earthquakes.
Plate Tectonic Theory
In plate tectonics, Earth’s outermost layer, or lithosphere—made up
of the crust and upper mantle—is broken into large rocky plates.
These plates lie on top of a partially molten layer of rock called the
asthenosphere. Due to the convection of the asthenosphere and
lithosphere, the plates move relative to each other at different rates,
from two to 15 centimeters (one to six inches) per year. This
interaction of tectonic
plates is responsible
for many different
geological formations
such as the Himalaya
Continental Drift Theory
The idea that continents moved over time had
been proposed before the 20th century. However,
a German scientist named Alfred Wegener
changed the scientific debate. Wegener published
two articles about a concept called continental
drift in 1912. He suggested that 200 million years
ago, a supercontinent he called Pangaea began to
break into pieces, its parts moving away from one
another. The continents we see today are
fragments of that supercontinent. To support his
theory, Wegener pointed to matching rock
formations and similar fossils in Brazil and West
Africa. In addition, South America and Africa
looked like they could fit together like puzzle
Continental Drift Theory
Continental Drift theory was
proposed by Alfred Wegener in
1912. He used continental fit,
distribution of fossils, ancient
climates, and the wandering of
Earth's polar regions to support
his Theory. He stated the present
continents were part of a super
continent – Pangaea.
PANGAEA
Sea-Floor Spreading
Despite being dismissed at first, the theory gained steam in the 1950s and
1960s as new data began to support the idea of continental drift. Maps of the
ocean floor showed a massive undersea mountain range that almost circled
the entire Earth. An American geologist named Harry Hess proposed that
these ridges were the result of molten rock rising from the asthenosphere. As
it came to the
surface, the rock cooled, making new crust and
spreading the seafloor away from the ridge in a
conveyer-belt motion. Millions of years later, the
crust would disappear into ocean trenches at
places called subduction zones and cycle back
into Earth. Magnetic data from the ocean floor
and the relatively young age of oceanic crust
supported Hess’s hypothesis of seafloor spreading.
Sea-Floor Spreading
Harry Hess proposed that new
ocean floor is formed at the rift of
mid-ocean ridges. The ocean
floor, and the rock beneath it, are
produced by magma that rises
from deeper levels. Hess
suggested that the ocean floor
moved laterally away from the
ridge and plunged into an
oceanic trench along the
continental margin.
Hot Spots
There was one nagging question with the plate tectonics theory:
Most volcanoes are found above subduction zones, but some form
far away from these plate boundaries. How could this be explained?
This question was finally answered in 1963 by a Canadian geologist,
John Tuzo Wilson. He proposed that volcanic island chains, like the
Hawaiian Islands, are created by fixed “hot spots” in the mantle. At
those places, magma forces its way upward through the moving
plate of the sea floor. As the plate moves over the hot spot, one
volcanic island after another is formed. Wilson’s explanation gave
further support to plate tectonics. Today, the theory is almost
universally accepted.
Pacific Ring of Fire
What are Hotspot Volcanoes?
Firstly, what are hotspot volcanoes and how do they form?
• A hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active
volcanism for a long period of time.
• The source of this volcanism
is a mantle plume of hot
mantle material rising up
from near the core-mantle
boundary through the crust
to the surface (see left diagram).
• A mantle plume may rise at any
location in the mantle, and this is
why hotspot volcanoes are
independent from tectonic plate boundaries.
Hawaiian Island Chain
Hotspot Volcanoes?
The tectonic plate moves over a fixed hotspot forming a chain of volcanoes.
The volcanoes get
younger from one end to
the other.
Plate Tectonics Summary
• The Earth is made up of 3 main layers (core, mantle,
crust)
• On the surface of the Earth are tectonic plates that slowly
move around the globe
• Plates are made of crust and upper mantle (lithosphere)
• There are 2 types of plate
• There are 3 types of plate boundaries
• Volcanoes and Earthquakes are closely linked to the
margins of the tectonic plates
Thank You for Listening!