Deepsea geology

and submarine volcanoes

The Continental drift theory

Plate tectonics model

Deep ocean geo-survey

Great findings:
fluids circulating through the
ocean floor;
the formation of gigantic volcanic
plateaus at phenomenal rates
unknown today;
natural methane frozen deep
within marine sediments as gas
hydrate;
a microbial community living deep
within oceanic crust;
climate change cycles
Glomar Challengers survey

Magnetic survey
Findings:
Two or three times every million
years, Earths geomagnetic field
reverses polarity, with the north
and south magnetic poles
switching places.
Over the last 4 million years, the
field reversed 11 times. Over the
last 170 million years, Earths
magnetic field has reversed 300
times.

Magnetic survey (cont...)

Alvin (1960s)
Findings:
Black smoke around Galapagos
RMS Titanic observations

Satellite imagery

Geoid height= difference between the height above the ellipsoid

and the altitude above the ocean surface is approximately equal
to -> N = h* - h.

Prediction ocean depth

Plate tectonics
Seafloor volcanoes
Petroleum survey

Dynamic of seafloor: Oceanic crust

Oceanic crust primarily composed of mafic rocks,

rch of iron and magnesium [basalt, coming from
inner earth].
Lesser than continental crust (<10 km thick),
mean density of 2.9 dgr/cm3.
Constantly changing

Oceanic crust
(cont...)

Seafloor spreading
Seafloor Spreading is the usual
process at work at divergent plate
boundaries, leading to the
creation of new ocean floor.
begins with hot rock rising from
deeper portions of the mantle by
convection currents. After reaching
the underside of the lithosphere,
the mantle
rock spreads out laterally,
dissipates heat near the surface,
cools, and
descends back into the deep
interior of the Earth, where it
receives more heat
in a repeated cycle.

Mid Ocean Ridge

Center of oceanic crust activity

Range about 1000 miles north of Antartica to Iceland
Extensive volcanism gives rise to volcanic islands such as
Surtsey
The submerged mountains and undersea ridges form a
continuous chain 46,000 miles long. (longest mountain
range in the world)

Ring of Fire
Plate subduction is
responsible for the intense
seismic activity that
fringes the Pacific
An inner belt runs parallel
to the main belt and takes
in the Marianas,
characterized by a massive
trench system in places
more than 30,000 feet
deep
Ocean in a region known
as the circum-Pacific belt,
a chain of subduction,
zones flanking the Pacific
basin.

 The Ring of Fire is an area where

a large number of earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions occur in
the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
As a direct result of plate
tectonics movement and
collisions of lithospheric plates
The Ring of Fire has 452
volcanoes and is home to over
75% of the world's active and
dormant volcanoes.
Indonesias volcanoes are most
active among ring of fire

Remember....

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

0 ma

Present day

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

60 ma

Mod. from Scotese and PALEOMAP (2005)

Paleocene

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

50 ma

Early Eocene

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

40 ma

Late Eocene

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

30 ma

Oligocene

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

20 ma

Early Miocene

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

10 ma

Late Miocene

Southeast Asia Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution

0 ma

Present day

Seamounts and guyots

Seamounts are individual volcanoes on the ocean floor. They are distinct from the plate-boundary
volcanic system of the mid-ocean ridges, because seamounts tend to be circular or conical.
Large seamounts are often fed by "hot spots" in the deep mantle.
Melting of sediment in the subduction zones as a source of new molten magma
Convective motions in the wedge of asthenosphere caught between the descending oceanic plate and
the continental plate force material upward, where it melts under reduced pressures.
The magma rises to the surface in giant blobs called diapirs.
Upon reaching the underside of the lithosphere, the diapers burn holes through the crust as the molten
rock melts on its journey upward.
As the diapirs rise toward the surface, they form magma bodies, which become the immediate source
for new igneous activity. After reaching the surface, the magma erupts on the ocean floor to create new
volcanic islands strung out on the ocean floor along with other volcanic activities

Seamount vs Guyots

Guyots (1-3) are seamounts that have built above sea level.
Erosion by waves destroyed the top of the seamount
resulting in a flattened shape.
Due to the movement of the ocean floor away from
oceanic ridges, the sea floor gradually sinks and the
flattened guyots are submerged to become undersea flattopped peaks.
Guyots contain evidence of fossils such as coral reefs that
only live in shallow water.
Seamounts (4) conversely represent volcanoes that did not
reach sea level so their tops remain intact and are shaped
like volcanoes on land.

Island arcs
An island arc is a type of
archipelago, often composed of a
chain of volcanoes, with arc-shaped
alignment, situated parallel and
close to a boundary between two
converging tectonic plates.
Most of these island arcs are
formed as one oceanic oceanic
plate, subducts another one and, in
most cases, produces magma at
depth below the over-riding plate.
i.e: Sunda islands (Indonesia), at
basin Java Sea, Overriding by
Eurasian plate, subducting
Australian plate

Rift volcanoes
Rift volcanoes form
when magma rises
into the gap between
diverging plates.
They thus occur at or
near actual plate
boundaries

Hot spot volcanoes

Isolated from plate boundaries
As oceanic volcanoes move
away from the hot spot, they
cool and subside, producing
older islands, atolls, and
seamounts.
As continental volcanoes move
away from the hot spot, they
cool, subside, and become
extinct

 Occur where plates

are moving apart,
as in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean
magma rises
through the gap
between the
separating plates
and creates new
rock
erupt more gently
than other types of
volcano

Hotspot volcanoes

occur where plates

move towards each
other and collide
(subduction zone)
Subduction zone:
Ocean-continent
Ocean-ocean
Continen-continent

Rift volcanoes

Subduction volcanoes

Difference among them..

found away from
the edges of the
plates
formed where
rising plumes of
magma force their
way to the surface
from deep within
the mantle, a hot
spot

Hydrothermal vents
Hot springs on the ocean floor are called
hydrothermal vents. The most numerous
and spectacular hydrothermal vents are
found along worlds mid-ocean ridges.
The heat source for these springs is the
magma (molten rock) beneath the
volcanic ridge system.
Velocities of 1-5 m/sec and at
temperatures of 200-400 C (400-750 F)
The precipitate includes iron, gold, silver,
copper, zinc, cadmium, manganese, and
sulfur, along with significant amounts of
methane gas mixed into the fluid.
Halides, sulphates, chromates,
molybdates and tungstates
Patented: Marshall tech hydrothermal
system

Fin.....