Module 02

Plate Tectonics
THE NEW GLOBAL TECTONIC
 PLATE TECTONICS
Continental drift
 The theory that the continents have moved in
relation to one another

Plate tectonics
 The theory of global dynamics in which the
lithosphere is believed to be broken into
individual plates that move in response to
convection in the (upper) mantle. The margins of
the plates are sites of considerable geologic
activity.
Crust Mantle Core (CMC)-sphere
Crust Mantle Core (CMC)-sphere
Crust Mantle Core (CMC)-sphere

rocks cold, rigid, brittle

hot, plastic

Δ = 3,3– 4,3 g/cm3

ultrabasic
igneous rocks hot, high pressure,
(MgO, SiO2) rigid, brittle
Depth (km)

Liquid
Fe, Ni

45000 C

solid
 Plate Tectonic Theory

• Lithosphere is broken into individual pieces

called plates

• Plates move over the asthenosphere

– as a result of underlying convection cells
Continental Drift

Antonio Snider-Pelligrini’ Map (1858)

Continental Drift

Alfred Wegener’ Map (1915)

Continental Drift

Wegener’s Concept of Continental Drift and Orogenesis

Note:
Most geologists and geophysicists rejected Wegener’s ideas
because they violated what was known about the STRENGTH
OF ROCKS.
Also, centrifugal force (from Earth’s rotation) along with tidal
forces were deemed to be TOO SMALL to move the continents!
Evidence on Continent

Continents Fit
Together

Best fit at 100 m below sea level

Evidence on Continent
Rocks and
Structures Match Up
Evidence on Continent
Evidence on Continent
Mountain Belts of
the Same Age
Appalachians
Caledonides

Mauritanides

Appalachians
Evidence on Continent Direction of ice flow

Glacial Features
Evidence on Continent

Fossils
Early Triassic

Lystrosaurus
Cynognathus

Glossopteris

Permian-Pennsylvanian
Permian
Mesosaurus
Evidence on Continent

Paleoclimate
of Pangea
Evidence on Seafloor

Seafloor
Morphology
Evidence on Seafloor
Paleomagnetism and
seafloor spreading

Magnetic Time Scale Magnetic Stripe Formation at Ridge Crest

Evidence on Seafloor
Paleomagnetism and
seafloor spreading
Evidence on Seafloor
Seafloor Age Map
Evidence on Seafloor

Mantle Plume Hot Spot Tracks

Reconstruction
 MODUL 03

GERAK DAN SIFAT INTERAKSI

Plate Tectonics
Earth’s Tectonic Plates
North
American
North American
Eurasian

Arabian

Juan de Caribbean Pacific

Fuca

Cocos Philippine

South African
Nazca American
Indo
Australian
Pacific

Antarctic Scotian
Antarctic
 PLATE TECTONIC
Plate tectonics (from the Greek word for
"one who constructs and destroys",
τεκτων, tekton) is a theory of geology
developed to explain the phenomenon of
continental drift and is currently the
theory accepted by the vast majority of
scientists working in this area. In the
theory of plate tectonics the outermost
part of the Earth's interior is made up of
two layers: the outer lithosphere and the
inner asthenosphere.
 PLATE TECTONIC
Earthquakes
volcanic activity,
mountain-building, and
oceanic trench formation occur along
plate boundaries
(most notably around the Pacific Ring of
Fire).
PLATE TECTONIC
 PLATE TECTONIC
The lithosphere essentially "floats" on the
asthenosphere and is broken-up into ten
major plates: African, Antarctic, Australian,
Eurasian, North American, South American,
Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, and the Indian plates.
These plates (and the more numerous minor
plates) move in relation to one another at
one of three types of plate boundaries:
convergent (or destructive, two plates push
against one another), divergent (or
constructive, two plates move away from
each other), and transform (two plates slide
past one another).
 PLATE TECTONIC
The division of the Earth's interior into
lithospheric and asthenospheric components is
based on their mechanical differences. The
lithosphere is cooler and more rigid, whilst the
asthenosphere is hotter and mechanically
weaker. This division should not be confused
with the chemical subdivision of the Earth into
(from innermost to outermost) core, mantle,
and crust. The key principle of plate tectonics
is that the lithosphere exists as separate and
distinct tectonic plates, which "float" on the
fluid-like asthenosphere. The relative fluidity of
the asthenosphere allows the tectonic plates to
undergo motion in different directions.
Plate Tectonics
Directions of Motion and Plate Velocities Determined by
Mantle Plume Hot Spot Tracks and Age-Dating of Rocks
Plate Tectonics
Directions of Motion and Plate Velocities Determined
by GPS (Global Positioning System) Satellites
Directions of Motion and Plate Velocities Determined by GPS
(Global Positioning System) Satellites
Plate Tectonics

What drives
Plate Tectonics?
 What drives plate motions
• Forces that drive plate
motion
– Slab-pull
• Cold, dense slabs of
subducted oceanic
lithosphere pull the plate
towards the subduction zone
– Ridge-push
• The higher elevation of
spreading centers result in
oceanic lithosphere wanting
to move “downhill”, away
from the ridge
• Far less important than
slab-pull
– Mantle drag and plate
resistance
• Can act to increase or
decrease plate motion
Mantle convection provides
the primary drive for
plate tectonics
 What drives plate motions
• Models of plate-mantle
convection
• Any model must be consistent
with observed physical and
chemical properties of the
mantle
• Horizontal movement of
plates causes mantle
upwelling
• Models
– Layering at 660 km
– Explains why basalts
erupted at mid-ocean
ridges are different (more
evolved, relatively shallow
source) compared to those
erupted at hot-spots (more
primitive, deeper source).
– We know that subducting
slabs descend beneath 660
km
 What drives plate motions
• Whole-mantle convection
– Would mix the entire
mantle in the space of a
few hundred million
years, removing
heterogeneities
 What drives plate motions
• Deep-layer model
– “Lava lamp model”
– Two layers swell and
shrink in a complex
fashion in response to
heat from the Earth’s
interior
Plate Tectonics

Internal Heat
Arc-Trench systems 40
 Trench roll-back

Arc-Trench systems 41
 Types of arc-trench system

Arc-Trench systems 42
Plate Tectonics
Divergent Boundary

Results in the formation of Oceanic Crust

Plate Tectonics
Transform Boundary
Plate Tectonics
Convergent Boundary: Subduction

Melting
Produces
More
Felsic
Magma

Results in the formation & growth of Continental Crust

and destruction of Oceanic Crust
Plate Tectonics
Convergent Boundary: Collision

Results in the growth of Continental Crust

 BASIC PLATE TECTONICS – Revised

• Earth’s lithosphere is broken into 12-24 rigid

plates
• Plates move about 1-10 cm/yr on the plastic
Asthenosphere
• “Geology happens” where the plates
interact with one another along Divergent,
Transform, Subduction and Collisional
Boundaries
Earth’s Tectonic Plates