Plate Tectonics BIG Idea Most Geologic Activity Occurs at the Boundaries Between Plates
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
PLATE TECTONICS.Docx
GTheory of Plate Tectonics Critique and interpret major types of evidence supporting the Theory of Plate Tectonics. Plate tectonics is the most important concept in modern geology. This section will introduce you to the concept of plate tectonics, how it works, why it is important and how it is shaping the world today. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TO DO · Describe and compare different types of plate motions, rates of motion and the driving mechanisms and forces involved with each. · Know the role of technology in Plate Tectonics. Theory of Plate Tectonics When the concept of seafloor spreading came along, scientists recognized that it was the mechanism to explain how continents could move around Earth’s surface. Like the scientists before us, we will now merge the ideas of continental drift and seafloor spreading into the theory of plate tectonics. Earth’s Tectonic Plates Seafloor and continents move around on Earth’s surface, but what is actually moving? What portion of the Earth makes up the “plates” in plate tectonics? This question was also answered because of technology developed during war times – in this case, the Cold War. The plates are made up of the lithosphere. Figure 1. Earthquakes outline the plates. During the 1950s and early 1960s, scientists set up seismograph networks to see if enemy nations were testing atomic bombs. These seismographs also recorded all of the earthquakes around the planet. The seismic records could be used to locate an earthquake’s epicentre, the point on Earth’s surface directly above the place where the earthquake occurs. Earthquake epicentres outline the plates. -
Slab Pull? Density of Plate Slab
The plate tectonic story www.earthscienceeducation.com Geography Workshop GA Conference 2021 Duncan Hawley in association with the Earth Science Education Unit and EarthLearningIdea www.earthlearningidea.com Image: Free download https://www.kissclipart.com/visual-tectonic-plates-clipart-crust-earth-plate-t-nnw9dx/ The plate tectonic story www.earthscienceeducation.com Aims of this session The workshop and its activities aims to: • provide an integrated overview of the concepts involved in teaching the processes of plate tectonics at KS3, KS4 and A level • survey of some of the recent evidence and key ideas in understanding how plate tectonics works • offer improved explanations for the distribution and characteristics of volcanoes, earthquakes, and some surface landforms • suggest approaches to teaching the abstract concepts of plate tectonics • help teachers decide if and how they should adjust what they presently teach to reflect the current understanding about the way plate tectonics operates • help teachers develop students’ critical sense of ‘the plate tectonic story’ encountered in textbooks, on diagrams, on the news, via the internet and in other media. The plate tectonic story www.earthscienceeducation.com Where on Earth are earthquakes and volcanoes? - geobattleships www.earthlearningidea.com/PDF/79_Geobattleships.pdf Battleship grid for Geobattleships © Dave Turner Galunggung eruption by USGS, public domain ‘North All Trucks’ © USGS The plate tectonic story www.earthscienceeducation.com Where on Earth are earthquakes and volcanoes? -
Slab-Pull and Slab-Push Earthquakes in the Mexican, Chilean and Peruvian Subduction Zones A
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 132 (2002) 157–175 Slab-pull and slab-push earthquakes in the Mexican, Chilean and Peruvian subduction zones A. Lemoine a,∗, R. Madariaga a, J. Campos b a Laboratoire de Géologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 Rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France b Departamento de Geof´ısica, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile Abstract We studied intermediate depth earthquakes in the Chile, Peru and Mexican subduction zones, paying special attention to slab-push (down-dip compression) and slab-pull (down-dip extension) mechanisms. Although, slab-push events are relatively rare in comparison with slab-pull earthquakes, quite a few have occurred recently. In Peru, a couple slab-push events occurred in 1991 and one slab-pull together with several slab-push events occurred in 1970 near Chimbote. In Mexico, several slab-push and slab-pull events occurred near Zihuatanejo below the fault zone of the 1985 Michoacan event. In central Chile, a large M = 7.1 slab-push event occurred in October 1997 that followed a series of four shallow Mw > 6 thrust earthquakes on the plate interface. We used teleseismic body waveform inversion of a number of Mw > 5.9 slab-push and slab-pull earthquakes in order to obtain accurate mechanisms, depths and source time functions. We used a master event method in order to get relative locations. We discussed the occurrence of the relatively rare slab-push events in the three subduction zones. Were they due to the geometry of the subduction that produces flexure inside the downgoing slab, or were they produced by stress transfer during the earthquake cycle? Stress transfer can not explain the occurence of several compressional and extensional intraplate intermediate depth earthquakes in central Chile, central Mexico and central Peru. -
I. Convergent Plate Boundaries (Destructive Margins) (Colliding Plates)
I. Convergent plate boundaries (destructive margins) (colliding plates) 1. Plates collide, an ocean trench forms, lithosphere is subducted into the mantle 2. Types of convergence—three general classes, created by two types of plates —denser oceanic plate subsides into mantle SUBDUCTION --oceanic trench present where this occurs -- Plate descends angle average 45o a. Oceanic-continental convergence 1. Denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere—continental plate floats 2. Pockets of magma develop and rise—due to water added to lower part of overriding crust—100-150 km depth 3. Continental volcanic arcs form a. e.g., Andes Low angle, strong coupling, strong earthquakes i. Nazca plate ii. Seaward migration of Peru-Chile trench b. e.g., Cascades c. e.g., Sierra Nevada system example of previous subduction b. Oceanic-oceanic convergence 1. Two oceanic slabs converge HDEW animation Motion at Plate Boundaries a. one descends beneath the other b. the older, colder one 2. Often forms volcanoes on the ocean floor 3. Volcanic island arcs forms as volcanoes emerge from the sea 200-300 km from subduction trench TimeLife page 117 Philippine Arc a. e.g., Aleutian islands b. e.g., Mariana islands c. e.g., Tonga islands all three are young volcanic arcs, 20 km thick crust Japan more complex and thicker crust 20-35 km thick c. Continental-continental convergence— all oceaninc crust is destroyed at convergence, and continental crust remains 1. continental crust does not subside—too buoyant 2. two continents collide—become ‘sutured’ together 3. Can produce new mountain ranges such as the Himalayas II. Transform fault boundaries 1. -
Plate Tectonics Says That Earth’S Plates Move Because of Convection Currents in the Mantle
Bellringer Which ocean is getting smaller and which ocean is getting bigger due to subduction and sea floor spreading? Plate Tectonic Theory Notes How Plates Move • Earth’s crust is broken into many jagged pieces. The surface is like the shell of a hard-boiled egg that has been rolled. The pieces of Earth’s crust are called plates. Plates carry continents, oceans floors, or both. How Plates Move • The theory of plate tectonics says that Earth’s plates move because of convection currents in the mantle. Currents in the mantle carry plates on Earth’s surface, like currents in water carry boats on a river, or Cheerios in milk. How Plates Move • Plates can meet in three different ways. Plates may pull apart, push together, or slide past each other. Wherever plates meet, you usually get volcanoes, mountain ranges, or ocean trenches. Plate Boundaries • A plate boundary is where two plates meet. Faults form along plate boundaries. A fault is a break in Earth’s crust where blocks of rock have slipped past each other. Plate Boundaries • Where two plates move apart, the boundary is called a divergent boundary. • A divergent boundary between two oceanic plates will result in a mid-ocean ridge AND rift valley. (SEE: Sea-Floor Spreading) • A divergent boundary between two continental plates will result in only a rift valley. This is currently happening at the Great Rift Valley in east Africa. Eventually, the Indian Ocean will pour into the lowered valley and a new ocean will form. Plate Boundaries • Where two plates push together, the boundary is called a convergent boundary. -
ASSESSMENT of the TSUNAMIGENIC POTENTIAL ALONG the NORTHERN CARIBBEAN MARGIN Case Study: Earthquake and Tsunamis of 12 January 2010 in Haiti
ISSN 87556839 SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS Journal of Tsunami Society International Volume 29 Number 3 2010 ASSESSMENT OF THE TSUNAMIGENIC POTENTIAL ALONG THE NORTHERN CARIBBEAN MARGIN Case Study: Earthquake and Tsunamis of 12 January 2010 in Haiti. George Pararas-Carayannis Tsunami Society International, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815, USA [email protected] ABSTRACT The potential tsunami risk for Hispaniola, as well as for the other Greater Antilles Islands is assessed by reviewing the complex geotectonic processes and regimes along the Northern Caribbean margin, including the convergent, compressional and collisional tectonic activity of subduction, transition, shearing, lateral movements, accretion and crustal deformation caused by the eastward movement of the Caribbean plate in relation to the North American plate. These complex tectonic interactions have created a broad, diffuse tectonic boundary that has resulted in an extensive, internal deformational sliver slab - the Gonâve microplate – as well as further segmentation into two other microplates with similarly diffused boundary characteristics where tsunamigenic earthquakes have and will again occur. The Gonâve microplate is the most prominent along the Northern Caribbean margin and extends from the Cayman Spreading Center to Mona Pass, between Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola, where the 1918 destructive tsunami was generated. The northern boundary of this sliver microplate is defined by the Oriente strike-slip fault south of Cuba, which appears to be an extension of the fault system traversing the northern part of Hispaniola, while the southern boundary is defined by another major strike-slip fault zone where the Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010 occurred. Potentially tsunamigenic regions along the Northern Caribbean margin are located not only along the boundaries of the Gonâve microplate’s dominant western transform zone but particularly within the eastern tectonic regimes of the margin where subduction is dominant - particularly along the Puerto Rico trench. -
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Geologic Resources Inventory Report
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2016/1297 ON THE COVER: Photograph of Boney Mountain (and the Milky Way). The Santa Monica Mountains are part of the Transverse Ranges. The backbone of the range skirts the northern edges of the Los Angeles Basin and Santa Monica Bay before descending into the Pacific Ocean at Point Mugu. The ridgeline of Boney Mountain is composed on Conejo Volcanics, which erupted as part of a shield volcano about 15 million years ago. National Park Service photograph available at http://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/photosmultimedia/index.htm. THIS PAGE: Photograph of Point Dume. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area comprises a vast and varied California landscape in and around the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and includes 64 km (40 mi) of ocean shoreline. The mild climate allows visitors to enjoy the park’s scenic, natural, and cultural resources year-round. National Park Service photograph available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ santamonicamtns/albums. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2016/1297 Katie KellerLynn Colorado State University Research Associate National Park Service Geologic Resources Division Geologic Resources Inventory PO Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225 September 2016 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. -
Active Continental Margin
Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_102-2 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Active Continental Margin Serge Lallemand* Géosciences Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France Synonyms Convergent boundary; Convergent margin; Destructive margin; Ocean-continent subduction; Oceanic subduction zone; Subduction zone Definition An active continental margin refers to the submerged edge of a continent overriding an oceanic lithosphere at a convergent plate boundary by opposition with a passive continental margin which is the remaining scar at the edge of a continent following continental break-up. The term “active” stresses the importance of the tectonic activity (seismicity, volcanism, mountain building) associated with plate convergence along that boundary. Today, people typically refer to a “subduction zone” rather than an “active margin.” Generalities Active continental margins, i.e., when an oceanic plate subducts beneath a continent, represent about two-thirds of the modern convergent margins. Their cumulated length has been estimated to 45,000 km (Lallemand et al., 2005). Most of them are located in the circum-Pacific (Japan, Kurils, Aleutians, and North, Middle, and South America), Southeast Asia (Ryukyus, Philippines, New Guinea), Indian Ocean (Java, Sumatra, Andaman, Makran), Mediterranean region (Aegea, Cala- bria), or Antilles. They are generally “active” over tens (Tonga, Mariana) or hundreds (Japan, South America) of millions of years. This longevity has consequences on their internal structure, especially in terms of continental growth by tectonic accretion of oceanic terranes, or by arc magmatism, but also sometimes in terms of continental consumption by tectonic erosion. Morphology A continental margin generally extends from the coast down to the abyssal plain (see Fig. -
What's the Difference?
2005 Submarine Ring of Fire Expedition What’s the Difference? FOCUS SEATING ARRANGEMENT Volcanic processes at convergent and divergent tec- Classroom style if students are working individually, tonic plate boundaries or groups of two to four students GRADE LEVEL MAXIMUM NUMBER OF STUDENTS 9-12 (Earth Science) 30 FOCUS QUESTION KEY WORDS How do volcanic processes differ at convergent Volcano and divergent tectonic plate boundaries? Caldera Hot spot LEARNING OBJECTIVES Ring of Fire Students will be able to compare and contrast volca- Asthenosphere noes at convergent and divergent plate boundaries. Lithosphere Magma Students will be able to identify three geologic fea- Fault tures that are associated with most volcanoes on Transform boundary Earth. Convergent boundary Divergent boundary Students will be able to explain why some volca- Subduction noes erupt explosively while others do not. Tectonic plate MATERIALS BACKGROUND INFORMATION Copies of “Submarine Volcanism Worksheet,” one The Ring of Fire is an arc of active volcanoes and copy for each student or student group earthquake sites that partially encircles the Pacific Ocean Basin.The location of the Ring of Fire coin- AUDIO/VISUAL MATERIALS cides with the location of oceanic trenches and (Optional) computer projection equipment to show volcanic island arcs that result from the motion of downloaded video materials large pieces of the Earth’s crust (tectonic plates). Tectonic plates consist of portions of the Earth’s TEACHING TIME outer crust (the lithosphere) about 5 km thick, as One 45-minute class period, plus time for student well as the upper 60 - 75 km of the underlying research mantle. The plates move on a hot flowing mantle layer called the asthenosphere, which is several hundred kilometers thick. -
Copyright © by SIAM. Unauthorized Reproduction of This Article Is Prohibited. 82 PHILIPPE GUYENNE and DAVID P
SIAM J. SCI. COMPUT. c 2007 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 81–101 A HIGH-ORDER SPECTRAL METHOD FOR NONLINEAR WATER WAVES OVER MOVING BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY∗ † ‡ PHILIPPE GUYENNE AND DAVID P. NICHOLLS Abstract. We present a numerical method for simulations of nonlinear surface water waves over variable bathymetry. It is applicable to either two- or three-dimensional flows, as well as to either static or moving bottom topography. The method is based on the reduction of the problem to a lower-dimensional Hamiltonian system involving boundary quantities alone. A key component of this formulation is the Dirichlet–Neumann operator which, in light of its joint analyticity properties with respect to surface and bottom deformations, is computed using its Taylor series representation. We present new, stabilized forms for the Taylor terms, each of which is efficiently computed by a pseu- dospectral method using the fast Fourier transform. Physically relevant applications are displayed to illustrate the performance of the method; comparisons with analytical solutions and laboratory experiments are provided. Key words. gravity water waves, bathymetry, pseudospectral methods, Dirichlet–Neumann operators, boundary perturbations AMS subject classifications. 76B15, 76B07, 65M70, 35S30 DOI. 10.1137/060666214 1. Introduction. Accurate modeling of surface water wave dynamics over bot- tom topography is of great importance to coastal engineers and has drawn considerable attention in recent years. Here are just a few applications: linear [16, 33] and nonlinear wave shoaling [25, 24, 28, 27], Bragg reflection [35, 15, 36, 14, 30, 33, 4], harmonic wave generation [3, 17, 18], and tsunami generation [37, 22]. -
Notes: Plate Tectonics
Notes: Plate Tectonics There are three types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform 1. Divergent Boundary: occurs between plates that are separating most divergent boundaries are between 2 oceanic plates and occur at the mid-ocean ridge; some geographic examples of places where this is happening are the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise The Great Rift Valley in Africa is a geographic example of a continental-continental divergent boundary where the African continent is being broken into smaller plates 2. Convergent Boundary: occurs between two plates that are coming together; there are 2 kinds of convergent boundaries – subduction and collision A. Subduction Possible plate combinations are oceanic-continental or oceanic-oceanic the denser and thinner plate buckles down under the less dense plate, plunges down (gets subducted) into the mantle and melts; a trench forms at the place where the plates meet and one goes under the other Volcanoes usually form on the overriding plate (sometimes mountains form) Geographic examples are the Mariana Trench and the Aleutian Trench B. Collision Occurs where 2 continental plates come together Forms high mountain ranges Geographic examples are the Himalayas and the Appalachians 3. Transform Boundary: occurs where plates slide past each other, usually in opposite directions but can be in the same direction but at different rates This type of boundary causes lots of earthquakes and faults A geographic example is the San Andreas Fault in California . -
Advanced Geodynamics: Fourier Transform Methods
Advanced Geodynamics: Fourier Transform Methods David T. Sandwell January 13, 2021 To Susan, Katie, Melissa, Nick, and Cassie Eddie Would Go Preprint for publication by Cambridge University Press, October 16, 2020 Contents 1 Observations Related to Plate Tectonics 7 1.1 Global Maps . .7 1.2 Exercises . .9 2 Fourier Transform Methods in Geophysics 20 2.1 Introduction . 20 2.2 Definitions of Fourier Transforms . 21 2.3 Fourier Sine and Cosine Transforms . 22 2.4 Examples of Fourier Transforms . 23 2.5 Properties of Fourier transforms . 26 2.6 Solving a Linear PDE Using Fourier Methods and the Cauchy Residue Theorem . 29 2.7 Fourier Series . 32 2.8 Exercises . 33 3 Plate Kinematics 36 3.1 Plate Motions on a Flat Earth . 36 3.2 Triple Junction . 37 3.3 Plate Motions on a Sphere . 41 3.4 Velocity Azimuth . 44 3.5 Recipe for Computing Velocity Magnitude . 45 3.6 Triple Junctions on a Sphere . 45 3.7 Hot Spots and Absolute Plate Motions . 46 3.8 Exercises . 46 4 Marine Magnetic Anomalies 48 4.1 Introduction . 48 4.2 Crustal Magnetization at a Spreading Ridge . 48 4.3 Uniformly Magnetized Block . 52 4.4 Anomalies in the Earth’s Magnetic Field . 52 4.5 Magnetic Anomalies Due to Seafloor Spreading . 53 4.6 Discussion . 58 4.7 Exercises . 59 ii CONTENTS iii 5 Cooling of the Oceanic Lithosphere 61 5.1 Introduction . 61 5.2 Temperature versus Depth and Age . 65 5.3 Heat Flow versus Age . 66 5.4 Thermal Subsidence . 68 5.5 The Plate Cooling Model .