Earth: Portrait of A Planet, 4 Edition

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition
by Stephen Marshak 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
Lecture 4: How the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
Prepared by:
Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist

Fronterra Geosciences, Denver, Colorado Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics: the explanation of how Earth works.
Earths outer shell is broken into rigid plates that move. Moving plates change the face of planet Earth. Tectonics is able to explain almost everything.
A prime example of Kuhns Scientific Revolution.

A powerful idea based on multiple lines of evidence. Tectonics pushed out the idea of an unchanging Earth.
Plate tectonic forces are responsible for changing the face of Planet Earth and have done so for billions of years.
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak
2011, W. W. Norton
Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics
Tectonics theory evolved in the 1960s. Previous research provided a strong foundation.
Wegener (1915) (1915)evidence supporting continental drift. Hess / Dietz (1960) (1960)the seasea-floor spreading hypothesis.
By 1968, evidence for tectonics was overwhelming. This evidence changed the view of most geologists.
Fig. 3.11
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
PowerPoint slides prepared by Ronald L. Parker, Fronterra Geosciences, 700 17th Street, Suite 900, Denver, CO, 80202

Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics theory is powerful. It provides a unified mechanism explaining:
Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. The distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes. The origin of continents and ocean basins. The distribution of fossil plants and animals. The genesis and destruction of mountain chains. Continental drift.
Geology at a Glance
Lithosphere
Tectonic plates are fragments of lithosphere.
Lithosphere is made of both crust and the upper mantle. The lithosphere is in motion over the asthenosphere.
Lithosphere bends elastically when loaded. Asthenosphere flows plastically when loaded.
Fig 4.1a
Principle of Buoyancy
Described by Archimedes more than 2,200 years ago. Floating solids displace water equal to their mass. An iceberg sinks until the mass of water it displaces is equal to the total mass of the iceberg. This concept applies well to lithospheric plates.
Continental Floats higher. Oceanic Sinks lower.
Box 4.1
2011, W. W. Norton

Two Types of Lithosphere

Continental: ~150 km thick.
Granitic crust.
35 3540 km thick. Lighter (less dense) . More buoyant buoyantfloats higher.
Oceanic: ~7 ~7100 km thick.

Basaltic crust.
710 km thick. Heavier (more dense). Less buoyant buoyantsinks lower.
Fig 4.1c
Plate Boundaries
Lithosphere is fragmented into ~20 tectonic plates. Plates move continuously at a rate of 1 115 cm/year.
Slow on a human time scale; extremely rapid geologically.
Plates interact along their boundaries.
Fig 4.2a
Plate Boundaries
Tectonic plates:
Display a variety of sizes and shapes. Change size and shape throughout their history.
Fig 4.2b

Plate Boundaries
Locations on Earth where tectonic plates meet.
Identified by concentrations of earthquakes. Associated with many other dynamic phenomena.
Plate interiors are almost earthquakeearthquake-free.
Fig 4.2c
2011, W. W. Norton
Continental Margins
Where land meets the ocean.
Margins near plate boundaries are active. Margins far from plate boundaries are passive.
PassivePassive -margin continental crust thins seaward.

Transitions into oceanic crust. Traps eroded sediment. Develops into the continental shelf.
Fig 4.1b
Plate Boundaries: Three Types

Divergent boundary boundarytectonic plates move apart.
Lithosphere thickens away from the ridge axis. Also called: spreading boundary, midmid-ocean ridge, ridge.
Fig 4.3a


Convergent boundary boundarytectonic plates move together.
The process of plate consumption is called subduction. Also called: convergent margin, subduction zone, trench.
Fig 4.3a

Transform boundary boundarytectonic plates slide sideways.
Plate material is neither created nor destroyed. Also called: transform fault, transform.
Fig 4.3c
Divergent Boundaries
Sea-floor spreading causes plates to move apart. SeaMagma wells up to fill the gap. Magma cools, adding material to each plate. The ocean basin expands in width.
Geology at a Glance

SeaSea -floor spreading progression.
Early stage
Rifting has progressed to midmid-ocean ridge formation. Before substantial widening of the ocean. Forms a long, thin ocean basin with young oceanic crust.
Example: The Red Sea

Time 1
Youngest Ocean Floor

Note: This diagram only depicts the crust, not the entire lithosphere. Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
Fig 4.4a
MidMid -stage
Ocean begins to widen. New seasea-floor is added at the mid mid-ocean ridge. Continents move farther apart.
Example: Greenland and the North Atlantic

Time 2
Youngest Ocean Floor

Fig 4.4a
Late stage
Mature, wide ocean basin. Linear increase in age with distance from central ridge. Edge of ocean basin basinoldest; ridge proximal proximalyoungest.
Example: The Atlantic Ocean

Time 3
Fig 4.4a

MidMid -Ocean Ridges

Linear mountain ranges in Earths ocean basins. Example: The MidMid-Atlantic Ridge
Snakes N NS through the entire Atlantic Ocean. Elevated ridge (1,500 km wide) 2 km above abyssal plains. Axial rift valley.
500 m deep 10 km wide Symmetric Site of eruptions
Fig 4.4b

Sea-floor spreading opens the axial rift valley. SeaRising asthenosphere melts, forming mafic magma. Pooled magma solidifies into oceanic crustal rock. Pillow basalt basaltmagma quenched at the seasea-floor. Dykes Dykes preserved magma conduits. Gabbro Gabbro deeper magma.
Fig 4.4c

Pillow basalts are ubiquitous at MORs.
Water entering fractured rock is heated by magma. Hot water dissolves minerals and cycles back out of rock. When water reaches the sea, minerals precipitate quickly.
Fig 4.5a


Black smokers are found at some MORs.
Water entering fractured rock is heated by magma. Hot water dissolves minerals and cycles back out of rock. When water reaches the sea, minerals precipitate quickly.
Fig 4.5b
Ocean Crustal Age

Oceanic crust spreads away from the ridge axis.
New crust is closer to the ridge; older crust farther away. Oldest oceanic crust is found at the far edge of the basin.
Fig 4.6
Oceanic Lithosphere
The hot asthenosphere is at the base of the MOR. Aging ocean crust moves away from this heat: Cooling, increasing in density and sinking. Accumulating increasing thicknesses of sediment.
Fig 4.7a,b

Convergent Boundaries
Lithospheric plates move toward one another. One plate dives back into the mantle (subduction (subduction). ). The subducting plate is always oceanic lithosphere. Subduction recycles oceanic lithosphere.
Subduction is balanced by seasea-floor spreading. Earth maintains a constant circumference.
Fig 4.14a
Subduction
Old oceanic lithosphere is more dense than mantle. A flatflat-lying oceanic plate does not subduct easily. Once bent downward, however, the leading edge sinks downward like an anchor rope.
Fig 4.8a
The subducting plate descends at an average of 45.
Plate descent is revealed by WadatiWadati-Benioff earthquakes.
Mark frictional contact and mineral transformations. Earthquakes deepen away from trench.
Quakes cease below 660 km. Plate descent may continue past the earthquake limit. The lower mantle may be a plate graveyard.
Fig 4.8b

Subduction Features
Subduction is associated with unique features:
Accretionary prisms. Volcanic arcs. BackBack -arc basins.
Fig 4.8c
Accretionary Prism Prisma deformed sediment wedge.
Sediments are scraped off of subducting plates. This thrusts them onto the overriding plate. Contorted prism sediments can be pushed above sea level.
Olympic Peninsula Taiwan
Accretionary prism
Fig 4.8c
Volcanic Arc Arca chain of volcanoes on overriding plate.
The descending plate partially melts at ~150 km depth. Magmas burn through overriding plate. Volcanic arcs are curved because the Earth is a sphere.
Arc type depends upon the overriding plate.

Continental crust crustcontinental arc. Oceanicisland arc. Oceanic
Fig 4.8d
10

BackBack -arc basins basinsa marginal sea behind an arc.
Forms between an island arc and a continent. Offshore subduction traps a piece of oceanic crust, or Stretching generates a new spreading ridge.
Fig 4.8e
Transform Boundaries
Lithosphere slides past; not created or destroyed.
Many transforms offset spreading ridge segments. Some transforms cut through continental crust.
Characterized by:
Earthquakes. Absence of volcanism.
Geology at a Glance
Oceanic Transforms
The midmid-ocean ridge axis is offset by transform faults.
A geometric necessity for a line spreading on a sphere. Transforms bear strong evidence of seasea-floor spreading.
Abundant earthquakes common when offsets are opposed. Earthquakes vanish when either side of the fault moves in the same direction.
Fig 4.9a
11

Oceanic transforms transformsoffsets along the MOR.
Older interpretation interpretationfaulting occurs after MOR forms. Modern interpretation interpretationfaulting coeval with the MOR.
Fig 4.9b
Continental transforms transformschop continental crust.
Example: The San Andreas Fault
Fig 4.9c,d
Triple Junctions
Point where three plate boundaries intersect. Multiple boundary combinations occur. Triple junctions migrate and change across time.
Fig 4.10
12

Hot Spots
Plumes of deep mantle material independent of plates.
Not linked to plate boundaries. Made of lower mantle mafic magmas. Burn through plates and add lines of volcanoes to them.
Fig 4.11
Hot Spots
Hot spots perforate overriding plates. Volcanoes build above sea level. Plate motion pulls volcano off plume.
Volcano goes extinct and erodes. Subsidence creates a guyot.
Hot spots reinforce seasea -floor spreading.
Fig 4.12b,d
Hot Spots
Hot spot seamounts age away from originating hot spot.
Age change marks rate of plate motion. Line of seamounts indicates direction of plate motion.
Fig 4.12a,c
13

Continental Rifting
Continental lithosphere can break apart.
Lithosphere stretches and thins. Brittle upper crust faults. Ductile lower crust flows. Asthenosphere rises and melts. Magma erupts.
Continuation can create a new midmid-ocean ridge. This process led to the breakup of Pangaea.
Fig 4.13a
Tectonic Boundaries Evolve

Plate boundaries change over geologic time. Oceanic plates:
Created at midmid-ocean ridge spreading centers. Destroyed at subduction zones.
Continental plates:
Torn apart at rifts. Joined during collision.
Fig 4.13b
Continental Rifting
Example: East Africa.
The Arabian plate is rifting from the African plate. Rifting has progressed to seasea-floor spreading in:
The Red Sea. The Gulf of Aden.
Rifting continues along the East African Rift.

Thinned crust. Elongate trough. Volcanoes.
The rift and two spreading ridges comprise a triple junction.

Fig 4.13c
14

Plate Collision
Subduction consumes ocean basins. Ocean closure ends in continental collision.
Continental crust is too buoyant to subduct subduct. . Subduction ceases and mountains are uplifted.
Time 1: Before
Time 2: After
Fig 4.14
2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
Plate Collision
Plate tectonic collision may involve:
Two continents. A continent and an island arc.
Collision sutures the convergent plate boundary.
2011, W. W. Norton
Driving Mechanisms
What drives plate motion?
Old idea: Plates are dragged atop a convecting mantle.
Plate motions are much too complex. Convection does occur; not the prime driving mechanism.
Fig. Bx2.3c
Geology at a Glance, Chapter 2

15

Driving Mechanisms
Modern thinking: Two other forces drive plate motions.
RidgeRidge -push pushelevated MOR pushes lithosphere away. Slab-pull Slabpull gravity pulls a subducting plate downward. Convection in the asthenosphere adds or subtracts.
Fig 4.15
Plate Velocities
Absolute plate velocities may be mapped by:
Plotting plate motion relative to a fixed spot in the mantle. Measuring volcano ages/distance along a hot spot track.
Fig 4.16
Plate Velocities
Plate vectors are determined GPS measurements.
Global Positioning System (GPS) uses satellites. Knowledge of plate motion is now accurate and precise.
Fig 4.17b
16

The Dynamic Planet

Plate tectonics: the key to understanding geology.
Mantle is transferred to the surface and back down again. The interior and surface of Earth are in constant motion. Provides an elegant explanation of:
Earthquakes. Volcanoes. Continental drift.
Fig. 3.11
The Dynamic Planet

Earths surface changes continuously.
These changes appear slow to us. Geologically, change is rapid.
Earth looked very different in the past. Earth will look very different in the future.
Fig. 4.18
2011, W. W. Norton
The Dynamic Planet
Plate Tectonics Summary: Ocean floor created at midmid-ocean ridges is consumed at oceanic trenches.
17

The Dynamic Planet
Plate Tectonics Summary: Ocean floor created at midmid-ocean ridges is consumed at oceanic trenches.
Resources
Read Marshak Chapter 4 Dr. Christopher Scoteses Paleogeographic Maps
http://www.scotese.com/
Dr. Ronald Blakeys Paleogeographic Maps

http://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/globaltext2.html
The Science Channel: 100 Greatest Discoveries: SeaSea-Floor Spreading

http://science.discovery.com/videos/100http://science.discovery.com/videos/100 -greatest greatest-discoveries discoveries-shorts shorts-sea sea-floor floor-spreading.html
Earthguide Online Classroom SeaSea-floor Spreading Animation

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/teachers/t_tectonics/p_seafloorspreading.html
Library of Congress Manuscript of the Heezen Heezen Tharp World Ocean Floor Map
http://memory.loc.gov/cgihttp://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/h?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g9096c+ct003148))
Discovering Plate Boundaries Interactive Exercise, Dale Sawyer, Rice University

http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/downloads.html
Goddard Space Flight Center, Scientific Visualization Studio, Plate Tectonics

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002953/index.html
2011, W. W. Norton
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Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

by Stephen Marshak 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Lecture 4: How the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist

A prime example of Kuhns Scientific Revolution.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Two Types of Lithosphere

Oceanic: ~7 ~7100 km thick.

Plates interact along their boundaries.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Plate interiors are almost earthquakeearthquake-free.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

PassivePassive -margin continental crust thins seaward.

Plate Boundaries: Three Types

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Plate Boundaries: Three Types

Plate Boundaries: Three Types

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Example: The Red Sea

Youngest Ocean Floor

Example: Greenland and the North Atlantic

Youngest Ocean Floor

Example: The Atlantic Ocean

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

MidMid -Ocean Ridges

MidMid -Ocean Ridges

MidMid -Ocean Ridges

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

MidMid -Ocean Ridges

Ocean Crustal Age

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Arc type depends upon the overriding plate.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Hot spots reinforce seasea -floor spreading.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Tectonic Boundaries Evolve

Rifting continues along the East African Rift.

The rift and two spreading ridges comprise a triple junction.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics