Name: ___________________________________________

Date: __________________________ Period: ___________

Plate Tectonics

The Physical Setting: Earth Science

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

I.

Continental Drift

Continental Drift - !_____________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Pangaea - ! ___________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Alfred Wegner (1915)

German ___________________ and ____________________

Proposed the theory of !__________________________________________________________

Hypothesized a ! ________________________________________________________________

Evidence of Continental Drift:

1. !______________________________________________________________________________
!______________________________________________________________________________
2. !______________________________________________________________________________
!______________________________________________________________________________
3. !______________________________________________________________________________
!______________________________________________________________________________

Leigh-Manuell - 1

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

II. Crustal Activity
Plate Tectonics - !______________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Plate - ! ______________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Lithosphere - !_________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Asthenosphere - !______________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Earths surface consists of a dozen major plates and some minor ones

The plates are moving at rates close to ___________ cm/year

Iceland
Hot Spot

as
t

f
st A

Pe

Easter Island
Hot Spot

idge

ou
the

Galapagos
Hot Spot

Pa
cifi
cR

Indian-Australian
Plate

Pacific
Plate

Tasman
Hot Spot

Ind

ia n

Ridg

Nazca
Plate

Antarctic
Plate

Leigh-Manuell - 2

South
American
Plate

St. Helena
Hot Spot

Scotia
Plate

st
Ea

Antarctic
Plate

African
Plate

an
ibbe
Car late
P

Cocos
Plate

hile Tren
u-C
ch

Ea

Fiji Plate

To n g a
Tr e n c h

rican Ri
f

dian Ridge
-In

Hawaii
Hot Spot

Canary
Islands
Hot Spot

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

a
Tr ria n a
e n ch

ian
ab
Ar late
P
an

i
nd
tI
s
e
we g
th id
ou R

Yellowstone
Hot Spot

Juan de
Fuca Plate

San Andreas
Fault

Philippine
Plate

Mi
d

Eurasian
Plate
cR
idg
e

Aleutian

ch
Tren

North American
Plate

Mid
-A
tla
nti

Eurasian
Plate

Bouvet
Hot Spot

Sandwich
Plate

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Convection Currents - ! _________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Magma heats up causing it to ___________________ and ____________________

Magma cools down causing it to ___________________ and ____________________

The plates are moving on top of the asthenosphere due to density differences

The idea of continental drift had been around since the 1900s, but lacked enough scientic evidence to support the theory

New advancements after World War II help provide the evidences needed to validate the Theory of
Plate Tectonics

Earthquake Evidence

Scientists noticed that earthquakes do not occur at random locations, but throughout the
world along __________________________________

When plotted on a map they outline the !____________________________________________

(dots represent earthquake epicenter locations)

Volcanic Evidence

Occurs at plate boundaries where plates are interacting

Ring of Fire - ! __________________________________________________________________

!__________________________________________________________________

Leigh-Manuell - 3

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Rock Evidence

Sedimentary deposits and igneous lava ows are usually placed down in horizontal layers

Sometimes movement along boundaries causes these layers to ! ______________________

or ________________________

Mountain Evidence

As plates collide they sometimes are pushed ! _______________________________________

!______________________________________________________________________________
! ______________________________________________________________________________

Leigh-Manuell - 4

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

III.

Crustal Boundaries

Tectonic plates are constantly moving and interacting

As they move across the _______________________________ and form plate boundaries they interact in various ways

Types of plate boundaries:

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Convergent Boundary - !________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Example: the India Plate pushing upward into Eurasian Plate and creating the Himalayan
Mountains

Subduction - !_________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Example: the Nazca Plate being consumed under the South American Plate

Three Types of Convergent Boundaries

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Leigh-Manuell - 5

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Divergent Boundary - !__________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Example: part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge emerges from the ocean and splits Iceland in half

Sea-Floor Spreading - ! __________________________________________________________

!______________________________________________________________________________

Mid-Ocean Ridge - ! _____________________________________________________________

!______________________________________________________________________________

Mid-Atlantic Ridge - ! ____________________________________________________________

!______________________________________________________________________________

Separates the N. and S. American Plates from the Eurasian and African Plates

Rift Valley - !____________________________________________________________________

!______________________________________________________________________________

Divergent Plate Boundary Evidence

Scientists dragged a ______________________

across the ocean oor and discovered a unique
magnetic pattern where stripes of
___________________ and ___________________
polarity parallel the mid-ocean ridge ipping every
76 million years

Rock samples of the deep ocean oor show that basaltic oceanic crust becomes
progressively ____________________ as you approach the mid-ocean ridge

Leigh-Manuell - 6

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Transform Boundary - ! _________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Example: the San Andreas Fault is 800 km long and runs throughout California

Tectonic Plates

Iceland
Hot Spot

as
t

Pe

Easter Island
Hot Spot

idge

rican Ri
f

f
st A

Ea

Galapagos
Hot Spot

Tasman
Hot Spot

Ind

ia n

Ridg

Antarctic
Plate

Key

South
American
Plate

St. Helena
Hot Spot

Scotia
Plate

st
Ea

Antarctic
Plate

Relative motion at
plate boundary

Nazca
Plate

Pa
cifi
cR

ou
the

To n g a
Tr e n c h

Indian-Australian
Plate

Pacific
Plate

African
Plate

an
ibbe
Car late
P

Cocos
Plate

hile Tren
u-C
ch

dian Ridge
-In

Fiji Plate

Canary
Islands
Hot Spot

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

a
Tr ria n a
e n ch

ian
ab
Ar late
P
S

Hawaii
Hot Spot

ia

nd
tI
es ge
w
d
th i
ou R

Yellowstone
Hot Spot

Juan de
Fuca Plate

San Andreas
Fault

Philippine
Plate

Mi
d

Eurasian
Plate
cR
idg
e

h
Aleutian Trenc

North American
Plate

Mid
-A
tla
nti

Eurasian
Plate

Bouvet
Hot Spot

Sandwich
Plate

overriding
plate

Transform plate boundary

(transform fault)

Divergent plate boundary

(usually broken by transform
faults along mid-ocean ridges)

subducting
plate

Convergent plate boundary

(subduction zone)

Leigh-Manuell - 7

Complex or uncertain
plate boundary

Mantle
hot spot

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

IV. Earths Interior

Earths interior structures are known through the study of " ___________________________________

Seismic waves refract, _________________________, __________________________ and are absorbed depending on the material they are transmitted through

Lithosphere - !_________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Continental Crust - !__________________________________________________________

!___________________________________________________________________________

Oceanic Crust - !_____________________________________________________________

!___________________________________________________________________________

MOHO - thin interface separating the lithosphere from the asthenosphere

Asthenosphere - !______________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Discovery: a decrease in velocity from earthquake waves

Mantle - !_____________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Outer Core - ! _________________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Discovery: absorption and refraction of earthquake waves

Inner Core - !__________________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Discovery: an increase in velocity from earthquake waves

Leigh-Manuell - 8

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

TIC
LAN
AT

AN
OCE

DENSITY (g/cm3)
IC

TLANT
MID-A GE
RID

CASCADES

9.912.2

REL)
COICKE

&

LE
NT
MA

RE )
COICKEL

TRENCH

12.813.1

IN N

(IRO ER
N&
N

PACIFIC
OCEAN

3.45.6

RO
N

STI
FF
ER

LA
(P

OU
TE
(I

LI

}
NO
SP
HE
R

CR
RIG UST
ID
MA
NT
AS
TH
LE
E

NO
RT
H

AM
ER

IC
A

)
RE
T LE
HE
AN
SP
M
O
IC
TH
ST

2.7 granitic continental crust

3.0 basaltic oceanic crust
MOHO

V. Earthquakes

Earthquake - !_________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Most earthquakes are caused by a movement along a fault where ! _____________________

energy is given off as a seismic wave

Epicenter - !___________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Focus - !______________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Seismometer - ! _______________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Seismogram - !________________________________________________________________________
!_____________________________________________________________________________________

Leigh-Manuell - 9

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Mercalli Scale - scale that measures the _______________________ of an earthquake based on the
effects to Earths surface, humans, objects in nature, and other man-made structures

The values will differ based on the distance from the epicenter

!_________________________________________________________________

!_________________________________________________________________

Intensity

Type of Damage

Instrumental

II

Feeble

III

Slight

IV
V

Rather Strong

VI
VII

Very Strong

VIII
IX

Ruinous

Disastrous

XI

Very Disastrous

XII

Richter Scale - logarithmic scale that measures the _____________________________________ released during an earthquake

Magnitude - a number to quantify the amount of ________________________________ released

from an earthquake

The Richter Scales magnitude is determined from the following measurements:

!___________________________________________________________________________

!___________________________________________________________________________

!___________________________________________________________________________

Leigh-Manuell - 10

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Primary Wave (P-wave)

___________________________________________

Travel through __________________, __________________, and __________________

Compressional - ! _______________________________________________________________
!______________________________________________________________________________

Secondary Wave (S-wave)

___________________________________________

Travel through __________________ only

Shear - ! _______________________________________________________________________
!______________________________________________________________________________

Compressional Wave (P-wave)

Shear Wave (S-wave)

Seismic waves radiate away from the focus

Leigh-Manuell - 11

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Shadow Zone - !_______________________________________________________________________

!_____________________________________________________________________________________

P-waves are ____________________ when they reach the liquid outer core

S-waves are ____________________ when they reach the outer core and are not transmitted through to the other side

P-wave Shadow Zone

S-wave Shadow Zone

Epicenters are located using the velocity differences between the p-wave and s-wave

Since the p-waves travel ____________________ then s-waves, as your distance

_____________________ from the earthquake's epicenter the arrival time between the two
waves will be __________________

Leigh-Manuell - 12

Class Notes: Plate Tectonics

Distance to the epicenter is determined by comparing the arrival times and the E.S.R.T.
24
23
22
21
20
19
18

17

TRAVEL TIME (min)

16
15
14
13
12
11
10

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0

10

EPICENTER DISTANCE ( 103 km)

To nd the epicenter location you need to triangulate a position using ___________________ different seismometer stations

Leigh-Manuell - 13