Lithosphere

Solid portion of the earth (crust + some part of upper mantel) with its thickness range varying between 5 to 100 km
in oceanic parts and about 200 km in the continental areas.

It is made up rocks and minerals and covered by a thin layer of soil.

It is an irregular surface with various landforms such as Mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, beaches, sand dues etc.

Landforms are formed over the continents and on the ocean floors.

It provides us forests, grasslands for grazing, land for agriculture and human settlements, source of mineral wealth
(resources).

EARTH - 29% Continents and 71% in under Oceanic water.

 CONTINENTS

Population wise – Asia – Africa – Europe - North America – South America – Australia – Antarctica

Area wise – Asia – Africa – North America – South America – Antarctica – Europe – Australia

ASIA lies in the Eastern hemisphere and Northern hemisphere. Tropic of cancer and equator passes;

It is separated from Europe by the Ural Mountains on the west. Eurasia (Europe + Asia)

AFRICA The Equator runs almost through the middle of the continent; large part of Africa lies in the Northern
hemisphere; it is only Continents through which the tropic of cancer, the equator and the tropic of Capricorn pass;
Sahara Desert (world largest desert); it is bound on all side by Ocean and seas; Nile (the world’s longest river).

NORTH AMERICA It is linked to South America by a very narrow strip of land called the Isthmus of Panama. Lies
completely in the Northern and Western Hemisphere.

SOUTH AMERICA lies mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. The Andes, World’s longest mountain range; World’s
largest river, the Amazon.

ANTARCTICA Completely in the Southern Hemisphere; South Poles lies almost at the Center; Located in the South
Polar Region, permanently covered with thick ice sheet, No permanent human settlements, Indian research stations,
Maitri and Dakshin- Gangotri.

EUROPE lies to the west of Asia, Arctic circle passes through it, It is bound by water bodies on three sides.

AUSTRALIA lies entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, it is surrounded on all sides by the Oceans and Seas, island
continent.

OCEANS

PACIFIC OCEAN - Largest & deepest; ring of fire; deepest point – Mariana Trench.

Some of the islands located in are – Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand.

Marginal Seas – The Bering Sea, The China Sea, The Sea of Japan, Tasman Sea, and The Philippine Sea

ATLANTIC OCEAN – ‘S’ Shaped, irregular and indented Coastline, provide ideal location for natural harbours and
ports, busiest ocean (in terms of trade and commerce), Milwaukee deep in the Puerto Rica trench.

The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea.

Some of the islands located in are – St.Helena, New Foundlands, Ice land and Falkland.

Marginal Seas- The Caribbean Sea, The Gulf of Mexio, The North Sea, The Gulf of Guinea and The Mediterranean Sea,

INDIAN OCEAN Triangular shaped, deepest point – Java Trench, Malacca Strait connects the Indian ocean and the
Pacific Ocean.

Some of the islands located in are – The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Mauritius
and The Reunion Islands.

Marginal Seas – The Bay of Bangle, The Arabian Sea, The Persian Gulf, and The Read Sea,

SOUTHERN OCEAN encircle the continent of antarctica and extends northward to 600 S latitude. Water in this ocean
very cold, much of it is covered by sea ice. Deepest point – South Sandwich Trench.

Some of the islands located in are – Farewell Island, Bowman Island and Hearst Island.

Marginal Seas – The Rose Sea, The Weddell Sea and The Davis Sea.
 ARCTIC OCEAN lies within the Arctic Circle, it remains Frozen for most of the year, The North Pole is situated in the
middle of the Arctic Ocean. It is connected with the Pacific Ocean by a narrow Stretch of shallow water known as
Berring Strait. Deepest point – the Eurasian Basin.

Some of the Islands located in are – Greenland, New Siberian Island, and Novaya Zemlya Island,

Marginal Seas – The Norwegian Sea, The Greenland Sea, The East Siberian Sea and The Barents Sea,

We can see that, Major landforms at earth’s surface?

Classification of landforms

 First order – Continents – Oceans (this is Discuss above)

 Second order – Mountains – Plateaus – Plains
 Third order – Valleys – Beaches – Sand dunes

Mountains

A landform that rises 600 metre above its surrounding and has steep slopes.

The source of rivers. Have a rich variety of flora and fauna. (Water from the mountains is also used for irrigation and
generation of hydro- electricity).

The river valleys and terraces are ideal for cultivation of crops.

Provide an idyllic site for tourists. Several sports like paragliding, hang gliding, river rafting, skiing are popular in the
mountains.

Mt. Everest is the highest peak (8,848) in the world. Mauna kea (Hawaii) in the Pacific Ocean is an under Sea
Mountain (10,205).

Mountain Range

Example The Himalayas of Asia, The Rocky Mountains of North America, The Andes of South America (7,000 km
longest mountain range in the world), The Alps of Europe.

In some Mountains, there are permanently frozen rivers of ice. They are called Glaciers.

Because of harsh climate, less people live in the mountain areas. Since the slopes are steep, less land is available for
farming.

There are three types of mountains

 Fold Mountains
 Block Mountains and
 The Volcanic Mountains.

Young fold mountains with rugged relief and high conical peaks. Example – The Himalya Mountains and The Alps.

Oldest fold mountains systems in the world. Example – The Aravali Range.

Very old fold mountains Example – The Appalachians in North America and the Ural Mountains in Russia have
rounded features and low elevation.
Block Mountains are created when large areas are broken and displaced vertically. The uplifted blocks are termed as
horsts and the lowered block and called graben. Example – The Rhine Valley and The Vosges Mountain in Europe.

Volcanic Mountains are formed due to volcanic activity. Example – Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mt. Fujiyama in
Japan.

Plateaus are the elevated portions of the earth that have flat surfaces bounded by steep slopes.

Rich in Minerals, as a result, many of the mining areas in the world are located in the plateau areas.

The Flat Topped, part of the plateau is called Tableland.

Example - The Deccan Plateau in India – Oldest Plateaus. The East African Plateau in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and
the Western Plateau of Australia.

Tibetan plateau is the highest plateau in the world. It is also called “Roof of the world”.

The African plateau is famous for gold and diamond mining. In India huge reserves of iron, coal, and manganese are
found in the chhotanagpur plateau.

In plateau areas, several waterfalls as the river falls from a great height.

In India, the Hundru falls – Chhotanagpur plateau – on the river Subarnarekha, Jog falls – Karnataka,

The lava plateaus – rich in black soil – fertile and good for cultivation.

Many plateaus have scenic spots and are of great attraction to tourists.

PLAINS

Are flat and relatively low- lying lands. Plains are usually less than 200 metre above sea level. Some times they may
be rolling or undulating. Most plains are formed by rivers and their tributaries and distributaries.

These plains are used extensively for agriculture due to the availability of water and fertile soil. High populated
region, construction of transport network is easy. Suitable for human habitation,

Some of largest plains made by the rivers are found in Asia and North America. Example – In Asia, these plains are
formed by the Ganga and the Brahmaputra in India and the Yangtze, in China.

In the Indo – Gangetic plains in north India is one of the largest plains in the world.

The rivers flow down the slopes of mountains and erode them. They carry forward the eroded material. Then they
deposit their load consisting of stones, sand and silt along their courses and in their valleys. It is from these deposits
that plains are formed.

Third order landforms are formed on mountains, plateaus, and plains mainly by erosional and depositional activities
of rivers, glaciers, winds and waves. Valleys, beaches and sand dues are some examples of third order landforms.

We study above various types of landforms – then, question arise that why is the surface of the earth uneven?

Configuration of the surface of the earth is largely a product of the processes operating in the interior of the earth.
External process is also responsible for the configuration of the surface of the earth.
 INTERIOR OF THE EARTH

We know that earth is divided into Crust – Mental – Core. Then question arise how to you know that division. What
is source of information about the interior.

Source of information about the interior

Direct sources

 Rock from mining areas – provide large volume of information through the analysis of materials collected at
different depth.
 Volcanic eruption – lava, gases, and debris provide information about interior of the earth.

Indirect sources

 Rate of change of temperature, pressure and density – through the mining activity scientists observed that
temperature, pressure and density increase with the increasing distance from the surface towards the
interior in deeper depths.
 Meteors – the material and the structure observed in the meteors may be similar to that of the earth.
 Gravitation – gravitation force (g) is not the same at different latitudes on the surface (Gravity anomaly);
it is greater near poles and less at the equator;
because, of the distance from the centre at the equator being greater than that at the poles.
Gravity values also differ according to the mass of material, poles and the equator.

 Magnetic field – Magnetic surveys also provide information about the distribution of magnetic materials in
the crustal portion.
 Seismic waves – provide information about state of materials (i.e., Solid, Liquide and Gases) beneath the
earth surface.

STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH’S INTERIOR

 EARTHQUAKE

Natural event,

sudden shaking of the earth’s surface, / when the lithospheric plates move, the surface of the earth vibrates. The
vibrations can travel all round the earth.

caused due to release of energy, which generates waves that travel in all directions.

Focus – inside the earth where (hypocentre) the earthquake originates.

Epicentre – the point on the surface nearest to the focus.

Greatest damage is usually closest to the epicentre and the strength of the earthquake decreases away from the
centre.

Earthquake waves (seismic waves) – take place in the lithosphere.

Energy is released in the form of shockwaves (seismic waves).

Seismic waves

 Body waves -are generated due to the release of energy at the focus and move in all directions travelling
through the body of the earth.
- P waves (primary waves) – move faster and are the first to arrive at the surface; similar to sound waves;
travel through gaseous, liquid and solid materials.
- S waves (secondary waves) – arrive at the surface with sometime lag; travel only through solid materials.
- Love waves - shake the ground side to side like S wave.
- Rayleigh waves - displace the ground like rolling ocean waves.
 Surface waves – the body waves interact with the surface rocks and generate new set of waves called surface
waves. Move alone the surface.
- Last to report on seismograph; more destructive; cause displacement of rocks; the collapse of structures
occurs. ‘seismograph’ (Instrument) – records the waves reaching the surface.

The velocity of waves changes as they travel through materials with different densities. Denser the material
the higher is the velocity.
There direction also changes as they reflect or refract when coming across materials with different
densities.

Emergency of shadow zone

Some specific areas where the seismic waves are not reported. Such a zone is called the ‘shadow zone’.

1050 to 1450 from epicentre was identified as the shadow zone for both the types of waves. (p waves and S waves)

The shadow zone of S – waves is much larger than that of the P -waves.

Types of Earthquakes

 Tectonic earthquakes – most common, these are generated due to sliding of rocks along a fault plane.
 Volcanic earthquakes – these are confined to areas of active volcanoes.
 Collapse earthquake – in the areas of intense mining activity, sometimes the roofs of underground mines
collapse causing minor tremors.
 Explosion earthquakes – earth’s surface shaking due to explosion of chemical or nuclear devices.
 Reservoir induced earthquakes – occur in the areas of large reservoirs. Example – Koyna dam, Maharashtra.
 Measuring Earthquakes

The magnitude scale (the Richter scale) The intensity scale (Mercalli scale)

Related to the energy released during the quake Related to the visible damage caused by the event

Range 0 – 10 Range 1 – 12
 Volcanoes

Is a vent in the earth’s crust through which molten material erupts suddenly.

The material in the upper mantel portion is called magma and it reaches the surface is called lava.

The material that reaches the ground includes

 Lava flows
 Pyroclastic debris
 Volcanic bombs
 Ash and dust and gases (nitrogen compounds, sulphur compounds, and minor amount of chlorine, hydrogen,
and argon, CO2 and water vapour)

Types of volcanoes (based on the frequency of eruption)

 Extinct volcanoes – not erupted during the known geological period; vent of these volcanoes remains closed
with solidified lava; formation such as craters may be filled with water and crater lakes may be formed; the
slopes of these landforms may be covered with vegetation.
Example – Popa in Myanmar, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya in Africa.
 Dormant volcanoes (sleeping volcano) – these volcanoes may not have erupted in the recent past but there is
a possibility of eruption at any time; sometimes gases and steam come out of them; cause great destruction
to life and property.
Example – mt. Vesuvius of Italy, mt. Fujiyama of Japan and mt. Krakatoa of Indonesia.
 Active volcanoes – which erupt frequently and have erupted in recent past; Generally, their vent remains
open.
Example – Mount Etna of Italy, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, St. Helens in USA, Pinatubo in Philippines, mt. stromboli
in mediterranean sea (light house of mediterranean sea). Mauna loa in Hawaii is the world’s biggest active
volcano.

Basis of nature of eruption and form developed on the surface

Shield volcanoes – Basic lava, less viscous, made up of basalt, lava that is very fluid when erupted. So, volcanoes are
not steep, become explosive when water gets into the vent, develop into a cinder cone, example – Hawaiian volcano.

Composite cone volcanoes (Strato volcanoes) – formation layer, Acidic lava, more viscous, explosive eruptions along
with lava, large quantities of pyroclastic material and ashes, composed of layers of lava, ash and rock debris. Example
– Mount Vesuvius, Mount St. Helens.

Cinder cone volcanoes – it forms when magma is thrown out to the surface, cooled into ash and cinders and settled
around the mouth of volcano. Less dangerous than other volcanoes.

Caldera – most explosive of the earth’s volcanoes. They are usually so explosive that when they erupt, they tend to
collapse on themselves rather than building any tall structure. The collapsed depressions are called calderas. Their
explosiveness indicates the magma chamber is very close to vent.

Flood basalt provinces – these volcanoes outpour highly fluid lava that flows for long distances. Some parts of the
world are covered by thousands of sq. km of thick basalt lava flows. The deccan traps from India, presently covering
most of the Maharashtra plateau, are a much larger flood basalt province.

Mid – Ocean Ridge Volcanoes – these volcanoes occur in the oceanic areas.

Path

 Fissures eruption – sea floor spreading

 Centrally eruption – highest active volcanoes
Lava

 Acidic lava – silica 80%, less flow, highly viscous

 Basic lava – silica 40%, high flow, less viscous
 Distribution of oceans and Continents

Abraham Ortelius – first proposed such possibility as early as 1596. Antonio Pellegrini drew a map showing the three
continents together.

Continental drift theory deals with the distribution of the oceans and the continents.

1912 – Alfred Wegener (a German meteorologist) – gives “the continental drift theory”

According to Wegener, about 250 million years ago all the continents formed a single continental mass (Pangea) and
mega ocean (Panthalassa) surrounded it.

Over a long period of time, probably 200 million years ago they drifted apart and gradually moved to from their
present position. First, Pangea broke into two landmasses Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south.

Laurasia further split into Eurasia and North America. Gondwana land split into Africa, South America, Antarctica,
Australia, and India.

Wegener put forward certain evidences to support the continental drift theory –

 The matching of continents (jig-saw-fit)

 Rocks of same age across the oceans
 Tillite
 Placer Deposits
 Distribution of fossils

Drawback of continental drift theory – is force for drifting

Wegner suggested that the movement responsible for the drifting of the continents was caused by pole- fleeing
force and tidal force.

The polar- fleeing force related to the rotation of the earth. (earth is not a perfect sphere; it has a bulge at the
equator)

The tidal force – is due to the attraction of the moon and the sun that develops tides in oceanic waters.

Most of the evidence was collected from the continental areas in the form of distribution of flora and fauna or
deposits, like tillite.

Convectional current theory

Arthur Holmes in 1930s discussed the possibility of convection currents operating in the mantle portion.
These currents are generated due to radioactive elements causing thermal differences in the mantle portion.
such currents in the entire mantle portion.

Convective flow or Convection cells are circular movements of fluids or gases that transfer heat by rising and falling.

They occur when a heat source creates a difference in density and pressure within the fluid or gas.

It is found in the Atmosphere, Oceans, Earth’s mantle, and even stars.

In the atmosphere, convection cells create global wind patterns and affect climate and weather.
In the oceans convection cells drive ocean current and distribute heat and nutrients.
In the earth’s mantle, convection cells cause plate tectonics and volcanic activity.

Discoveries during the Post world war – 2 added new information to geological literature. Particularly, the
information collected from the ocean floor mapping provided new dimensions for the study of distribution of oceans
and continents.
Ocean floor configuration – helps us in the understanding of the distribution of continents and oceans. Detailed in
the hydrosphere section.

Sea floor spreading

The mapping of the ocean floor and palaeomagnetic studies of rocks from oceanic regions revealed the following
facts:

 The mid-oceanic ridges, volcanic eruptions are common and they bring huge amounts of lava to the surface
in this area.
 The rocks equidistant on either Sides of the crest of mid-oceanic ridges show remarkable similarities in terms
of period of formation, chemical compositions and magnetic properties. Rocks closer to the mid-oceanic
ridges have normal polarity and are the youngest. The age of the rocks increases as one moves away from
the crest.
 The ocean crust rocks are much younger than the continental rocks. The age of rocks in the oceanic crust is
nowhere more than 200 million years old.
 The sediments on the ocean floor are unexpectedly very thin.
 The deep trenches have deep- seated earthquake occurrences while in the mid- oceanic ridge areas, the
quake foci have shallow depths.

These facts and a detailed analysis of magnetic properties of the rocks on either Sides of the mid-oceanic ridge led
Harry Hess (1961) to propose his hypothesis, known as the “sea floor spreading”.

Hess argued the constant eruption at the crest of oceanic ridges cause the rupture of the oceanic crust and the new
lava wedges into it, pushing the oceanic crust on either side.

He further maintained that the ocean floor that gets pushed due to volcanic eruptions at the crest, sinks down at the
oceanic trenches and gets consumed.

Plate tectonics

1967 – McKenzie and Parker and also Morgan.

The lithosphere is broken into a number of plates (slabs) Lithospheric plates.

A tectonic plate (lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly- shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both
continental and oceanic lithosphere.

Lithospheric plates – move around very slowly – because of the movement (in circular manner) of the molten magma
inside the earth. Movement of these plates causes changes on the surface of the earth.

Plates move horizontally over the asthenosphere as rigid units.

A plate may be referred to as the continental plate or oceanic plate depending on which of the two occupy a large
portion of the plate.

Pacific plate is largely an oceanic plate whereas the Eurasian plate may be called continental plate.

Earth’s lithosphere is divided into seven major and some minor plates.

Young Fold Mountain ridges, trenches, and or faults surround these major plates.

Major plates are as follows:

1. Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic plate

 2. North American (with western Atlantic floor separated from the south American plate along the Caribbean
islands) plate
3. South American (with western Atlantic floor separated from the North American plate along the Caribbean
islands) plate
4. Pacific plate
5. India – Australia – New Zealand plate
6. Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor plate
7. Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate

Some important minor plates are listed below:

1. Cocos plate – between central America and Pacific plate

2. Nazca plate – between South America and Pacific plate
3. Arabian plate – Mostly the Saudi Arabian landmass
4. Philippine plate – between the Asiatic and Pacific plate
5. Caroline plate – between the Philippine and Indian plate (North of New Guinea)
6. Fuji plate – North – east of Australia

There are three types of plate boundaries:

 Divergent Boundaries – spreading sites (where the plates move away from each other) – where new crust is
generated as the plates pull away from each other. Example- Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At this, the American
plate(s) is /are separated from the Eurasian and African plates.
 Convergent Boundaries – where the crust is destroyed as one plate dived under another. The location where
sinking of a plate occurs is called a subduction Zone. There are three ways in which convergence can occur.
These are: (1) between an oceanic and continental plate; (2) between two oceanic plates; and (3) between
two continental plates.
 Transform Boundaries – where the crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally
past each other.

Rates of plate movement

The strips of normal and reverse magnetic field that parallel the mid-oceanic ridges help scientists determine the
rates of plate movement.

The Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate (less than 2.5 cm/yr), and the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island, in the south
Pacific about 3400 km west of Chile, has the fastest rate (more than 15 cm/yr)

Force for the plate Movement

The slow movement of hot, softened mantle that lies below the rigid plates is the driving force behind the plate
movement.

Concepts of sea floor spreading and the unified theory of plate tectonics have emphasised that both the surface of
the earth and interior are not static and motionless but are dynamic.

The mobile rock beneath the rigid plates is believed to be moving in a circular manner.

The heated material rises to the surface, spreads and beings to cool, and then sinks back into deeper depths.
this cycle is repeated over and over to generate what scientists call a convection cell or convective flow.
heat within the earth comes from two main sources: radioactive decay and residual heat.

Movement of the Indian plate

Indian plate includes peninsular India and the Australian continental portions.

The subduction Zone along the Himalayas forms the northern plate boundary in the form of continent – continent
convergence.
In the east, it extends through Rakinyoma Mountains of Myanmar towards the island arc along the Java Trench.
the eastern margin is a spreading site lying to the east of Australia in the form of an oceanic ridge in south west
pacific.