EARTH STRUCTURE AND PLATE TECTONICS TE 52

EARTH STRUCTURE
The structure of the earth is quite complex, with a molten core, a semi-liquid mantle, and
a solid but moveable crust.
Historical geological events determine the present arrangement of the rock layers in the
crust. These events range from the slow and gradual, such as erosion and plate tectonics, to the
catastrophic, such as meteor impacts or volcano eruptions. These processes continually modify
the geometry of the rocks which make up the earth's crust, both on the continents and under the
oceans.

CRUST
The crust is very thin (67 km thick). It is the outermost part of Earth. Most natural
resources are found here.

Two parts of crust

1. Continental Crust
made of light rock called granite
Average thickness about 32 km
makes up Earths land
2. Oceanic Crust
made of denser rock called basalt
Average thickness about 6 km
makes up ocean floor

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MANTLE
The mantle is a thick layer of rock (about 2,900 km thick). Pressure and temperature are
high in this layer. Some of the rock is almost melted. It is composed of silicate rocks that are rich
in iron and magnesium relative to the overlying crust. Although solid, the high temperatures
within the mantle cause the silicate material to be sufficiently ductile that it can flow on very long
timescales.
Two Parts of Mantle
1. Upper Mantle
The upper mantle is divided into the lithospheric mantle and the asthenosphere, a
flowing area of molten rock. The rocks in the crust attached to the upper part of the
mantle make up the lithosphere. The almost melted mantle rocks below the
lithosphere make up the asthenosphere. The melted, or molten, rock in the mantle is
called magma. Magma on Earths surface is called lava.
2. Lower Mantle
CORE
The central part of the Earth, the core, is made of iron and nickel.
Two Parts of Core
1. Inner Core
The inner core is shaped like a ball. It is about 2,400 km in diameter. The high
pressure of the inner core makes the rock act like a solid.
2. Outer Core
The outer core is about 2,300 km thick. Its rock is liquid.

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EARTHS MOVING PLATES

CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
While looking at a map of the world, have you ever noticed that the continents look like pieces of
a puzzle? If they are moved closer together across the Atlantic Ocean, they would fit neatly to
form a giant landmass (Figure8.1). In this section, you will learn about Alfred Wegener and his
idea that a supercontinent once existed on Earth.
Plate tectonics and migration of continents is a central feature in the present theory of the earth's
structure.The first comprehensive theory of continental drift was suggested by the German
meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912.

Alfred Lothar Wegener (November 1, 1880 November 1930) was a German polar researcher,
geophysicist and meteorologist.
During his lifetime, he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer
of polar research, but today he is most remembered as the originator of the theory of continental
drift by hypothesizing in 1912 that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth.
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Alfred Wegener proposed the hypothesis that the continents were once assembled
together as a supercontinent he named Pangaea.
He suggested that Pangaea split apart into its constituent continents about 200 million
years ago and the continents "drifted" to their current positions.
.

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Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth's surface. It
also explained why look-alike animals and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on
different continents.
PANGAEA
Derived from Ancient Greek word pan which means all, entire, whole and Gaia which
means Mother Earth, land
Proposed by Alfred Wegener in his 1912 publication, The Origin of Continents
Previously called as Urkontinent by Wegener in his 1920 edition of Die Entstehung der
Kontinente und Ozeane (The Origin of Continents and Oceans)
Believed that it began forming about 300 million years ago, was fully together by 270
million years ago and began to separate around 200 million years ago.
By 200 million years ago, Pangaea broke into two smaller yet very large continents seperated by
Thetis Sea, Laurasia (the northern one) and Gondwanaland (the southern one).
Laurasia looked sort of like a combination of the continents now found north of the Equator: North
America, Europe, and the northern part of Asia. Gondwanaland looked suspiciously like the
continents found south of the equator: South America, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica, and southern
Asia.

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Continental Drift is a theory so Wegener have the evidences to prove his hypothesis
EVIDENCES
1. The apparent fit of continents
Wegener noticed that the coasts of western Africa and eastern South America looked like the
boundaries of joining pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He was not the first to notice this, though he was
the first to suggest formally that they were connected.

The coasts of the continents surrounding the Atlantic Ocean could, if the continents were moved
closer, fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
2. Distribution of fossils:
The distribution of plants and animal fossils on separate continents forms definite linked patterns
if the continents are reassembled.
Mesosaurus. The fossil is preserved in rocks deposited in streams so it is concluded that the
reptile lived in freshwater environments. Glossopteris A fossil fern, is found on several continents
with different climates today.

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Mesosaurus are found in both southern Africa and South America. Mesosaurus could not have
traveled across an ocean between the continents. Either the continents were side-byside or
Mesosaurus evolved separately on two continents at the same time, an unlikely explanation.
Glossopteris Wegener believed the distribution of Glossopteris could be accounted for by initially
spreading across Pangaea prior to the breakup of the supercontinent.
3. Paleoclimates:
Wegener assembled geologic evidence that showed that rocks formed 200 million years ago in
India, Australia, South America, and southern Africa all exhibited evidence of continental
glaciation.

Such a glaciation would have required a global ice age if the continents were in their present
positions.
4. Rock and mountain correlation There are numerous geological similarities between
eastern South America and western Africa. He also matched up rocks on either side of
the Atlantic Ocean like puzzle pieces.

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For example, the Appalachian Mountains (United States) and Caledonian Mountains (Scotland)
fit together, as do the Karroo strata in South Africa and Santa Catarina rocks in Brazil.
REJECTIONS OF WAGNERS THEORY
The theory of continental drift was not accepted for many years. One problem was that a plausible
driving force was missing. A second problem was that Wegener's estimate of the velocity of
continental motion, 250 cm/year, was implausibly high. (The currently accepted rate for the
separation of the Americas from Europe and Africa is about 2.5 cm/year). And it did not help that
Wegener was not a geologist.
TRIVIA:
Did You Know?

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) that rocks in Brazil (South America) and the Congo (Africa)
are very similar.
ggested the idea of continental drift in
1923, many scientist laughed. The Chairman of the American Philosphical Society described the
idea as Utter damned rot!.
ure
the slow movement of the continents. The main method is Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), which
involves bouncing a laser beam off a satellite from ground stations on each continent.
uickly. South America is moving
20 cm farther from Africa every year. On average, continents move at about the same rate as a
finger nail grows.

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SEAFLOOR SPREADING
Support for continental drift also came from the ocean floor. Scientists discovered in the
1960s that Earths crust was made up of large pieces called plates.
They found out that:
Plates carry both continents and ocean floors with them.
When plates move apart under the oceans, new rock from below may move up. It may form
mountains in the space between the plates. These underwater mountains are called a midocean ridge.
When plates move together, one may sink under the other. A long, deep valley, an ocean
trench, may form.

Scientists surveying the ocean floor learned that heat flow was greatest along the
oceanic ridge system. The ridge system was recognized as a source of volcanic activity. These
observations were combined with the knowledge that the ocean floor was young along the
ridges, and exhibited symmetrical polarity patterns that paralleled the ridges, to infer that new
oceanic lithosphere was being continuously formed along the ridge system by magma rising
from the mantle below. In the early
1960s, scientists Harry Hess and Robert Dietz interpreted that the ocean floors "spread" from
the ridges and move toward the trenches.
The seafloor spreading hypothesis lead to the conclusion that new ocean floor was
created at the oceanic ridges. The oceanic lithosphere gradually moved away from the ridge
creating a gap to fill with new material rising from below. The hypothesis implies the ocean
basins (and hence Earth) will increase in size unless an additional mechanism can be found to
compensate for the creation of new oceanic lithosphere. That mechanism was the destruction of
old oceanic lithosphere along the trenches. When the concept of seafloor spreading was
matched with Wegeners earlier idea of continental drift, the new theory of plate tectonics was
born.

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PLATE TECTONICS
Scientists do not fully understand what makes the Earths plates move. But they
continue to try to explain all the data they have collected.
Plate tectonics is such a theory. Plate tectonics states that Earths surface is made up of
many plates that move slowly across the mantle. Plate tectonics combines Wegeners theory of
continental drift, seafloor spreading, and other supporting data. Earths plates move in different
ways and speeds. Although some move faster, most plates move only a few centimeters (or
inches) a year.
What moves the plates?
The lithosphere is broken into plates. The plates contain the continents as well as the
ocean floor. The plates are moving slowly. How can the plates move? They are moving because
of movement in the part of the mantle just below the plates. The rocks of this part of the mantle
rise and flow because of convection. Convection is the transfer of energy through a liquid or
gas. For example, convection is how heat moves through a pot of water that is heated from
below.

Convection in the Mantle

Convection in the mantle occurs in almost the same way that it does in water. The main
difference is that convection in the mantle occurs very slowly.
1. Hot, less dense rock in the mantle rises toward the bottom of the plates.
2. As it rises, it cools and gets denser. It moves sideways.
3. In time it cools enough to sink.
4. As the rock sinks, it heats up and rises, repeating the cycle.

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THREE TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES

1. Divergent boundaries
Plates move away from each other
New crust forms (seafloor spreading)
occur at mid-ocean ridges
Example: Iceland
2. Convergent boundaries
Plates move toward each other (collide)
Types:
TYPE 1 (OCEANIC-CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE)
Ocean plate colliding with a less dense continental plate
Subduction Zone: where the less dense plate slides under the more dense plate
Volcanoes occur at subduction zones
Example: The Andes mountain range

TYPE 2 (OCEANIC OCEANIC CONVERGENCE)

Ocean plate colliding with another ocean plate
The less dense plate slides under the more dense plate creating a subduction zone
called a trench materials
Example: The Mariana Trench

TYPE 3 (CONTINENTAL CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE)

A continental plate colliding with another continental plate
Have Collision Zones: a place where folded and thrust faulted mountains form.
Example: Himalayas

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3. Transform boundaries
Plates slide past each other (earthquake)
Example: San Andreas Fault

EARTHS PLATE

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MAJOR PLATES

any plate with an area greater than 10 million km.

Pacific Plate 103,300,000 km
North American Plate 75,900,000 km
Eurasian Plate 67,800,000 km
African Plate 61,300,000 km
Antarctic Plate 60,900,000 km
Australian Plate 47,000,000 km
South American Plate 43,600,000 km
Nazca Plate 15,600,000 km
Indian Plate 11,900,000 km

MINOR PLATES
any plate with an area less than 10 million km but greater than 1 million km.

Philippine Sea Plate 5,500,000 km

Arabian Plate 5,000,000 km
Caribbean Plate 3,300,000 km
Cocos Plate 2,900,000 km
Scotia Plate 1,600,000 km

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