Chapter 2: Plate
Tectonics and
the Ocean Floor
• According to the Theory of Plate Tectonics, the
outermost portion of Earth is composed of a
patchwork of thin, rigid plates that move
horizontally with respect to one another.
• These thin, rigid plates are actually pieces of
Theory of the lithosphere, and contain either
Plate continental or oceanic crust.
• The interaction of these plates as they move
Tectonics builds features of Earth’s crust, such as
mountain belts, volcanoes and ocean basins.
• The Theory of Plate Tectonics originated from
the Continental Drift Theory, which was
proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912.
Evidence of
Continental Drift
• Wegener proposed that continents – particularly
South America and Africa, fit together like pieces
of a jigsaw puzzle.
• He suggested that in the past, the continents
collided to form a large landmass, which he
named Pangaea and that one huge ocean,
Panthalassa existed.
• During the early 1960s, Sir Edward Bullord and
two associates tested the fit of the continents
using a computer program at the continental
margins (not the coastlines, but at a depth of 2000
m) and it showed an excellent fit.
Evidence contd.
Evidence contd.
Evidence of ancient
glaciation is found
in the lower‐
• Deposits have been dated at about 300
latitude regions of million years old.
South America,
Africa, India and
Australia.
• There was a global ice age at that time,
and even tropical areas were covered by
Therefore, one of thick ice (extremely unlikely).
two things must
• Some continents that are now in tropical
have occurred:
areas were once located much closer to
one of the poles.
[Link]
So, What Led to the
ToPT?
• New technology allowed scientists to analyze
the way rocks retained the signature of
Earth’s magnetic field, which in turn enabled
them to determine the location where rocks
first formed at Earth’s surface.
• The use of sonar led to the discovery that
giant mountain chains, rimmed by deep
trenches bisected the ocean floor.
Earth’s Magnetic Field and
Paleomagnetism
• Earth’s magnetic field consists of invisible lines of magnetic force that
originate within Earth and travel out into space.
• Earth’s magnetic field has opposite poles – North and South.
• Some rocks are affected by Earth’s magnetic field.
• Nearly all igneous rocks contain magnetite, which is a naturally
magnetic iron mineral.
• Magnetite particles within molten magma align themselves with
Earth’s magnetic field because magma and lava are fluids. When
the material crystalizes, the magnetite is frozen in place (at the
angle of Earth’s magnetic field at that time).
• Therefore, grains of magnetite can serve as tiny compass needles
(pointing to the magnetic North pole at the time)
• The most reliable rocks containing high amounts of magnetite are
basalt rocks, which makes up most of the ocean crust.
Paleomagnetism
• The study of Earth’s ancient magnetic field is
called paleomagnetism.
• The polarity (north‐south orientation of the
magnetic field) has reversed itself periodically
throughout geologic time.
• The process is related to Earth’s rotation but
nobody has pinpointed the exact cause.
• Approximately 184 major reversals have
occurred in the past 83 million years. The
pattern of switching of Earth’s magnetic
field is highly irregular and ranges from
25,000 years to more than 30 million years
(avg. 450,000).
• Geologic evidence indicates that Earth’s
magnetic field as been weakening during
the past 2000 years.
• HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE
REVERSALS? YOU TELL ME!
Evidence for Plate Tectonics
• Apparent polar
wandering
• Location of North
Pole appeared to
change over time
due to continental
movement
Seafloor Spreading and Features of Ocean Basins
• During WWII, Harry Hess, a US Navy Captain, had a habit of leaving
his depth recorder on at all times while his ship was traveling at sea.
• After the war, compilation of these and many other depth records showed
extensive mountain ridges near the centers of ocean basics and extremely
deep, narrow trenches at the edges of ocean basins.
• Hess published History of Ocean Basins, which contained the idea of seafloor
spreading, and the associated circular movement of rock material in the
mantle – convection cells – as the driving mechanism.
• He suggested that new ocean crust was created at the ridges, split apart,
moved away from the ridges, and later disappeared back into the deep Earth
at trenches.
Highlights of Seafloor Spreading
• Mid‐ocean ridge—spreading center
• Subduction zones—oceanic trench site of crust destruction
• Subduction can generate deep ocean trenches.
Evidence: In 1963, geologists Frederick Vine and Drummond Matthews,
analyzed the igneous rock stripes around the mid‐ocean ridges and
determined that the stripes record Earth’s magnetic polarity at
formation.
Other Evidence
• Radiometrically age‐
data samples were
made at various
locations to determine
the approximate age of
rocks at various
locations across the
ocean floor.
• The oldest ocean floor is
only 180 million years old.
The pattern of age
distribution is symmetric.
Why??
Other Evidence, contd.
• The heat from Earth’s
interior is released to the
surface as heat flow. The
heat that moves to the
surface is very high at mid‐
ocean ridges and very low at
subduction zones.
• Large earthquakes primarily
occur at subduction zones
and earthquake activity
mirrors tectonic plate
boundaries.
Detecting Plate Motion
[Link]
Mechanisms for Plate Movement
• Two possible mechanisms for
plate movement
• Slab pull—weight of
subducting plate pulls the
rest of the plate
• Slab suction—viscus
mantle flows toward
subduction zone, sucking
in nearby plates
Tectonic Plates Activity
• Make a group of four students.
• Analyze the dataset that your group has been given.
• Categorize the boundaries you have been given into three groups
based on your data.
• Be ready to present your reasoning!
Types of Plate Boundaries
Divergent Boundary Features
• Plates move apart.
• Mid‐ocean ridge
• Rift valley
• New ocean floor created
• Rifting
• Shallow focus earthquakes
• Intensity measured with seismic moment magnitude
Types of Spreading
Centers
• Oceanic rise
• Fast‐spreading
• Gentle slopes
• East Pacific
• Oceanic ridge
• Slow‐spreading
• Steep slopes
• Mid‐Atlantic
• Ultra‐slow
• Deep rift valley
• Widely scattered volcanoes
• Arctic and southwest India
Convergent Boundary
Features
• Plates move toward each other.
• Oceanic crust destroyed
• Ocean trench
• Volcanic arc
• Deep focus earthquakes
• Great forces involved
• Mineral structure changes associated
Convergent Types • Oceanic‐Continental Convergence
• Ocean plate is subducted.
• Continental arcs generated
• Explosive andesitic volcanic
eruptions
• Oceanic‐Oceanic Convergence
• Denser plate is subducted.
• Deep trenches generated
• Volcanic island arcs generated
• Continental‐Continental
Convergence
• No subduction
• Tall mountains uplifted
• Himalayas from India–Asia collision
Transform Features
• Offsets oriented perpendicular to mid‐ocean ridge
• Segments of plates slide past each other.
• Offsets permit mid‐ocean ridge to move apart at different
rates.
• Shallow but strong earthquakes
• Oceanic Transform Fault—ocean floor only
• Continental Transform Fault—cuts across continent
• San Andreas Fault
• Transform faults occur between mid‐ocean ridge segments.
Hotspots
• Mantle Plumes and
Hotspots
• Intraplate features
• Volcanic islands
within a plate
• Island chains
• Record ancient plate
motions
• Nematath—hotspot
track
Hawaiian Islands – Emperor Seamount Nematath
• More than 100 intraplate
volcanoes
• Stretches over 5800 kilometer
(3000 miles)
• Age relationships of volcanoes
suggest northwest migration of
Pacific Plate.
Intraplate Features
• Seamounts
• Rounded tops
• Tablemounts or guyots
• Flattened tops
• Subsidence of flanks of mid‐
ocean ridge
• Wave erosion may flatten
seamount to form a
tablemount.
Paleogeography
• The study of historical changes of
continental shapes and positions.
• As a result of paleogeographic changes,
the size and shape of the ocean basins
have changed as well.
• Continents are thought to add material
through a process called Continental
Accretion, where bits and pieces of
continents, islands and volcanoes are
added to the edges of continents to
create larger landmasses.
Future Predictions
• Assume same direction and rate
of plate motions as now
• Atlantic will enlarge, Pacific
will shrink
• New sea from East Africa
rift valleys
• Further Himalaya uplift
• Separation of North and
South America
• Part of California in Alaska
Wilson Cycle
• John Tuzo Wilson
• Plate tectonics model shows life
cycle of ocean basins:
• Formation
• Growth
• Destruction
