Lecture Notes in Science 10

Unit 1: Earth and Space

Module 1: Plate Tectonics

The Earth is made up of 3 main layers: Tectonics- the movement of the plates
- Refers to the deformation of the crust as a
consequence of plate interaction.

Plate Tectonics – the theory of moving lithospheric

plates

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is

divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the
Crust - the outermost layer of the earth rocky inner layer above the core. The plates act like a
- It is made up of variety of solid rocks like hard and rigid shell compared to Earth's mantle. This
sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. strong outer layer is called the lithosphere
- It has an average density of 2.8 g/cm3
- Its thickness ranges from 5 to 50 km Activity along boundaries
- It is thickest in a part where a relative young  Trenches (zone of subduction)
mountain is present  mélanges (complex of shear rock)
- It is thinnest along the ocean floor  accretionary prism (sedimentary and volcanic
wedges separated by high angle faults)
Two Kinds of Crust:  earthquakes
 volcanoes
1. Continental crust – the thicker (10-70km) but  young mountain belts
less dense, buoyant and mostly old
2. Oceanic crust – the thinner (~70km) but denser Plate boundaries- places where most of the earthquakes
(sinks under continental crust) and younger originated or some mountains and volcanoes were
formed
Plates – broken segments made of rigid lithosphere.
Types of Plate Boundaries
Lithosphere – is made up of the crust and the upper part a) Divergent Boundary is formed when plates
of the mantle move apart, creating a zone of tension.
The World’s Plates b) Convergent boundary is present when two
plates collide.
1. African Plate 9. Juan De Fuca Plate c) Transform Fault is characterized by plates that
2. Australian Plate 10. Nazca Plate are sliding past each other.
3. Antarctic Plate 11. North American Plate
4. Arabian Plate 12. Pacific Plate
5. Caribbean Plate 13. Philippine Plate
6. Cocos Plate 14. South American Plate
7. Eurasian Plate 15. Scotia Plate
8. Indian Plate

Prepared by: Miss J. J. A. de Veas Page 1

 3 Types of Converging Boundaries The oceanic crust descends into the mantle at a rate of
1. Oceanic-oceanic convergence 1-10centimetres per year. This oceanic crust is called the
2. Continental-continental convergence “Subducting Slab”
3. Oceanic-continental convergence
When the subducting slab reaches a depth of around
100 kilometers, it dehydrates and releases water into the
overlying mantle wedge.

The addition of water into the mantle wedge changes

the melting point of the molten material there forming new
melt which rises up into the overlying continental crust
forming volcanoes.

Subduction is a way of recycling the oceanic crust.

Eventually the subducting slab sinks down into the mantle
to be recycled. It is for this reason that the oceanic crust
is much younger than the continental crust which is not
When two oceanic plates converge, because they are
recycled.
dense, one runs over the top of the other causing it to
sink into the mantle and a subduction zone is formed.
Divergent Plate Boundaries
The subducting plate is bent down into the mantle to
form a deep depression in the seafloor called a trench.

Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean and

remain largely unexplored.

When continental crust pushes against continental

crust both sides of the convergent boundary have the
same properties (think back to the description of
continental crust: thick and buoyant). Neither side of the
boundary wants to sink beneath the other side, and as a
result the two plates push against each other and the
crust buckles and cracks, pushing up (and down into the
mantle) high mountain ranges. For example, the
European Alps and Himalayas formed this way.

At a convergent boundary where continental crust

pushes against oceanic crust, the oceanic crust which is
thinner and denser than the continental crust sinks below
the continental crust. This is called a Subduction Zone.

Prepared by: Miss J. J. A. de Veas Page 2

 Hot Spot Volcanoes- Hot mantle plumes breaching the
surface in the middle of a tectonic plate

A hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has

experienced active volcanism for a long period of time.

The source of this volcanism is a mantle plume of hot

mantle material rising up from near the core-mantle
boundary through the crust to the surface.

A mantle plume may rise at any location in the

 Via subduction. The subducting slab dehydrates to mantle, and this is why hotspot volcanoes are
form new melt that will rise through the crust to be independent from tectonic plate boundaries.
erupted at the surface.
The Hawaiian island chains are examples of
 Via rifting. When two plates pull apart magma rises, hotspot volcanoes.
producing volcanic eruptions at the surface.

 At “Hotspots”….hotspot do not necessarily occur

along a plate boundary. So hotspot volcanoes can
form in the middle of tectonic plates

Characteristics of Plate Boundaries

Plate Boundary Plate Movement Seafloor Events Observed Example Locations
 Ridge forms at spreading center.
 Ocean basin expands
 Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Ocean-Ocean Forms by seafloor spreading  Plates are increases.
 East Pacific Rise
Divergent Plate  Many small volcanoes
Apart
Boundaries  Shallow earthquakes.
 Continent spreads.
New ocean basin may form  East African Rift Valley
Continent-continent  central rift collapses.
as continent splits.  Red Sea
 Ocean fills basin.
 Dense oceanic lithosphere plunges beneath
less dense continental.
 Earthquakes trace path of down-moving plate  Western South America,
Ocean-continent as it descends into asthenosphere.  Cascade Mountains in
 A trench forms. western United States
 Subducted plate partially melts.
Destroyed at subduction  Magma rises to form continental volcanoes.
zones  Older, cooler, denser crust slips beneath less
dense crust.
Convergent Plate
Together  Strong quakes.
Boundaries  Aleutians
Ocean-ocean  Deep trench forms in arc shape.
 Marianas Trench
 Subducted plate heats in upper mantle,
magma rises to form curving chains of volcanic
islands.
 Collision between masses of granitic
continental lithosphere.
 Himalayas Mountains
Continent-continent Closure of Ocean Basins  Neither mass is subducted.
 European Alps
 Plate edges are compressed, folded, uplifted;
one may move beneath the other
 Mid-Ocean ridges
Transform Plate Boundaries Past each other Neither created nor destroyed  Transform faults across spreading manner
 San Andreas Fault

Glossary of Terms:
Continental Volcanic Arc - mountains formed in part of Magma – a mass of molten rock formed at depth,
igneous activity associated with subduction of oceanic including dissolved gases and crystals
lithosphere beneath a continent.
Mid-ocean ridge – a continuous mass of land with long
Earthquake – vibration of Earth due to the rapid release width and height on the ocean floor
of energy.
Subduction – an event in which a slab (chunk/block) of
Fault – a break in a rock along which movement has rock thrusts (pushes/plunges/falls) into the mantle
occurred
Trench – a depression in the seafloor produced by
Fracture – any break in a rock in which no significant subduction process
movement has taken place
Volcanic Island Arc – a chain of volcanoes that develop
Hot Spot – a concentration of heat in the mantle capable parallel to a trench
of creating magma

Prepared by: Miss J. J. A. de Veas Page 3

Prepared by: Miss J. J. A. de Veas Page 4