Post on 11-Jan-2016
1
Chapter 8
The Theory of Plate Tectonics
2
Guiding Questions
• What is the evidence for Gondwanaland?• How does paleomagnetism demonstrate that continents
have moved? • How was paleomagnetism used to show that lithosphere
forms at and migrates away from mid-ocean ridges?• How did features of the seafloor engender the concept of
plate tectonics?• Why do faulting and volcanism occur along oceanic plate
margins?• What causes lithospheric plates to move? • How can geologists measure rates of plate movement?
3
Plate Tectonics
• tectonics– movement of Earth’s
crust
• plate tectonics– movement of discrete
segments of Earth’s cruise in relation to one another
4
hypothesis
theory
law
5
hypothesisA tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific
problem that can be tested by further investigation.
theory1. Common usage-a proposed explanation whose status is still
conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
2. Scientific usage-a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena: the theory of relativity.
law
paradigm-the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
6
Theory-a Skinnerism
The best explanation we have (so far) that explains more of the facts than any other idea, and for which there is no serious evidence flaw.
Plate tectonics explains volcanoe and earthquake belts, mountain ranges, etc.
7
Continental Drift
• the idea that continents move horizontally over Earth’s surface
• scoffed at in the 40s• revolutionary in the 60s• proposed and defended
by– Alfred Wegener– Alexander DuToit
Puzzle-like fit of continents using 500 fathom coastline depth
8
Evidence for Continental Drift
Early scientists recognized the relationship between fossils on continents separated by sea
Glossopteris flora present only in southern hemisphere continents
– proposed land bridges– consistent with the distribution
pattern– so is the idea of united
continents
9
Evidence for Continental Drift
10
Early recognition that Mid-Atlantic Ridge was site of landmass rupture and Atlantic Ocean formation
Evidence for Continental Drift
11
• Wegener’s Evidence– continents fit together
• Pangaea
– geologic similarities
– floral and faunal similarities
Evidence for Continental Drift
Wegener’s reconstruction of ancient world
12
• DuToit’s evidence– expanded Wegener’s ideas
– Mesosaurus fossils• found on Gondwanaland
(southern hemisphere) continents
• a fresh/brackish water species
– could not swim across Atlantic
Evidence for Continental Drift
13
14
• geologic similarities– Brazil and South
Africa have nearly identical geologic sequences
• similar in Antarctica and India
– Glacial sediments
– Coal
Evidence for Continental Drift
15
Continuity of Geologic Structures
16
• glaciers– orientation of
glacial markings on all continents suggest they were linked
Evidence for Continental Drift
17
Additional Evidence
• Lystrosaurus – heavyset herbivore
– found in Africa and SE Asia
– recently (1969) found in Antarctica
18
Paleomagnetism-the smoking gun
• magnetization of ancient rocks at the time of their formation
• declination– angle that a compass
needle makes with the line running to the geographic north pole
• rocks lock this orientation in at formation
19
Paleomagnetism
• apparent polar wandering– first studies indicated
poles had moved
– instead, plates had moved
– North American and European paths met
20
Rise of Plate Tectonics
• Harry Hess, 1962– Geopoetry
• continents didn’t plow through seafloor
• entire crust moved
– Crust must be created and destroyed
• sedimentary cover too thin for four b.y. of accumulation
– driven by convective cells
21
22
Rise of Plate Tectonics
• ridges– site of crustal
formation
– hot rising mantle material rises to top of lithosphere, cools
– ocean crust is formed
– bends away from center to form ridge
23
Rise of Plate Tectonics
• Guyots– had identified flat-
topped seamounts in Pacific
– realized they were volcanoes that had been eroded by waves at sea level
– postulated as crust moved away from ridge it cools and sinks
24
Rise of Plate Tectonics
• crust is destroyed at subduction zones
25
Test of Plate Tectonics
• Paleomagnetism– Vine and Matthews,
1963
– measured magnetization of rocks across the Indian Ocean central ridge
• found normal and reversed “stripes”
• mirror image
26
Processes at Plate Boundaries
• Normal faults-extensional motion• Thrust faults-compressional motion• Strike-slip faults-e.g., San Andreas fault
27
Processes at Plate Boundaries
• Mid-Ocean Ridges (MOR)– graben
• valley bounded by normal faults along which a central block has slipped downward
– pillow basalt
28
Processes at Plate Boundaries
• transform faults– offset MOR’s
– enormous strike-slip faults
– seismically active
29
Processes at Plate Boundaries
• Subduction– descending slab
undergoes partial melting
– molten material is less dense, rises
– common around Pacific Rim
– Ring of Fire• location of most of
the world’s trenches
30
Processes at Plate Boundaries• associated with:
– volcanoes-island arc
– deep-focus earthquakes >300 km depth
– forearc basin• zone of intensely deformed rocks in belt between island arc and deep-sea
trench
31
Processes at Plate Boundaries
• forearc Basin– deep-ocean dark muds and
graywackes with ocean crust mixed in
• mélange– chaotic deformed mixture
of rocks
• accretionary Wedge– body of rock that
accumulates as plate is subducted
32
Plate Motion
• Why plates move: – drag on the base of the
plate
– elevation at ridge pushes plate ahead of it
– plate is pulled into subduction zone by preceding parent plate
– broken plate segments create additional forces
33
Plate Motion• eight large plates
• several small plates
• not all plates move at the same rate– relative motion
34
Plate Motion
• absolute plate motion– establish using fixed point
– hot spot• small geographic area where heating and igneous activity occur within the crust
• Yellowstone
• Hawaii
35
Plate Motion
• Hawaiian hot spot– thermal plume creates
volcano
– plate moves away from plume
– stranded volcano cools, leaves a chain
– chain indicates direction and rate
36
Plate Motion
• GPS-Global Positioning System– Earth-orbiting satellites identify motion
• transmitter on satellite with ground-based receiver
• Average rate of movement: 5 cm/year
37
Effect on Global Climate
38
39
40
41