Lecture 3

Plate Tectonics
and the Rock Cycle
 Questions to Ponder

What evidence exists to support Plate

tectonics?
How does plate tectonics affect earth?
How does rock formation and rock
destruction relate to Plate tectonics?
Plate tectonics
 1. Divergent boundary
Spreading apart new crust is usually
made at such boundaries
Mid Ocean Ridge
Mid Ocean Ridge system
actually extends onto
continental crust!
 Features of Divergent boundaries
In oceans
Volcanism
Undersea mountain ranges (ridges)
On continents
Some volcanism
Rift valleys
 2. Convergent boundary
Plates move towards one another
Because either of the two crust types is
involved we get 3 subcategories
A. Oceanic-continental crust
Subduction
B. Oceanic-oceanic crust
Subduction
C. Continental to continental crust
Collision
Continental crust then is more
buoyant than oceanic crust
 Subduction v. Collision
Subduction
Denser crust dives (subducts) under less
dense crust
Oceanic crust subducts under continental
crust
Older (cooler and more dense) oceanic crust
subducts under younger (warmer and less
dense) oceanic crust
Collision continental to continental crust
Neither subducts under one another
 Subduction: The Islands of Japan

(Also the Aleutians; Caribbean; Indonesia)

Subduction the Andes in South America
Collision the Himalayas in India/Tibet
Features of Convergent boundaries
Subduction zone
Volcanism (New rocks)
Earthquakes
Island Arcs
Mountain ranges (Volcanic in origin)
Collision
Earthquakes
Mountain ranges
 3. Transform boundary
Plates move laterally past each other
Commonly associated with mid-ocean
rift systems
Space accommodation
Continental zones
San Andreas Fault
Lateral
motion
Transform boundaries, compared
 Features of Transform boundaries
Earthquakes. (duh!)
The movement of plates, creation of new
crust, and subduction of old crust makes
earth Dynamic
 Evidence of Plate tectonics:
Modern distribution of volcanoes,
mountain building, earthquakes
 Evidence of Plate tectonics:
Modern distribution of volcanoes,
mountain building, earthquakes
Magnetic orientation of minerals in rocks
Magnetic Striping on Seafloor

In the 1950s, the Atlantic

seafloor was found to
consist of alternating
stripes of normal and
reversely magnetized
rocks
 Evidence of Plate tectonics:
Modern distribution of volcanoes,
mountain building, earthquakes
Magnetic orientation of minerals in rocks
Ages of rocks at divergent boundaries
Seafloor Spreading

A Mid Ocean Ridge

is a divergent zone
where hot magma
rises up, cools and
solidifies, forming
new basalt
Rocks get equally
older with equal
distance from the
MOR
 Previous arguments for
continental drift
Continental Fit
Mountain ranges of similar ages and rock
types on distant continents
Evidence of preferred glacial movement
on separate continents
Fossil distribution
But, early proponents had no viable
mechanism to explain this movement!
 Polar Wandering
Magnetic rocks of different ages on the same
continent can point to very different apparent
magnetic pole positions
So either the poles are wandering or the continents
are moving
The role of Plate Tectonics
to Rock formation
 3 rock classifications

Textbook recognizes a 4th classification:

Hydrothermal Rocks
Rocks are continuously
Formed,
Broken down,
and
Altered.

Earth Recycles!
 Rock Cycle

Temperature &
Pressure
 Rock types
Igneous
Volcanic (Extrusive)
Plutonic (intrusive)
Sedimentary
Clastic detrital
Chemical precipitates
Metamorphic
Regional
Contact
 What are Rocks
Aggregate of minerals
 What is a mineral
and why do we care.
A mineral is:
Naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a
specific chemical formula and definite crystal
structure

Further, minerals are the basic building block of

rocks (!!!!), as well as often being critical
resources, themselves.

Thus, we have to understand a bit of chemistry..

 States of Matter
(anything that has mass
and occupies space)
Solid
Crystalline - atoms bond together in a
regular orderly pattern
Amorphous - atoms bonded together in
a random pattern
Liquid - atoms or molecules tightly
packed but in random motion
Gas - particles in random motion at high
speeds, separated by empty space
 Minerals
Naturally occurring inorganic solid, with a
definite crystal structure and specific
chemical formula
Must be solid with a crystal structure
Ice vs. water
Must be formed by a natural process
Natural vs. synthetic diamonds
Must be an inorganic compound
Coal is not a mineral