The Structure of the Earth,
Plate Tectonics and Landforms
Rock Cycle
Igneous: formed through cooling and solidification of magma or lava
Metamorphic: transformation of an existing rock through heat and pressure
Sedimentary: formed through deposition and cementation of weathered
rock products
Structure of the Earth
Mantle
• The Earth is
made up of 3 Outer core
main layers: Inner core
– Core
– Mantle
– Crust
Crust
The Crust
• Upper thermal boundary layer
associated with mantle
convection
• The Earth’s crust is made of:
Continental Crust Oceanic Crust
- thick (10-70km) - thin (~7 km)
- buoyant (less dense than - dense (sinks/subducts
oceanic crust) under continental crust)
- mostly old - young (Atlantic 200 my)
Earth’s Crust: cold, brittle
Thin layer, 0.4% of Earth’s mass and 1% of its volume
Continental Crust
•Primarily granitic type rock (Na, K, Al, SiO2)
•40 km thick on average
•Relatively light, 2.7 g/cm3
Oceanic Crust
•Primarily basaltic (Fe, Mg, Ca, low SiO2)
•7 km thick
•Relatively dense, 2.9 g/cm3
cool, solid crust and upper (rigid) mantle “float” and
move over hotter, deformable lower mantle
Knowledge of the Earth’s
Structure
• Geophysical surveys: seismic, gravity, magnetics,
electrical, geodesy (geodetics)
– Acquisition: land, air, sea and satellite
– Geological surveys: fieldwork, boreholes, mines
Plate Tectonics
• The Earth’s crust is divided into plates which
are moved in various directions.
• This plate motion causes them to collide, pull
apart, or scrape against each other.
• Each type of interaction causes a
characteristic set of Earth structures or
“tectonic” features.
• The word, tectonic, refers to the deformation of
the crust as a consequence of plate
interaction.
• The surface expression of mantle convection
World Plates
Major plates – Pacific, African, Eurasian, North American, Antarctic, South
American, Australian
Minor plates – Nazca, Indian, Arabian, Philippine, Caribbean, Cocos,
Scotia, Juan de Fuca
Plate Composition
• Plates are
made of rigid
lithosphere.
The lithosphere is
made up of the
crust and the upper
part of the mantle.
Lithosphere & Asthenosphere: More detailed description of
Earth’s layered structure according to mechanical behavior
of rocks, which ranges from very rigid to deformable
1. lithosphere: rigid surface (100 – 200 km)
shell that includes upper
mantle and crust (here is
where ‘plate tectonics’
work), cool layer
2. asthenosphere: layer
below lithosphere, part of
the mantle, weak and (200 – 400 km)
deformable (ductile,
deforms as plates move),
partial melting of material
happens here, hotter layer
Craton: an old and stable part of
the continental lithosphere.
Having often survived cycles of
merging and rifting of continents,
cratons are generally found in the
interiors of tectonic plates.
They have a thick crust and deep
lithospheric roots that extend as
much as several hundred km into
the mantle.
The term craton is used to
distinguish the stable portion of
the continental crust from regions
that are more geologically active
and unstable.
Cratons can be described as Shields, Precambrian crystalline rock that
crops out at the surface and Platforms, in which the basement rock is
overlaid by younger sediments and sedimentary rock. The age of these
rocks is in all cases greater than 540 million years, and radiometric age
dating has revealed some that are as old as 2 to 3 billion years
Plate Movement
• “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by
the underlying hot mantle convection cells
Divergent plate boundary
Convergent plate
marked by mid-ocean ridge Transform fault
boundary marked by (spreading center)
trench Oceanic lithosphere
Asthenosphere Subduction fueling
volcanoes
Asia
Africa Descending plate
Mantle
upwelling pulled down by
Superplume gravity
Philippine Trench
Outer core Mariana Trench
Mantle
Mid-Atlantic
Ridge
Inner
core
Rapid
convection
Hot
at hot
Possible Cold spots
South America convection cells
Peru–Chile
Trench
Hawaii
East
Pacific Rise
16
Plate Boundaries
Sites of significant geologic activity
earthquakes, volcanism, orogenesis
Three types of plate boundary
• Divergent
• Convergent
• Transform
Divergent Boundaries
• Spreading ridges
– As plates move apart new material is erupted to
fill the gap
Age of Oceanic Crust
Courtesy of www.ngdc.noaa.gov
Iceland: An example of continental rifting
• Iceland has a divergent plate boundary running
through its middle
Modern divergence
East African Rift System
22
East African Rift System
24
Convergent Boundaries
• There are three styles of convergent
plate boundaries
– Continent-continent collision
– Continent-oceanic crust collision
– Ocean-ocean collision
Continent-Continent Collision
• Forms mountains, e.g. European Alps, Himalayas
Himalayas
Continent-Oceanic Crust Collision
• Called SUBDUCTION
Subduction
• Oceanic lithosphere
subducts underneath the
continental lithosphere
• Oceanic lithosphere heats
and dehydrates as it
subsides
• The melt rises resulting in
volcanism
• E.g. The Andes
Continent – Ocean
West Coast of South America
• Continent – Ocean
• Mount St. Helens
31
Ocean-Ocean Plate Collision
• When two oceanic plates collide, the older more
dense slab will sink back into the mantle forming a
subduction zone.
• The subducting plate is bent downward to form a very
deep depression in the ocean floor called a trench.
• Trench systems occur for both continent-ocean and
ocean-ocean boundaries
• The worlds deepest parts of the ocean are found
along trenches.
– E.g. The Mariana Trench is 11 km deep!
Island Arcs Form, Continents Collide, and Crust Recycles at
Convergent Plate Boundaries
The formation of an
island arc along a
trench as two oceanic
plates converge. The
volcanic islands form as
masses of magma
reach the seafloor. The
Japanese islands were
formed in this way.
Motion of the plates:
Rates: average 5 cm/year
Mid-Atlantic Ridge = 2.5 – 3.0 cm/yr
East-Pacific Rise = 8.0 – 13.0 cm/yr
34
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Ocean-Ocean
Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Ocean – Ocean
Caribbean Islands
Transform Boundaries
• Where plates slide past each other
Above: View of the San Andreas
transform fault
38
Wilson Cycles
Supercontinent Formation (Ma) Breakup (Ma) Mode Ref.
Pangaea 350 250 Atlantic (4)
Pannotia/Gondwanaland 650 550 Pacific (4, 5)
Rodinia 900 760 Pacific (4, 6, 39)
Nuna 1800 1500 Atlantic? (4)
Craton/Shields
Volcanoes & Plate Tectonics
Pacific Ring of Fire
Volcanism is
mostly
focused at
plate
margins
Volcanoes are formed by:
- Subduction - Rifting - Hotspots
Pacific Ring of Fire
Hotspot
volcanoes
What are Hotspot Volcanoes?
• Hot mantle plumes breaching the
surface in the middle of a tectonic plate
The Hawaiian island chain are
examples of hotspot volcanoes.
Photo: Tom Pfeiffer / www.volcanodiscovery.com
The tectonic plate moves over a fixed hotspot
forming a chain of volcanoes.
The volcanoes get younger from one end to the other.
Plate Tectonics Summary
• The Earth is made up of 3 main layers (core,
mantle, crust)
• On the surface of the Earth are tectonic
plates that slowly move around the globe
• Plates are made of crust and upper mantle
(lithosphere)
• There are 2 types of plate
• There are 3 types of plate boundaries
• Volcanoes and Earthquakes are closely
linked to the margins of the tectonic plates
