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Observe the world map and each enlargement

Pacific Tibet
Northwest

South Japan
America

03.00.a1

South Atlantic Arabian Peninsula

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Observe features near the Pacific Northwest Observe features near South America

Low-relief
Ridge Cascade Oceanic interior
volcanoes trench
Andes
Step
in seafloor

Fracture
zones
Continental
shelf
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03.00.a1b

Observe features of the South Atlantic Ocean

Observe features near the Tibetan Plateau

Ridge

Smooth, deep
seafloor
Tibetan Plateau

Fracture Himalaya
zones
Zigzags
Continental in ridge
Lowlands
shelves on 03.00.a1d
in India
both sides of
ocean
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Observe features near Japan Observe features near the Arabian Peninsula

Persian
Curving Gulf
ridges

Oceanic Red Sea

Gulf of
trenches Aden

Afar region
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Oceanic
Ridge 03.00.a1f

Finding your location on the surface Alfred Wegner

In 1915, German meteorologist, Wegner published

Latitude – degrees N or S from the equator “The Origin of the Continents and Oceans”
Low vs. high latitude
Postulated a supercontinent Pangaea had existed
Longitude – degrees E or W of the prime meridian ~200 million years before
Eastern vs. western hemisphere His BRILLIANT observations started the geologic
community down the road to Plate Tectonics

Continental Drift Continental Drift

Wegener never lived to see the acceptance of

continental drift. Why not?

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Earth’s Magnetic Field Magnetic Field: Direction and Inclination

All free-floating magnets at the Earth’s surface point toward Magnetic North vs True North

magnetic north. Rock magnetism

Crystallizing iron-rich minerals orient towards magnetic north components:
direction of magnetic
‘pointing’ and
inclination with the
Earth’s surface.

Magnetic records can give an indication of where a rock was on

the surface when it was magnetized.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Rates and History of Plate Motion

Normal magnetic field

Liquid outer core contains

convection currents

Reversed magnetic field Magnetic anomalies

Observe how
magnetic Time 1: Rates and History of Plate Motion
reversals are normal
recorded by polarity
a mid-ocean
ridge during Time 2:
seafloor reversed
spreading polarity;
normal stripe
moved away
from ridge

Build series
of magnetic
stripes over
time
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Sediment Tests of Plate

Drill Tectonics
Volcanic rocks
cores

Sediment
Cover

Seafloor
Age

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Absolute motion is difficult to detect with older technologies. Three Types of Relative Plate Motions
Observe the behavior at the edges of plates
Move apart: Move toward each other:
divergent boundary convergent boundary

Move horizontally
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past one another:
transform boundary

03.03.b

Divergent Boundaries Divergent Boundaries

(a) Oceanic plate separation (b) Continental plate separation
rifting, volcanoes, and earthquakes rift valleys, volcanoes, and earthquakes
Mid-
Atlantic East African
Ridge Rift Valley

Melting Melting

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Continental Rifting Subduction

• Divergence- center sinks down as What happens to

it thins old oceanic crust?
• Thinning leads to volcanism What about
• With time, can develop into a continental crust?
MOR
Wilson cycle

Seismic
Tomography

Convergent Boundaries Convergent Boundaries

(a) Ocean-ocean convergence (b) Ocean-continent convergence
oceanic trench, volcanic island arc, and deep earthquakes

Mariana Islands Marianas Trench volcanic mountain chain, folded mountains, and
deep earthquakes
Andes
Mountains

Peru-Chile Trench

South
American
Plate

Melting Melting

Convergent Boundaries Transform-Fault Boundaries

(c) Continent-continent convergence
(a) Continental transform fault
crustal thickening, folded
mountains, and earthquakes
Himalaya
Tibetan lateral (transform) fault and earthquakes
Mountains
Plateau

subduction

Eurasian
Plate

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Transform-Fault Boundaries Observe plate boundaries near the west coast of

(b) Mid-ocean ridge transform fault North America

lateral (transform) faults and earthquakes

Triple Junctions

03.07.b1

What Moves the Plates? Direct Measurements of Plate Motions

Mechanisms Arrows show direction of Some arrows are
motion, with higher rates curved because plates
• Ridge-push shown by longer arrows are rotating on a sphere

• Slab-pull
• Convection

03.08.c1
In what directions are the main plates moving, and how
are adjacent plates moving relative to each other?

Rates of Relative Plate Movement Test of Plate Motion - Linear Island Chains
and Seamounts
Plates move cm/year Some move faster than others
Lines of islands and
seamounts (e.g., Hawaii)

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Which plate boundaries have the fastest rates?
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