Continental Drift

What is continental drift?

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“Well, looking back I suppose it’s been going on for quite sometime, but
I only noticed we were drifting apart for the last 50 million years...”

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 Continental Drift
! ContinentalDrift ! the theory that Earth’s continents
are moving atop a liquid core

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 Continental Drift
! Pangaea! “all Earth” or name given to the super
continent that existed 200 million years ago

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 Continental Drift
! Alfred Wegner, 1915

! German geologist and

meteorologist
! Proposed the theory of
continental drift
! Hypothesized a gigantic
super continent

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Continental Drift

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 Continental Drift
Evidence
1. Similarities in the shape of
Africa’s west coast and
South America’s east coast

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Jigsaw Fit of the Continents

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 Continental Drift
Evidence
2. Fossil remains of the Mesosaurus were found in South
America and South Africa

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Mesosaurus Remains

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 Continental Drift
Evidence
3. Fossil remains of the Glossopteris
were found throughout India, South
America, Africa, and Antarctica

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Plate Movement

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 Crustal Activity
What are plate tectonics an how do they a"ect Earth?

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 Crustal Activity
! Plate Tectonics
! the study of the formation and
movements of plates
! Plates ! section of the lithosphere that moves around
! Lithosphere ! Earth’s solid outer crust
! Asthenosphere ! partially melted layer that flows slowly
and is located below the lithosphere

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 Crustal Activity
! Earth’s
surface consists of a
dozen major plates and
some minor ones
! The plates are moving at
rates close to 10 cm/year

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Tectonic Plates

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 Crustal Activity
! Convection Currents ! driving force of plate movement
! Magma heats up causing it to expand and rise
! Magma cools down causing it to contract and sink
! Theplates #solid lithosphere$ are moving on top of the
asthenosphere #liquid magma$ due to density di"erences

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Convection Currents

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 Crustal Activity
! The idea of continental drift had been around since the
early 1900’s, but lacked enough scientific evidence to
support the theory
! New advancements after World War II help provide the
evidences needed to validate the Theory of Plate
Tectonics

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 Crustal Activity
Earthquake Evidence
! Scientist noticed that earthquakes do not occur at
random location, but run throughout the world along
isolated belts
! When plotted on a map they outline the plate
boundaries

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World Earthquakes 1977 ! 1999

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 Crustal Activity
Volcanic Evidence
! Occurs at plate boundaries where plates are interacting
! Ring
of Fire ! isolated belt around the Pacific Ocean
where 90% of the world’s volcanoes exist

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Ring of Fire

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 Crustal Activity
Rock Evidence
! Sedimentarydeposits and igneous lava flows are usually
placed down in horizontal layers
! Sometimes movement along boundaries causes these
layer to tilt or fold

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Tilted Rock Layer

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Folded Rock Layer

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 Crustal Activity
Mountain Evidence
! As plates collide they sometimes are pushed upward
! Fossilized marine organisms can be found at these high
altitudes in the rock

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Mountain Building

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Crustal Boundaries
How do plates interact at their boundaries?

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Tectonic plates are constantly moving and interacting
! Asthey move across the asthenosphere and form plate
boundaries they interact in various ways

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 Crustal Boundaries
! The types of plate boundaries are:
! Divergent

! Transform

! Convergent

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Convergent Boundary ! boundary where two lithospheric
plates are coming together
! Example: the India Plate pushing upward into
Eurasian Plate and creating the Himalayan
Mountains

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Convergent Plate Boundary
Himalayan Mountains

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Subduction! the process where one plate is pushed
below another and consumed in the mantle
! Example: the Nazca Plate being consumed under
the South American Plate

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Subduction Boundary

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Three Types of Convergent Boundaries:
! Ocean ! Ocean Boundary
! Ocean ! Continental Boundary
! Continental ! Continental Boundary

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Ocean ! Ocean Boundary

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Ocean ! Continent Boundary

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Continent ! Continent Boundary

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Divergent Boundary ! boundary where two lithospheric
plates are moving apart
! Example: part of the Mid!Atlantic Ridge emerges
from the ocean and splits Iceland in half

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Divergent Plate Boundary

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Divergent Plate Boundary
Iceland

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Sea!Floor
Spreading ! the process where ocean floor is
extended when two plates move apart
! Mid!Ocean Ridge ! underwater mountain range created
from a divergent plate boundary

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Mid!Ocean Ridge

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Mid!Atlantic Ridge ! a mid!ocean ridge that runs the
length of the Atlantic Ocean
! Separatesthe North and South American Plates
from the Eurasian and African Plates

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Mid!Atlantic Ridge

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Rift Valley ! long narrow valley that runs the entire
length of a mid!ocean ridge system

Rift Valley

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 Crustal Boundaries
Divergent Plate Boundary Evidence
! Scientists dragged a magnetometer across the ocean
floor and discovered a unique magnetic pattern where
stripes of normal and reversed polarity parallel the mid!
ocean ridge flipping every 76 million years

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“Flip!flopping” Polarity

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“Flip!flopping” Polarity

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 Crustal Boundaries
Evidence
! Rocksamples of the deep ocean floor show that basaltic
oceanic crust becomes progressively younger as you
approach the mid!ocean ridge

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Youngest Rock

Oldest Rock

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 Crustal Boundaries
! Transform Boundary ! boundary where two lithospheric
plates are sliding past one another
! Example: the San Andreas Fault is 800 km long
and runs throughout California

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Transform Plate Boundary
San Andreas Fault

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Transform Plate Boundary

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 Earth’s Interior
What are the layers and properties of Earth’s interior?

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Earth’s Interior

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 Earth’s Interior
! Earth’s
interior structures are known through the
study of seismic waves
! Seismicwaves refract, reflect, change velocity, and
are absorbed depending on the material they are
transmitted through

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 Earth’s Interior
! Lithosphere ! Earth’s crust and outer most layer
! Continental Crust ! thickest #100 km$ and
least dense #2.7 g/cm3$ part of the lithosphere
! Oceanic Crust ! thinnest #2!3 km$ and most
dense part of the lithosphere #3.0 g/cm3$

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Lithosphere

Lithosphere

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Lithosphere

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 Earth’s Interior
! MOHO ! thin interface separating the
lithosphere from the asthenosphere
! Asthenosphere ! a partially melted layer that
allows for parts of the lithosphere to move
! Discovery:
a decrease in velocity from
earthquake waves

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 Lithosphere
Asthenosphere

Lithosphere

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 Earth’s Interior
! Mantle
! thickest part of Earth #80%$ and is
between the crust and the outer core

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 Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mantle

Lithosphere

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 Earth’s Interior
! OuterCore ! liquid layer of Earth’s interior
between the mantles and the inner core
! Discovery:
the absorption and refraction of
earthquake waves

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 Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mantle
Outer core

Lithosphere

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 Earth’s Interior
! InnerCore ! the solid inner most zone of Earth’s
core composed of iron #Fe$ and nickel #Ni$
! Discovery:an increase in velocity from
earthquake waves

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 Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mantle
Outer core
Inner core

Lithosphere

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Earth’s Interior

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Earth’s Interior

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 Earthquake
What are earthquakes and how do we locate them?

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 Earthquakes
! Earthquake ! a natural shaking of the lithosphere
caused by a release of energy stored in rocks
! Most earthquakes are caused by a movement along
a fault where potential energy is given o" as a
seismic wave

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 Earthquakes
! Epicenter! the location on Earth’s surface directly
above the focus
! Focus! the point inside the Earth where the
earthquake originates

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Earthquakes

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 Earthquakes
! Seismometer ! an
instrument used to
measure and record
movements in the
ground

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 Earthquakes
! Seismogram ! record of the seismometer

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 Earthquakes
! MercalliScale ! scale that
measures the intensity of
an earthquake based on
the e"ects to Earth’s
surface, humans, objects in
nature, and other man!
made structures

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 Earthquakes
! The values will di"er based on the distance from the
epicenter:
! Highest intensities are closer
! Lower intensities are farther away

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Intensity Type of Damage
I Instrumental
II Feeble
III Slight
IV Moderate
V Rather Strong
VI Strong
VII Very Strong
VIII Destructive
IX Ruinous
X Disastrous
XI Very Disastrous
XII Catastrophic

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 Earthquakes
! Richter Scale ! logarithmic
scale that measures the
amount of energy released
during an earthquake
! Magnitude ! a number to
quantify the amount of
seismic energy released from
an earthquake

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 Earthquakes
! The Richter Scale’s magnitude is determined from
the following measurement:
! Seismogram’s amplitude of waves
! Distances from other seismographs
! Epicenter distance

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Seismometers

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 Earthquakes
! Primary Wave #P!wave$
! P!waves are the fastest waves
! Travels through solids, liquids, and gases
! Compressional ! particles travel in the
direction of wave movement

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 Earthquakes
! Primary Wave

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 Earthquakes
! Secondary Wave

! S!waves are the slower wave

! Travels through solids only
! Shear ! particles travel in right angles to the
direction of wave movement

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 Earthquakes
! Secondary Wave

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Seismic Waves

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 Earthquakes
! Seismicwaves radiate
away from the focus

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 Earthquakes
! Shadow Zone ! area in which seismic waves are
not detected due to the liquid outer core

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 Earthquakes
! P!waves are refracted
when they reach the
liquid outer core

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 Earthquakes
! S!wavesare absorbed
when they reach the
outer core and are not
transmitted through to
the other side

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 Earthquakes
! Epicentersare located using the velocity
di"erences between the p!wave and s!wave

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 Earthquakes
! Since p!waves travel
faster then s!waves, as
your distance increases
from the earthquake’s
epicenter the arrival time
between the two waves
will be greater

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Earthquakes

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 Earthquakes
! Distanceto the epicenter
is determined by
comparing the arrival
times and the E.S.R.T.

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 Earthquakes
! To find the epicenter
location you need to
triangulate a position
using three di"erent
seismometer stations

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 Earthquakes
EPICENTER
Station 1

Station 2

Station 3

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Locating Epicenters

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