Chapter 2

Plate Tectonics
Introduction
1795
Theory of Gradualism
Earth was in continuous, but gradual change, constantly decaying, renewing and
repairing itself
Proposed by James Hutton
Father of modern geology

1920/1930s
Continental Drift
Idea that the continents once fit together like pieces of a giant jig-saw puzzle, to make
one vast supercontinent - Pangaea (all the land). Later the fragmented into separate
continents that drifted apart, moving slowly to their present positions
Proposed by Alfred Wegener
Highly rejected because Wegener couldn't explain why
Continental Drift
Evidence:
Geometric fit of
continents
Ancient glacial
deposits
Fossils
Mechanisms:
Continents plow
through the ocean
floor
Sea-Floor Spreading
1960s
Harry Hess/Robert Dietz
Sea-Floor Spreading
As continents drift apart, new ocean floor forms between them
New material (crust) comes up, cools and pushes old to the side
As new oceanic crust is created it is pushed away from the boundary,
continents move with the rest of the crust
Evidence:
Magnetic strips on ocean floor
Mechanism:
New volcanic ocean floor is being made at the ocean ridge
Material on both sides of ridge is moving away
Subduction
1960s
Harry Hess/Robert Dietz
Subduction
Production of new crust must be balanced by destruction of crust
elsewhere
Crust plunges into the mantle along subduction zones coincide with
zones of concentrated earthquakes
Continents move toward each other when the old ocean floor
between them sinks back down to the Earths interior
Theory of Plate Tectonics
Combines the ideas of continental drift, sea-floor spreading,
and subduction

Lithosphere is broken into plates that are in motion

The plates float on the ductile asthenosphere

Explains origin and distribution of volcanoes, fault zones and

mountain belts
 Evidence of Plate Tectonics
Ocean floors have
complex topography
Mountains and trenches

Sea floor gave evidence

that there are plates
Mid Atlantic ridge
Evidence of Plate Tectonics
Volcanos occur in chains along continental margins
and ocean trenches
Evidence of Plate Tectonics
Seismic events
(earthquakes) are
concentrated in
lines and arcs
coinciding with
edges of continents,
oceanic trenches, or
the middle of ocean
basins
 Plate Driving Mechanisms
1. Ridge Push
- As material comes up from mid-
ocean ridge
- Plate gets pushed apart
2. Slab Pull
- Weight of plate being subducted
pulls it
3. Convection
- Heat rising moves material along
- Convection cells
Convection
Heat rises to surface
by convection (heat
fluid becomes less
dense and rises)
Hot mantle rises up,
cool mantle sinks
down
Plate Boundaries
Neighboring plates
interact at diverging,
converging, and
sliding boundaries
Continents move
toward, away, and
slide past each other
in all directions
 Convergent Plate Boundaries
Crust is destroyed at
convergent plate boundaries
Plates are pushed towards
each other, usually forming a
subduction zone

Different results for all three

types of collisions
Ocean-ocean
Ocean-continent
Continent-continent
Continent-continent Boundary
Continental crust is too
light to sink down (cant
subduct)
Compression and folding
uplift the plate edges to
form mountains

High Mountains within

continents
Himalayas Mts. in Asia
Ocean-continent boundary
Similar to ocean-ocean
Ocean crust is denser so it
get subducted

Volcanic arc on land with

high mountains landward,
coastal trench
Ex. Andes Mts. in S.
America
Ocean-ocean Boundary
Older ocean crust is
subducted under the
younger
Volcanic arcs and
oceanic trenches
Example: Japan &
Aleutian Islands
 Divergent Plate Boundaries
Occurs where plates are moving apart, as magma pushes up
from the mantle, creating new crust

The farther the crust is from the rift,

the older it is
Seafloor Spreading Rift Valley
Forms mid-ocean ridges Forms valleys and volcanoes
with new ocean floor Ex. Red Sea (Saudi Arabia
Ex. Mid-Atlantic Ridge torn from Africa)
Transform Plate Boundaries
Plates slide or grind past each other
Fault zones with frequent
earthquakes
Caused by friction no space between
the plates
Crust is conserved

Transform boundaries link other

boundaries
Most widely distributed types of plate
boundary
Ex. San Andres Fault - CA