1 Plate Tectonics 5 November 2015 Chapter 17 Great Idea: The entire Earth is still changing, due to the slow convection of soft, hot rocks deep within the planet.
Jan 19, 2016
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Plate Tectonics5 November 2015
Chapter 17
Great Idea:The entire Earth is still changing, due to the slow
convection of soft, hot rocks deep within the planet.
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Chapter Outline
• The Dynamic Earth• Plate Tectonics: A Unifying View of
Earth• Another Look at Volcanoes and
Earthquakes
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The Dynamic Earth
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The Dynamic Earth
• Small-scale changes– Construction site
• Erosion by rain
• Large-scale changes– Volcanoes – Earthquakes – Erosion
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The Case of the Disappearing Mountains
• Erosion– Few hundred million years– Mountains continually forming
• Earth’s surface is not static
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Volcanoes and Earthquakes-Evidence of Earth’s Inner Forces
• Volcano– Magma breaks
through surface• Earthquake
– Rocks breaks along fault
– Energy transmitted as wave
– Richter scale
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The Movement of the Continents
• F. Bacon– Continents like a
puzzle
• Wegener– Continental Drift
• Continents in motion
• Current Evidence– Ocean Floors– Magnetic
Reversals– Rock Ages
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Ocean Floors
• Mapping– Ocean floor
dynamic• Canyons,
mountains• Mid-Atlantic Ridge
– Earthquakes, volcanoes, lava flows
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Magnetic Reversals
• Earth’s magnetic field– Changes periodically
• Magnetite– Crystals in lava align to magnetic field
• Paleomagnetism• Seafloor Spreading
– New rock comes to surface
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Magnetic Reversals
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Rock Ages
• Radioactive Isotopes– Rocks near Mid-Atlantic Ridge younger– Rocks farther away older
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New Support for the Theory
• Measuring motion of continents• Radio Astronomy
– Measured arrival of radio waves– Repeated over several years
• North America and Europe– Separating at 5 cm per year
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Plate Tectonics: A Unifying
View of Earth
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Plate Tectonics• Plate Tectonics
– Large-scale surface features
– Related phenomena• Tectonic plates
– Rigid, moving sheet of rock
– Crust and upper mantle– Continental
• 100 km thick• Lower density (granite)
– Oceanic• 8-10 km thick• Dense rock (basalt)
• Earth’s surface– ¼ continent, ¾ water
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Earth’s Plates
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The Convecting Mantle• Mantle convection
– Motion driven by Earth’s interior heat energy• Sources of energy
– Gravitational potential energy– Decay of radioactive elements
• Movement– Heat moves to cooler regions– Convection cells in mantle– Very slow
• 200 million years for one cycle
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Plate Boundaries
• Three Main Boundary Types– Divergent– Convergent– Transform
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Divergent Boundaries
• Characteristics– Volcanoes
• Chain of mountains
– Earthquakes
• Seafloor spreading– Plates pushed apart– Old spreading centers
• Located in middle of ocean
– New spreading centers• May begin anywhere
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Convergent Plate Boundaries
• Types– Oceanic-oceanic
• Subduction zone– Deep oceanic trench– Island arc
– Continental-continental• High, jagged mountain
chain
– Continental-oceanic• Subduction zone
– Deep oceanic trench– Coastal mountain range
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Transform Plate Boundary
• Two plates move past each other– NOT smooth– Earthquakes as a result of movement
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The Geological History of North America
• Northeastern Canada and Greenland– Several billion years old
• Western US– Terranes
• Added to continent over time
• Appalachian Mountains– Formed 450-300 million years ago– Continental-continental convergence zone
• Rocky Mountains– 60 million years ago– Warping, folding and fracturing of continent
• The Colorado Plateau– Gentle uplift
• The Sierra Nevada– Molten rock pushed up sediments
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Another Look at Volcanoes and Earthquakes
• Plates and Volcanism– Divergent Plate
Boundaries– Convergent Plate
Boundaries• Subduction zones
– Hotspots• Source stationary,
plates move• Chain of volcanoes
• Earthquakes– At plate boundaries
or elsewhere
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Seismology: Exploring Earth’s Interior with Earthquakes
• Seismology– Study of sound vibrations within earth– Used to determine earth’s inner
structure• Seismic waves
– Compressional or longitudinal• P-waves (pressure waves)
– Transverse or shear waves• S-waves
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Seismology: Exploring Earth’s Interior with Earthquakes
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• Plate tectonics is involved in the formation of the three major categories of rocks– Igneous Rock
• cooled from molten material
– Sedimentary Rock • Layered eroded
material formed by the action of wind, water, or ice
– Metamorphic Rock • Rock that has
been altered in the solid state by extreme heat and pressure