The structure of the earth, plate tectonics and landforms. The layer below the lithosphere is the asthenosphere. If the earths core provides the heat that drives plate tectonics, then what will eventually happen as the earths core cools down over billions of years. As plates move, the new crust gradually moves away from the ridge. Plate tectonics describes the distribution and motion of the plates. Crust is continuously being regenerated and removed. Plate tectonics continental drift and mountain building. Iceland is one of the few places where this process can be seen on land. The theory of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s, that is, close to half a. Open the file in microsoft excel and resave it as a microsoft office spreadsheet xlsx. This pdfversion was edited by peter lindeberg in december 2001. Crustal deformation associated with plate tectonics is responsible for the main largescale morphostructural elements of the earth. Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set of earth structures or tectonic features.
The lithosphere is found to have an elastic portion which is roughly the upper. Tectonic significance of cenozoic exhumation and foreland. In the early 1960s, the emergence of the theory of plate tectonics started a revolution in the earth sciences. Plate tectonics the earths crust is divided into 12 major plates which are moved in various directions. This acclaimed textbook on plate tectonics presents many examples, and. Plasienka geological institute, slovak academy of sciences, slovakia keywords. Figure 1 earths major tectonic plate boundaries and their. Pdf contractional theory, continental drift and plate tectonics. Continental drift and mountain building is a terrific summary of stateoftheart plate tectonics science at 2011.
The diverging plate boundary occurs at an underwater mountain range called the midatlantic ridge. This plate motion causes them to collide, pull apart, or scrape against each other. If the earths core provides the heat that drives plate tectonics, then what will eventually happen. Heat from the mantle is the source of energy driving plate tectonics. Pdf indicates that a pdf is available for this paper. Since then, scientists have verified and refined this theory, and now have a much better understanding of how our planet has been shaped by platetectonic processes. Tectonic plates plate boundary referenced from bird, peter 2003 an updated digital model of plate boundaries. In addition to the maps visually obvious physiographic features that relate to plate tectonics, the explanatory text gives a concise summary of how plate tectonics work. Plate tectonics the tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. Tectonic plates california institute of technology.
Continental drift, sea floor spreading and plate tectonics. Tectonic plates arizona geographic alliance school of geographical sciences and urban planning arizona state university cartographer. Takehome messages earths geology is dominated by the processes of plate tectonics. The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift, developed. Ret 2006, rev 2 7 introduction to plate tectonic theory, geodesy, and vlbi the plate tectonic theory is a relatively new, accepted only around 50 years ago. A fully revised third edition of this highly acclaimed text written by eminent authors including one of the pioneers of plate tectonic theory major revisions to this new edition. They might want to prepare a powerpoint presentation, a web page, or a threepanel poster display. Initiation and evolution of plate tectonics on earth. Check out our image of the presentday plate boundaries. Plate tectonics, our major paradigm for how the earth works, was established in the 1960ies following decades of observational research that culminated in key discoveries such as geomagnetic. Great challenges in structural geology and tectonics.
Plate tectonicscontinental drift and mountain building article pdf available in bulletin of volcanology 741. Since the development of the theory, geologists have had to reexamine almost every aspect of. There were 5 pieces of evidence that lead to this modern theory of plate tectonics. University of texas institute for geophysics technical report no. From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia plate tectonics from greek, tekton builder or mason describes the large scale motions of earths lithosphere. Tuzo wilson offered a fundamental reinterpretation of wegeners continental drift theory and became the first person to use the term plates to describe the division and pattern of relative movement. New oceanic crust is formed through magma rising through the gap and cooling. Pdf on jan 1, 2012, karoly nemeth and others published w. The lithosphere lithosphere is comprised of the upper mantle and the.
Narrow bands with shallow earthquakes marked in red indicate transform boundaries or midocean ridge divergent. Contractional theory, continental drift and plate tectonics, 2 plate movements and their geometric relationships, 3. Plate tectonics and your community performance task. Purchase of an open document does not constitute license for republication in any form, nor does it allow web posting without prior written permission. Plate tectonics qfiles the online library of knowledge. Plates are composed of the crust and a part of the upper mantle, these two parts together are called the lithosphere. You will recall from a previous chapter that there are three. Plate movement is driven by convection in earths mantle. I know i said this in the title, but this is fill in the blank. Plate tectonics continental drift and mountain building by wolfgang frisch 2010.
Stresses relax in the lower portion of the plate where creep processes dominate, but still behaves coherently with the plate. Simulation of the movement of plates and formation of mountains. Plate tectonics the earths crust is divided into plates which are moved in various directions. Notes on plate tectonics plate tectonics states that the earths crust and upper mantle are broken into sections, called plates. The earth is composed of layers of different composition and physical properties, principally the solid central core, the fluid peripheral core, the viscous mantle, and the solid. Plate movements provided by geophysical methods namely magnetic anomalies in the indian ocean and paleomagnetism, see lecture on himalaya indicate over 2000 km intracontinental shortening between stable india and stable asia since initial collision. In this plate tectonic framework, large scale deformation is the local response of the lithosphere to induced stresses. Plate tectonics plate tectonics is the unifying theory of geology and revolutionized geology cornerstone of earthsystem approach. By linking these observations to hesss seafloor spreading model, they lay the foundation for modern plate tectonics.
Frisch, meschede, and blakeyanswer all these questions and more through the. Frisch and meschede and blakey answer all these questions and more through the presentation and explanation of the geodynamic processes upon which the theory of continental drift is based and which have led to the concept of plate tectonics. The lithosphere lithosphere is comprised of the upper mantle and the crust, the outer shell of the earth. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. Plate convergence vectors referenced from united states geological survey. After harry hess discovery of seafloor spreading, dan mckenzie used this discovery, along with wegeners original theory of continental drift to write the current theory of plate tectonics. The center of this mountain range is a low lying area or rift, called the atlantic rift zone. Pdf tectonics of the western tauern window wolfgang. Plate tectonics map of the world, showing plates, boundaries, boundary types and more. There were 5 pieces of evidence that lead to this modern theory of. Gather, analyze, and communicate data that explains earths plates, plate motions, and the results of plate motions dok 12 d. Explain how tectonic plate movement could create another supercontinent like pangaea.
The theory of plate tectonics grew out of earlier hypotheses and observations collected during exploration of the rocks of the ocean floor. Introduction to plate tectonic theory, geodesy, and vlbi. Earths crust and upper mantle are divided into plates. The third edition of this widely acclaimed textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of global tectonics, and includes major revisions to reflect the most significant recent advances in the field. Plate tectonics theory, diagrams, boundaries geology. Continental drift and mountain building request pdf. In the 1960, new technologies such as sonar provided new data that supported wegeners theory of moving plates. The yellow arrows show which way the plates are moving. Aug 22, 20 plate tectonics in this crosssection through the earths crust, tectonic plates are shown pushing together, sliding past one another, sliding one underneath the other or moving apart.
Teaching plate tectonics with easytodraw illustrations is fun and effective. Frisch and meschede and blakey answer all these questions and more through the presentation and explanation of the geodynamic processes upon which the. Continental drift, sea floor spreading and plate tectonics plate tectonics is a theory developed in the late 1960s, to explain how the outer layers of the earth move and deform. From the early history of the geological revolution to the latest in explanations of the rocky mountains, firsch et al. For example, the island of iceland is being torn where two tectonic plates are moving apart. Plate tectonics why it matters huge, moving slabs of rock called tectonic plates constantly reshape earths surface.
Plate tectonics fill in the blank flashcards quizlet. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. Institute for geophysics university of texas at austin. This is the actual plate boundary, and is where most of the earthquakes and volcanoes take place. Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries which subsequently create midocean ridges. The chapter challenge asks students to think about how they can use the theory of plate tectonics to help middle school students understand scientific theories. The following website contains a more detailed and lesson plans on plate tectonics, geodesy, and vlbi. Convergence data are shown by arrows describing direction and speed, relative to the plate across the boundary. The publications listed below were mainly produced during ron blakeys tenure as a member of the geology department at northern arizona university. See also this dynamic planet, the map showing the earths physiographic features, current plate movements, and locations of volcanoes, earthquakes, and impact craters. The theory has caused a revolution in the way we think about the earth. Digital files of the presentday plate boundaries are available below. Does the entire lithospheric plate transmit stress in the same way.
875 72 956 990 489 1238 429 1076 1068 1255 478 596 1323 1121 1140 494 638 39 1167 770 71 1086 1239 1309 115 1063 1054 911 1353 1359 141 993 816 576 876 770 1014 77 1140 225 518