Alfred Wegener(meteorologist) – proposed the continental drift – hypothesis that states that the continents have moved, or

drifted, from one location to another over time.

Fossil remains, distinct rock formations - indicate that they were joined in the past. Several mountain belts that end at one
coastline, only to reappear on a landmass across the ocean. Ancient climates
Theory of Plate Tectonics:
1. Continents are embedded in lithospheric plates, these plates move, carry the continents
with them.
John Tuzo Wilson – geophysicist at University of Toronto - came up with the theory of plate tectonics.
Theory: Earth’s outer layer consists of about a dozen separate major lithospheric plates floating on
the asthenosphere. Plate movement appears to be caused by two forces acting in nearly equal
proportion: plates form and slide off ridges of the spreading centers. Plates are pulled downward into the mantle by their
cool dense leading edges. Plates interact at converging, diverging, or sideways-moving boundaries, sometimes forcing one
another below the surface or wrinkling into mountains.
Location of Earthquakes and Volcanoes: Strain occurs in the boundaries and when it becomes too great, fractures form and
earthquakes occur.
Lithosphere.
a) The outer shell lies over a weaker region asthenosphere.
7 major plates:
North American, South American, Pacific, African, Eurasian, Austro-Indian, Antarctic
6 intermediate plates:
Caribbean, Nazca, Philippine, Arabian, Cocos, Scotia

Earth’s Major Plates:

Types of Plate Boundaries:
A. Divergent Boundaries: (also called spreading centers) – occur when two plates move apart.
1. process results in upwelling of material from the mantle to create new seafloor - East African Rift Valley – relatively new
divergent boundary.
B. Convergent Boundaries: form where two plates move together.
1. results in oceanic lithosphere plunging beneath an overriding plate, and descending into the mantle.
C. Transform Fault Boundaries: margins where two plates grind past each other without the production or destruction of
lithosphere.
1. San Andreas Fault

V. DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES:
Located along the crests of oceanic ridges. As plate moves away from ridge axis, fractures created. Fractures filled with
molten rock that wells up from mantle below. Gradually, this magma cools to produce new slivers of seafloor. .
B. Continental Rifts:
East African rift valley and the Rhine Valley in Northwest Europe.
2. continental breakup:
a) forces that are stretching the lithosphere are acting on the plate(not enough by itself to cause the rift).
b) hot spot activities – plumes of rock rise up on the mantle. Weakens the lithosphere and creates domes. Forces
(stretching) + hot spots = rift valley
Convergent Boundaries:
Destructive plate margins – as plate slowly converge, the leading edge of one is bent downward, allowing it to slide beneath
the other. Convergent boundaries can form between two oceanic plates, between one oceanic plate and one continental
plate or between two continental plates.
a) subduction zone – destructive plate margins where oceanic crust is being pushed down into the mantle.
3. Oceanic – Continental – when the leading edge of a continental plate converges with an oceanic plate, the less dense
continental plate remains floating. Denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere. When a descending plate reaches a
depth of about 100 to 150 kilometers, some of the asthenosphere above the descending plate melts.
Eventually some of this magma may reach surface and cause volcanic eruptions.
e) continental volcanic arc – eg. Andes – (in western South America) product of magma generated as the Nazca plate
descends beneath the continent. mountain produces by subduction.

. Continental – when oceanic plate is subducted beneath a continental lithosphere, a continental volcanic arc develops along
the margin of the continent. If the subducting plate also contains continental lithosphere, the subduction eventually brings
the two continents together. When continents collide, a new mountain range forms that is composed of deformed and
metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, fragments of volcanic arc, and possibly slivers of oceanic crust.
Transform Fault Boundaries.
1. Plates grind past each other without destroying the lithosphere.Most transform fault boundaries – present in about every
100 km along the ridge axis.
c) land – eg. San Andreas Fault in California.
1. Kiyoo Wadati – Japanese scientist who in 1935 speculated that earthquakes and volcanoes near Japan might be associated
with continental drift. Hugo Benioff(seismologist)– in 1940, plotted the locations of deep earthquakes at
the edges of the Pacific. Ring of Fire – a circle of violent geological activity surrounding much of the Pacific Ocean.
Seismographs were now beginning to reveal a worldwide pattern of earthquakes and volcanoes. Seismograph also began to
gather strong evidence for a deformable, non-rigid layer in the upper mantle.

1. Professor Henry Hess of Princeton University and suggested that new seafloor develops at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and other
ocean ridges. Motion is powered by convection currents, slow flowing circuits of material within the mantle.
Seafloor Spread - mid-ocean ridges were spreading centers and sources of new ocean floor rising from the asthenosphere,
then should be hot. Subduction zones: (also Wadati-Benioff zones). Where crust plunges down the mantle.
1965, the ideas of continental drift and seafloor spreading were integrated into the overriding concept of plate tectonics.
I. EVIDENCE FOR PLATE TECTONICS:
Paleomagnetism. Normal polarity – when rocks show the same magnetism as the present
magnetic field.
Reverse magnetism – when rocks show the opposite magnetism. Research revealed alternating strips of high and low
intensity
b) strips of high – intensity magnetism are regions where the paleomagnetism of the ocean crust is of the normal type.
c) positively magnetized rocks enhance the existing magnetic field.

B. Earthquake Patterns.
2) Absence of deep-focus earthquakes along the oceanic ridge system was
shown to be consistent with the new theory. Deep focus earthquakes caused by the denser oceanic plate plunge
into the mantle. But shallower earthquakes occur near the trenches where the descending plate interacts with the
lithosphere above it.
was revealed that the age of the sediment increased with increasing distance from the ridge.
 no sediment older than 180 million years was found. Continental crust has been dated at 4 billion years.
Hot Spots: mapping of seafloor revealed seafloor volcanoes in the Pacific show a chain of volcanic structures extending from
the Hawaiian Islands to Midway Island and then north to the Aleutian trench.
b) Dates of volcanoes in this chain showed that the volcanoes increase in age with increasing distance from Hawaii.
c) Big Island– 65 million years ago.
Midway Island – 27 mya
d) Hot Spot – a rising plume of mantle material and the melting of this hot rock as it nears the surface creates a volcanic area.
CAUSES OF PLATE MOTION:
1. Convection occurring in the mantle is the basic driving force for plate movement. Warm, less dense material rises and
cooler, denser material sinks.
b) Convective flows– the motion of matter resulting from convection. Slow movements of the plates and mantle are driven by
the unequal distribution of Earth’s heat.
Heat is generated by the radioactive decay of elements, such as uranium, found within Earth’s mantle and crust.
A. Slab-Pull and Ridge-Push:
Slab-pull occurs because of old oceanic crust, which is relatively cool and dense, sinks into the asthenosphere and “pulls”
trailing lithosphere along. Ridge-push results from the elevated position of the oceanic ridge system. Causes oceanic
lithosphere to slide down the sides of the oceanic ridge system.

B. Mantle Convection:
1. Most models suggest that hot plumes of rock are the upward flowing arms in mantle convection.
a) Slab-pulls – slabs of cold oceanic lithosphere descend into the lower mantle. This process provides the downward arm of
convective flow. At the same time, hot mantle plumes originating near the mantle-core boundary move heat toward the
surface.
b) deep layer model (like lava lamp) – the heat from Earth’s interior causes the two layers to slowly swell and shrink in
complex patterns without much mixing. Small amount of material from the lower layer flows upward as mantle plumes,
creating hot-spot volcanism at the surface.
The uneven distribution of heat within earth causes the thermal convection in
the mantle that ultimately drives plate motion.

III. Earth’s Layered Structure:

Knowledge of Earth’s interior comes from the study of earthquake waves that travel through the Earth.
A. Layers Defined by Composition.
Earth has different composition because seismic waves that travel through it does not travel in straight lines at constant
speed. Seismic waves reaching seismographs located farther from an earthquake travel faster than when it is located closer
to the earthquake. As a result, the paths of seismic waves through Earth are refracted, or
bent, as they travel.
Crust divided into oceanic and continental crust.
oceanic crust is roughly 7-10 km thick, composed of igneous rocks and basalt. Oceanic rock is 180 million years or less.
Continental crust averages a thickness of 40 km.
average composition is granitic rock called granodiorite.
some are over 4 billion years old.
3. Mantle – over 82% of Earth’s volume is contained in the mantle(solid rock shell that extends to a depth of 2,890 km)
Boundary between the crust and mantle represents a change in chemical composition.
Dominant rock type in the uppermost mantle is oxygen, magnesium, silicon, and iron.
Core – sphere composed of iron-nickel alloy. Ave. density of almost 13 g/cm 3 . 13 times heavier than water.
B. Layers Defined by Physical Properties:
1. Earth’s interior has a gradual increase in temperature, pressure and density
with depth.
Lithosphere - rigid outer shell, ave. 100 km thick
Asthenosphere - soft/weak to lithosphere. Rocks close to melting temp so deformed
Lower mantle - 660 km down near base of mantle. Rocks are hot. Bottom = few hundred km of mantle, laying on top of core
Inner and Outer Core – composed mostly of an iron-nickel alloy. Outer core: liquid layer 2,260 km thick. Flow of metallic iron
within this zone generates Earth’s magnetic field. Inner core - radius of 1220 km. Solid due to pressure.
C. Discovering Earth’s Layers:
Andrija Mohorovičić: Croatian seismologist who presented evidence for layering within Earth. Discovered that velocity of
seismic waves increases abruptly below about 50 km in depth. Mohorovicic discontinuity (Moho) - Boundary separates the
crust from the underlying mantle. Seismic waves from even small earthquakes can travel around the world. Seismographs in
Antarctica can record earthquakes in California or Italy. P waves were bent around the liquid outer core beyond about 100
degrees away from an earthquake. Outer core causes the P waves that travel through the core to arrive several minutes later
than expected. Bent wave paths can be explained if the core is composed of material that is different from the overlying
mantle. S waves cannot travel through the outer core. So, scientists figured out that this region is liquid.

Discovering Earth’s Composition:

1. Early seismic data and drilling technology – Earth’s continental crust is mostly made of lighter, granitic rocks.

a) Until 1960’s only seismic evidence.

deep ocean drilling = ocean floor samples. Crust of ocean floor = basaltic composition. Composition of the rocks of the mantle
and core is known from more indirect data.
Some of lava consists of partially melted asthenosphere within the mantle. Magma = rock that is partially melted, similar to
the lava that erupts from volcanic activity in Hawaii. Meteorites that collide with Earth provide evidence of Earth’s inner
composition. Meteorites are assumed to be composed of the original material from which Earth was formed.
Scientists believe that the dense iron, and other dense metals, sank toward Earth’s center during the planet’s formation.
Lighter substances may have floated to the surface, creating the less dense
crust.
IV. EARTHQUAKES:
A. Earthquakes – vibration of earth produced by the rapid release of energy. Caused by slippage along a break in Earth’s crust.
1. Focus and Epicenter:
focus – the point within Earth where the earthquake starts. The released energy radiates in all directions from the focus in
the form of waves. like a stone dropped in a pond. Earthquake is similar because it produces seismic waves that
radiate throughout the Earth.
b) Epicenter – location on the Earth’s surface directly
above the focus.
2. Faults – fractures in earth where movement has occurred.
a) Uplift– e.g. wave cut features meters above the
level of the highest tides.
Cause of Earthquakes
Elastic Rebound Hypothesis: As rock is stressed it bends, storing elastic energy. Once the rock is trained beyond its breaking
point, it ruptures and releases the stored energy in the form of seismic waves.
a) elastic rebound – the springing back of the rock into its original place.
Aftershocks and Foreshocks:
Aftershocks – the movements that follow a major earthquake and often produce smaller earthquakes.
Foreshocks – small earthquakes that often come before a major earthquake, days or even years before the major quake. Each
fault segment behaves a bit differently than the other segments. Fault creep - some parts show a slow, gradual movement
Slip - other segments regularly slip and produce small earthquakes.
locked – some segments stay locked and store elastic energy for hundreds of years before they break and cause great
earthquakes.
Factors of Eruptions are viscosity(magma from explosive eruption thousands of times more viscous than magma that
extrudes calmly), temperature(affects viscosity), silica content(more silica in magma, more viscous) Pyroclastic material -
particles produced in eruptions.
Three types of volcanoes: shield(broad, largest volcanoes, made by basaltic lavas), cinder cones(Lava fragments harden in air
and build cone, short lifespan, usually on side of larger volcanoes) composite(most dangerous, stratovolcanoes, RoF, made by
gas-rich magma having andesitic composition, silica-rich magma usually in composites generate viscous lava)
Lahars: mudflows started by composite cones, triggered when ice/snow melt during eruption
Caldera: large depression in volcano, formed by collapse of top of composite cone, or collapse of top of shield
Necks/Pipe - volcanoes fed magma through conduits(pipes) Neck = rock in pipe is more resistant
Plutons: structures made from cooling/hardening of magma(depth),
Sills(magma is injected along sedimentary bedding surfaces, horizontal sills more common) Laccoliths(magma that makes
laccoliths is more viscous, almost the same as sills) Dikes(formed when magma injected into fractures) Batholiths(largest
intrusive igneous bodies)
Types of Stress: Tensional stress(pulled in opposite directions) Compressional stress(squeezed together) Shear stress(rocks
being distorted)
Dip Slip faults(movement is parallel to inclination of fault surface) Footwall block(rock surface below, hanging wall down)
Types of faults: Normal(occurs when hanging wall moves down, horsts, uplift fault block, grabens, tilted fault blocks)
Reverse/thrust fault(dip-slip faults where hanging fault block moves up) Strike-slip fault(movement is horizontal and parallel
to trend)
Orogenesis - produces mountain belt
Collisional Mt. Belts - continental lithosphere to
buoyant to undergo subduction. B/c of this, arrival of
crust fragment results in collision w/ margin of
continental block
Cordillera - system of parallel mountain ranges
together with the intervening plateaus and other
features, especially in the Andes or the Rockies.