Download Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics
Court Monroe
Chapter 17, pages 443 - 463
Alfred Wegener, father of continental drift
Wegener thought that the continents were once connected.
Continents fit into each other
Landforms, like mountains
Fossils of continents meshed in key areas
People did not go along with theory, because they could not figure out what
force would be strong enough to move a continent.
Continents would crack if pushed through ocean
Gravity would not make them go “downhill”
Spin of the Earth was not fast enough
Wegener died on expedition to Greenland
Probably died by falling into a crevice
When digging in Greenland, when you are are deep as you are
going to go, one yells “I’ve found Wegener”.
Theory widely accepted in early 1960’s
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www.vulkaner.no/v/vulkinfo/ tomtech/etomtech.html
http://pubs.us
gs.gov/public
ations/graphi
cs/Fig25globes.gif
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www.astro.umn.edu/~john/ Ast1001/earth/Earth.html
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oak.cats.ohiou.edu/.../ Diversification.htm
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www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/ tectonics/quakecenters.html
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visu
alizations/es0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization
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When plates converge, one of three things can happen.
1.
A continental plate (granite) can collide with oceanic plate (basalt), and the more dense goes under
(subducts).
2.
Fig 4.32
When plates converge, one of three things can happen.
1.
A continental plate (granite) can collide with continental plate (granite), and it crumples (mountains)
2.
Fig 4.33
When plates converge, one of three things can happen.
1.
An oceanic plate (basalt) can collide with an oceanic plate (basalt), and it make an island arc (Japan)
2.
Fig 4.28
1.
The ocean comes apart at ridges. Most of these are in the middle of oceans.
2.
Fig 4.12
1.
We know that the plates come apart here (called Sea Floor Spreading), because of magnetic anomalies.
2.
Fig. 4.14
3.
Fig 4.16
4.
Fig 4.18
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Plates can also slide past each other (transform).
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Break it down (Old School Style)
Plates come together at PLATE BOUNDARIES
CONVERGENT (Where they come together)
a.
Continent to continent (mountains like Himalayas)
b.
Ocean to Ocean (Island arcs like Japan, with TRENCH)
c.
Continent to Ocean (Rockies and Andes, with TRENCH and MOUNTAINS)
DIVERGENT (Where they come apart)
a.
RIDGE (small hump where lava comes up)
b.
RIFT (where the canyon is between plates)
c.
SEA FLOOR SPREADING (where Ridges and Rifts are)
d.
NEWEST (land is born here)
TRANSVERSE (Where they slide past each other)
a.
L.A. and San Francisco
b.
Crooked sidewalks
a.
Convection currents
b.
Heat from birth of Earth, gravitational pressure, radioactive decay
All of this is energy driven
What kind of plate boundary is this a representation of?
What kind of fault is THIS a representation of?
Convergent zones can be
Continent to continent (mountains)
Continent to Ocean (ocean trench, and mountains)
Ocean to Ocean (island arc ~ Japan)
This is oceanic vs. continental crust. Name a place where
this is happening.
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www.tki.org.nz/.../ what_on_earth/bumps2_e.php
www.calstatela.edu/ faculty/acolvil/plates.html
Excellent animations, on another website.
http://highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/0072826967/student_view0/chapter4/animations_a
nd_movies.html#