PLATE TECTONICS

A MODERN VERSION OF AN OLD IDEA

During the years that followed Wegner’s proposal, major
strides in technology permitted mapping of the ocean floor

Extensive data on seismic activity and Earth’s magnetic field

became available

By 1968, these developments led to the unfolding of a far

more encompassing theory than continental drift.

This theory is known as Plate Tectonics

According to the plate tectonics model, the upper most
mantle, along with the overlying crust, behaves as a strong
rigid layer, known as the lithosphere

This outermost shell overlies a weaker region in the

mantle known as the asthenosphere

Further the lithosphere is broken into numerous

segments called plates

These plates are in motion and are continually changing in

shape and size
Seven major plates are recognized

They are the:

North American Plate

South American Plate
Pacific Plate
African Plate
Eurasian Plate
Australian Plate
Antarctic Plate
The largest is the Pacific Plate, which is located within
the ocean

Intermediate sized plates include the

Caribbean Plate
Nazca Plate
Philippine Plate
Arabian Plate
Cocos Plate
Scotia Plate

In addition there are over a dozen smaller plates

THE TECTONIC PLATES
Lithospheric plates move at very slow, but continuous
rates of a few centimeters a year

This movement is ultimately driven by the unequal

distribution of heat within earth

The titanic grinding movements of Earth’s lithospheric

plates generate earthquakes, create volcanoes, and
deform large masses of rock into mountains
 PLATE BOUNDARIES
Plates move as coherent units relative to all other plates

Although the interiors of plates may deform, all major

interactions among individual plates occurs along their
boundaries

First attempts to outline plate boundaries were made

using locations of earthquakes

Plates are bounded by three distinct types of boundaries

which are differentiated by the type of movement they
exhibit
These boundaries are:

Divergent Boundaries---Where plates move apart,

resulting in upwelling of material from the mantle to
create new seafloor

Convergent Boundaries---Where plates move

together, resulting in the subduction (consumption) of
oceanic lithosphere into the mantle

Transform Fault Boundaries---Where plates grind

past each other without the production or destruction
of lithosphere

Each plate is bounded by a combination of these zones

DIVERGENT BOUNDARY
CONVERGENT BOUNDARY
TRANSFORM FAULT BOUNDARY
 DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES
Most divergent boundaries, where plate spreading
occurs, are situated along the crests of oceanic ridges

As the plates move away from the ridge axis, the

fractures created are immediately filled with molten rock
that rises up from the hot asthenosphere

The material cools slowly to produce new seafloor

In a continuous manner, successive plate spreading and

upwelling of magma add new oceanic crust between the
diverging plates
This mechanism is called seafloor spreading

It has produced the floor of the Atlantic Ocean

during the past 165 million years

The typical rate of spreading at these ridges is 5

centimeters (2 inches) per year

Although it varies from 2 to 20 cm per year

None of the ocean floor has been dated exceeds

180 million years in age
Along divergent boundaries where molten rock emerges,
the ocean floor is elevated

Worldwide the ridge system extends for over 70,000

km through all major ocean basins

As new lithosphere is formed along the oceanic ridge it

is slowly yet continually displaced away from the zone of
upwelling

Thus it begins to cool and contract thereby increasing in

density
This partially accounts for the greater depth of the older
and cooler oceanic crust found in the deep ocean basins

In addition the mantle rocks located below the oceanic

crust cool and strengthen with increased distance from
the ridge axis

It result in increased plate thickness

The thickness and the density of oceanic lithosphere are

age dependent

The older (cooler) it is, the greater its thickness and

density
When a spreading centre develops within a continent,
the landmass may split into two or more smaller
segments

The fragmentation of a continent is thought to be

associated with the upward movement of hot rock from
mantle.

The effect of this activity is doming in the crust directly

above the hot rising plume

This uplifting produces extensional forces that stretch

and thin the crust
Extension of the crust is accompanied by alternate episodes of
faulting and volcanism

Adjacent to the spreading axis, faulted crustal blocks create down

faulted valleys called rifts or rift valleys

As the spreading continues the rift valley will lengthen and deepen,
eventually extending out into the ocean

At this point the valley will become a narrow linear sea with an
outlet to the ocean, similar to the Red Sea today
The zone of rifting will remain the site of igneous activity,
continually generating new seafloor in an ever-expanding ocean
basin

The East African Rift valleys represent the initial stage in the break
up of a continent

If the rift valleys in Africa remain active, East Africa will eventually
separate the mainland

Arabian Peninsula split in a same way just a million year ago

Not all the rift valleys develop into full-fledged spreading
centres
 CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES
At spreading centres, new oceanic lithosphere is continually being
generated

Because the total surface area of Earth remains constant,

lithosphere must also be consumed

Zones of plate convergence are the sites where oceanic

lithosphere is subducted and absorbed into the mantle

When two plates converge, the leading edge of one is bent

downward, allowing it to descend beneath the other
The region where an oceanic plate descends into the
asthenosphere is called a subduction zone

As the oceanic plate slides beneath the overriding plate, the oceanic
plate bends, thereby producing a deep-ocean trench.

Trenches formed in this manner can be thousands of kilometers

long, 8 to 12 km deep, and about 100 km wide

The average angle at which the oceanic lithosphere descends into

the asthenosphere is about 45 degrees

However, depending on its buoyancy, a plate might descend at an

angle as small as a few degrees or it might plunge vertically (90
degrees) into the mantle
When a spreading axis is located near a subduction zone, the
lithosphere is young and therefore warm and buoyant

This is the situation along parts of Peru-Chile trench

Low dip angles are usually associated with a strong coupling

between the descending slab and the over-riding plate

These regions experience great earthquakes

Some subduction zones, such as the Mariana trench, have steep

angles of descent and few strong earthquakes
 All convergent zones have same basic characteristics, they are
highly variable features

Each is controlled by the type of crustal material involved and the

tectonic setting

Convergent boundaries can form between:

 Two Oceanic plates

 One Oceanic and one Continental plate

 Two Continental plates

OCEANIC-CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE
Whenever the leading edge of a plate capped with continental
crust converges with a plate capped with oceanic crust, the plate
with the less dense continental material remains “floating”

Whereas the denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere

When a descending plate reaches a depth of about 100 to 150 km,

heat drives water and other volatile components from the
subducted sediments into the overlying mantle

These substances induce partial melting of mantle rocks at

reduced temperatures
The partial melting of mantle rock generates magmas having a
basaltic or possibly andesitic composition

The newly formed magma, being less dense than the rocks of the
mantle will buoyantly rise

Often the magma will accumulate beneath the overlying

continental crust where it may melt some of the silica-enriched
crustal rocks

Some of this silica-rick magma may migrate to the surface, where

it can give rise to volcanic eruptions, some of which are explosive

The Andean arc that runs along the western flank of South
America is the product of magma generated as the Nazca plate
descends beneath the continent
The South American plate moves westward and overrunning the
Nazca plate

The result is a reduction in the size of the Nazca plate

Mountains such as the Andes, which are produced in part by volcanic

activity associated with the subduction of oceanic lithosphere, are
called continental volcanic arc
 OCEANIC-OCEANIC CONVERGENCE

When two oceanic slabs converge, one descends beneath the

other

It initiates the volcanic activity in a similar manner to that which

occurs at an oceanic-continental convergent boundary

In this case, however, the volcanoes form on the ocean floor

rather than on a continent

If this activity is sustained, it will eventually build volcanic

structures that emerge as islands
The volcanic islands are spaced about 80 km apart

This newly formed land consisting of an arc-shaped chain of small

volcanic islands is called a volcanic island arc

The Aleutian, Mariana, and Tonga islands are examples of volcanic

island arcs

Island arcs such as these are generally located 200 to 300 km

from the trench axis

Located adjacent to the island arcs are the trenches

 Only two volcanic island arcs are located in the Atlantic:

 The Lesser Antiles

 The sandwich islands

The Lesser Antiles are a product of the subduction of the Atlantic

beneath the Caribbean plate

In a few places volcanic arcs are built upon both oceanic and
continental crust

Some volcanic island arcs built on fragments of continental crust

that have been rifted from the mainland

Philippines and Japan are examples of this type of volcanic island

arc
 CONTINENTAL-CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE

When two plates carrying continental crust converge, neither

plate will subduct beneath the other because of the low density

It is also because of the buoyant nature of continental rocks

The result is a collision between the two continental blocks

Such a collision occurred when the subcontinent of India collided

with Asia

It produced the Himalayas, the most spectacular mountain range

on Earth
During this collision, the continental crust buckled, fractured, and
was generally shortened and thickened

In addition to the Himalayas, several other major mountain

systems including the Alps, Appalachians, and urals formed during
continental collision

Prior to a continental collision, the landmasses involved are

separated by an ocean basin

As the continental blocks converge, the intervening seafloor is

subducted beneath one of the plates

Subduction initiates partial melting in the overlying mantle rocks,

which in turn, results in the growth of a volcanic arc
Depending on the location of the subduction zone, the volcanic
arc could develop on either of the converging landmasses

If the subduction zone developed several hundred km’s seaward

from the coast, a volcanic island arc would form

Eventually, as the intervening seafloor is consumed, these

continental masses collide

This folds and deforms the accumulation of sediments along the

continental margin

The result is the formation of a new mountain range, composed of

deformed and metamorphosed
After continents collide, the subducted oceanic plate may separate
from the continental block and continue its downward movement

However, because of its buoyancy, continental lithosphere can not

be carried very far into the mantle

In the case of the Himalayas, the leading edge of the Indian plate
was forced partially under Asia, generating an unusually greater
thickness of continental lithosphere
TRANSFORM FAULT BOUNDARIES
The third type of plate boundary is the transform fault

In this type of boundary, the plates grind past one another without
the production or destruction of lithosphere

Transform faults were first identified where they join offset

segments of an ocean ridge

At first it was assumed that the ridge system formed a long and
continuous chain that was later offset by horizontal displacement
along these large faults
The displacement along these faults was found to be in opposite
direction

The true nature of transform faults was discovered in 1965 by a

Canadian researcher

He suggested that these large faults connect the global active belts
(Convergent and Divergent boundaries and other transform
faults) into a continuous network that divides the Earth’s outer
shell into several rigid plates

He became the first to suggest that Earth was made of individual

plates

He also identified the faults along which relative motion between

the plates is made possible
Most transform faults join two segments of a mid-oceanic ridge

They are part of linear breaks in the oceanic crust known as

Fracture zones

These fracture zones are present approximately every 100 km

along the trend of a ridge axis

Transform fault lie only between the two offset ridge segments

Seafloor produced at one ridge axis moves in the opposite

direction as seafloor produced at an opposite ridge segment
Between the ridge segments these adjacent slabs of oceanic crust
are grinding past each other along a transform fault

In another role, transform faults provide the means by which the

oceanic crust created at ridge crests can be transported to a site
of destruction i.e. the deep-ocean trenches

For example The transform fault boundary connects the Juan de

Fuca ridge to the subduction zone

Another example of a ridge-trench transform fault is found

southeast of the tip of South America

Here transform faults on the north and south margins of Scotia

Plate connect the trench to the spreading axis
Although most transform faults are located within the ocean
basins, a few including California’s famous San Andreas Fault, cut
through continental crust

The San Andreas fault connects a spreading centre located in the

Gulf of California to the Cascade subduction zone

Along the San Andreas Fault, the Pacific plate is moving towards
the Northwest, past the North American plate

Immediate concern is the earthquake activity triggered by

movements along this fault system