Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

Plate Tectonics

Stilesof87
October 09, 2014

Plate Tectonics

Stilesof87

October 09, 2014
Tweet

More Decks by Stilesof87

Other Decks in Science

Transcript

  1. • If you look at a map of the world,

    you may notice that some of the continents could fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
  2. Pangaea about 200 million years ago, before it began breaking

    up. Wegener named the southern portion of Pangaea Gondwana, and the northern portion Laurasia.
  3. The continents about 70 million years ago. Notice that the

    breakup of Pangea formed the Atlantic Ocean. India’s eventual collision with Eurasia would form the Himalayan Mountains.
  4. The position of the continents today. The continents are still

    slowly moving, at about the speed your fingernails grow. Satellite measurements have confirmed that every year the Atlantic Ocean gets a few inches wider!
  5. Quick Check Turn and tell your neighbor who came up

    with the continental drift theory, and how we know it is still happening today.
  6. Continents fit together like a puzzle….e.g. the Atlantic coastlines of

    Africa and South America. The Best fit includes the continental shelves (the continental edges under water.) Wegener’s Evidence for Continental Drift Picture from http://www.sci.csuhayward.edu/~lstrayer/geol2101/2101_Ch19_03.pdf
  7. Wegener’s Evidence for Continental Drift Fossils of plants and animals

    of the same species found on different continents. Picture from http://volcano.und.edu/v wdocs/vwlessons/plate _tectonics/part3.html
  8. Wegener’s Evidence for Continental Drift • Rock sequences (meaning he

    looked at the order of rock layers) in South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia show remarkable similarities. • Wegener showed that the same three layers occur at each of these places. • Picture from http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/plate_tectonics/part4. html
  9. Closing: In your own words, explain what the theory of

    continental drift says, and provide at least one evidence for it
  10. Plate Tectonics • 12 major plates move in various directions

    • Plates collide, pull apart, or scrape against each other. • Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set of Earth structures or “tectonic” features. • Tectonic-deformation of the crust as a consequence of plate interaction.
  11. What are tectonic plates made of? • Plates are made

    of rigid lithosphere. The lithosphere is made up of the crust and the upper part of the mantle.
  12. What lies beneath the tectonic plates? • Below the lithosphere

    (which makes up the tectonic plates) is the asthenosphere.
  13. Plate Movement • “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by

    the underlying hot mantle convection cells
  14. • Spreading ridges – As plates move apart new material

    is erupted to fill the gap Divergent Boundaries
  15. • Iceland has a divergent plate boundary running through its

    middle Iceland: An example of continental rifting
  16. • There are three styles of convergent plate boundaries –

    Continent-continent collision – Continent-oceanic crust collision – Ocean-ocean collision Convergent Boundaries
  17. • Oceanic lithosphere subducts underneath the continental lithosphere • Oceanic

    lithosphere heats and dehydrates as it subsides • The melt rises forming volcanism • E.g. The Andes Subduction
  18. • When two oceanic plates collide, one runs over the

    other which causes it to sink into the mantle forming a subduction zone. • The subducting plate is bent downward to form a very deep depression in the ocean floor called a trench. • The worlds deepest parts of the ocean are found along trenches. – E.g. The Mariana Trench is 11 km deep! Ocean-Ocean Plate Collision
  19. • Where plates slide past each other • Also called

    strike-slip Transform Boundaries Above: View of the San Andreas transform fault
  20. Plate Tectonics Summary • The Earth is made up of

    3 main layers (core, mantle, crust) • On the surface of the Earth are tectonic plates that slowly move around the globe • Plates are made of crust and upper mantle (lithosphere) • There are 2 types of plate • There are 3 types of plate boundaries • Volcanoes and Earthquakes are closely linked to the margins of the tectonic plates