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Evidence of Plate Tectonic Processes
The document discusses key evidence that supports plate tectonic theory, including magnetic stripes in ocean crust that record reversals in Earth's magnetic field, the symmetrical distribution of ages of ocean floors around mid-ocean ridges with the oldest being only 180 million years old, the correlation of earthquake activity with tectonic plate boundaries, and the types of features found at different plate boundary types like transform faults. It also covers applications of plate tectonics like hotspots and mantle plumes, using hotspot tracks to determine past plate motions, and generating paleogeographic reconstructions and predictions of future continental positions.
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Evidence of Plate Tectonic Processes
- 1. Plate Tectonic Processes d c e b a © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 3. Sea Floor SpreadingEvidence Frederick Vine and Drummond Matthews (1963) Sea floor stripes record Earth’s magnetic polarity © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 4. Age of OceanFloor Late 1960s deep-sea drilling. Radiometric dating of ocean rocks. Symmetric pattern of age distribution about mid-ocean ridges. Oldest ocean floor only 180 million years old. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 5. Age of OceanFloor © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 6. Earthquakes As Evidence Most large earthquakes occur at subduction zones. Earthquake activity mirrors tectonic plate boundaries. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 7. Global Distribution ofEarthquakes © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 8. Types of PlateBoundaries © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 9. Examples of PlateBoundaries © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 10. Transform Boundary Features Offsets oriented perpendicular to mid-ocean ridge ◦ Segments of plates slide past each other Offsetspermit mid-ocean ridge to move apart at different rates Shallow but strong earthquakes © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 11. Transform Boundary Features Oceanic Transform Fault – ocean floor only All transform faults occur between mid-ocean ridge segments. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 12. Applications of PlateTectonics Mantle Plumes and Hotspots ◦Intraplate features Volcanic islands within a plate Island chains Record ancient plate motions ◦Nematath – hotspot track © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 13. Global Hotspot Locations © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 14. Hawaiian Island –Emperor Seamount Nematath © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 15. Plate Tectonics andIntraplate Features Seamounts ◦ Rounded tops Tablemounts or guyots ◦ Flattened tops Subsidence of flanks of mid-ocean ridge Wave erosion may flatten seamount © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 16. Detecting Plate Motionwith Satellites © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 17. Paleogeography Paleogeography – study of ancient continents Continental accretion ◦ Continental material added to edges of continents through plate motion © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 18. Paleogeographic Reconstructions © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 19. Future Predictions Future positions of continents and oceans ◦ Assume same direction and rate of plate motions as now. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 20. World Map 50million Years in Future © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 21. Wilson cycle John Tuzo Wilson Life cycle of ocean basins ◦Formation ◦Growth ◦Destruction © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
- 22. Wilson cycle © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.