PLATE
TECTONICS
Theory
Common Scientific
Body of thoroughly-
tested and verified
Guess or suggested
explanations for a set
explanation
of observations of the
natural world
Plate tectonics
•Theory and study of plate formation,
movement, interaction and
destruction
•States that lithosphere is broken
into numerous plates
•Combination of Wegener’s
continental drift theory, Hess’
seafloor spreading mechanism and
Wilson’s work about transform fault.
HISTORY OF PLAT
TECTONICS
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
- first introduced by German
meteorologist, Alfred Lothar
Wegener in his book ‘Die
Entstehung der Kontinente(The
Origin of Continents) in 1912.
Continental Drift
How fast are the plates moving?
Plates move 1-10 centimeters per year (≈ rate of fingernail growth).
Source: http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/animations/index.html
Why did people rejected
Wegener’s idea?
• Continents do not move, tectonic plates
does
• Wegener can’t explain the mechanism of
the drifting
• “He’s a meteorologist, he doesn’t belong
in the field”
• He’s German
•SEAFLOOR SPREADING
-first introduced by Harry
Hammond Hess in 1962.
Seafloor Spreading
Source: http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/animations/index.html
Abraham Ortelius
- first suggested in 1596 that
Americas were torn away from
Europe and Africa…by quakes
and floods.
Arthur Holmes
-Scottish geologist who explained
that the driving force in
Wegener’s idea is the convection
current(1928).
Alexander du Toit
-published “Our Wandering
Continents” in 1937
-drifter
Maurice Ewing and
Bruce Heezen
-discovered that
through the mid-
Atlantic ridge ran a
deep canyon and the
rift outlined the later
named tectonic
plates.
John Tuzo Wilson
-”Father of Plate Tectonics”
-Canadian geophysicist who repackaged
the continental drift and seafloor
spreading hypotheses and added the
concept of transform fault in 1965.
Tectonism
-deformation of the lithosphere
Tectonic
-deformation of the crust as a result of
plate interaction
-from Latin “tectonicus” which means
building
Plate
-large section of crust and rigid upper
mantle that moves around on the
asthenosphere
Forces that affect Plate
Tectonics
1. Ridge Push
2. Slab Pull
3. Basal Drag
The Tectonic Plat
1.Major Plates
-any plates with an area greater than 20 million km2
- There are 7 of these plates.
Pacific Plate
-Largest plate
-an oceanic tectonic plate
-underlies the Pacific Ocean.
-stretches all the way along the west coast of North America to the east
coast of Japan and Indonesia.
-103,300,000 km2 in area
• forms most of the Pacific Ring of Fire .
• And smack dab in the middle are the islands that make up Hawaii.
North American plate
• contains the continent of North America and
part of the Atlantic Ocean.
• 75,900,000 km2 in area
• extends all the way over the North pole and
even contains Siberia and the northern
island of Japan. It also includes Greenland,
Cuba and the Bahamas.
• Its interior contains a giant granitic craton.
It’s believed that the North American
(Laurentian) craton is 4 billion years old.
Eurasian Plate
• consists of most of Europe, Russia and
parts of Asia.
• 67,800,000 km2 in area
• sandwiched between the North American
and African Plate on the north and west
sides.
• The west side has a divergent boundary
with the North American plate.
• The south side of the Eurasian
plate neighbors the Arabian, Indian and
Sunda plates.
African Plate
- contains the whole continent of Africa as well as the surrounding
oceanic crust of the Atlantic Ocean.
• 61,300,000 km2 in area
-looks like a larger boundary of the African continent.
-The west side of the African major plate diverge with the North
American plate. These divergent plate boundaries forms the mid-
oceanic ridges or rift valley.
Antarctic Plate
• holds the entire continent of Antarctica including its surround
oceanic crust.
• 60,900,000 km2 in area
• This plate is surrounded by parts of the African, Australian, Pacific
and South American plates.
• once grouped as part of the supercontinent Gondwana with
Australia and India. But about 100 million years ago, Antarctica
broke apart to its current location at the south pole.
• It’s estimated that the Antarctica major plate moves about 1 cm per
year.
African Plate
- contains the whole continent of Africa as well as the surrounding
oceanic crust of the Atlantic Ocean.
• 61,300,000 km2 in area
-looks like a larger boundary of the African continent.
-The west side of the African major plate diverge with the North
American plate. These divergent plate boundaries forms the mid-
oceanic ridges or rift valley.
Indo-Australia Plate
• major plate combining the Australian and Indian Plate.
• 58,900,000 km2 in area
• stretches from Australia to India.
• also includes the oceanic crust from the Indian Ocean.
• The north-east side of the Australian plate converges with the
Pacific Plate.
South American Plate
• major plate that includes the continent of South America and a large
portion of ocean from the Atlantic Ocean.
• 43,600,000 km2 in area
• At the west side of South America, it experiences devastating
earthquakes due to the convergent plate tectonic boundaries.
• But the eastern edge lies in the Atlantic Ocean at a divergent plate
boundary.
• Alongside the African Plate, these two plate boundaries pull apart
from each other creating some of the youngest oceanic crust on the
planet.
2.Minor Plates
• any plates with an area less than 20
million km2 but greater than 1 million km2.
• There are ten of these types of plates.
2.Minor Plates
• any plates with an area less than 20
million km2 but greater than 1 million km2.
• There are ten of these types of plates.
Tectonic Plates
How fast are the plates moving?
Plates move 1-10 centimeters per year (≈ rate of fingernail growth).
Modified from USGS Graphics
Fingernail growth plotted: http://jclahr.com/science/earth_science/thumbnail/index.html
WHAT ARE THE
PROBLEMS IN PLATE
TECTONICS?
1. How do we explain earthquakes that occur in the
middle of plates?
2. What drives the whole system?
Modified from USGS Graphics
Fingernail growth plotted: http://jclahr.com/science/earth_science/thumbnail/index.html
