ES Week 14-15

PLATE
TECTONIC
S
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
a. Explain how the movement of plates leads to the formation

of folds and faults;
b. Explain how the seafloor spreads; and
c. Describe the structure and evolution of ocean basins
Earth’s Geologic History
• Continental Drift was a theory that explained how continental
landmasses shift position on Earth’s surface.
• 1912
• Alfred Wegener (a German geophysicist and meteorologist).
• He noticed that the coasts of western Africa and eastern South
America looked like the edges of interlocking pieces of a jigsaw
puzzle.
• Wegener believed that all the continents had once been joined in a
single supercontinent known as Pangaea, which means “all lands” in
Greek.
• Pangaea existed 240 million years ago.
Evidences That Support
Continental Drift
1. The Apparent Fit of the Continent.
- The coastlines of the continents appear to fit together like pieces of
a puzzle.
2. Fossil Correlation
- Identical fossils have been found in the rocks on either side of the
ocean.
3. Rock and Mountain Correlation.
- Identical rocks and mountain structures have been found on either
side of the ocean.
4. Paleoclimate Date.
- Coal has been found in cold regions and glacial evidence has been in
warm regions.
The Seafloor Spreading Theory
Proposed in 1960 by geologist named Harry Hess.
- He suggested that the sea floor was moving outward from
the Mid-Oceanic ridges.
- In this theory, the Mid-Oceanic ridge is considered a

spreading axis or spreading center.
The Theory of Plate Tectonics
States that the lithosphere is a shell of hard, strong rock about
100 kilometers thick that floats on the hot, plastic
asthenosphere.
According to this theory, the Earth’s lithosphere is broken into

eight large or major segments and several smaller segments
called tectonic plates or lithospheric plates.
THE MOVEMENT OF PLATES
LEADS TO THE FORMATION OF
FOLDS AND FAULTS
The plates are moving at a speed that has been estimated at
1 to 10 cm per year.
The top layers of the plates are called the crust.
Oceanic crust (the crust under the oceans) is thinner and

denser than continental crust.
Type of Crust Average Average Age Major
Thickness Component
Continental 20-20 3 billion years Granite

Crust kilometers
Oceanic Crust 10 kilometers Hundreds of Basalt

millions of
years
TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENTS: DIVERGENCE,
CONVERGENCE, AND LATERAL SLIPPING
1. Divergent Plate Movement: Seafloor Spreading.
- Seafloor spreading is the movement of two oceanic plates
away from each other, which results in the formation of new
oceanic crust (from magma that comes from within the Earth’s
mantle) along a mid-ocean ridge.
The large slabs of rock that make up the Earth’s crust are
called tectonic plates. As they move away from each other
beneath the ocean floor, hot magma from the Earth’s mantle
bubbles to the surface.
The newest oceanic crust is located near the center of the

ridge, the actual site of seafloor spreading.
Seafloor spreading disproves an early part of the theory of
continental drift.
Continental drift was one of the first theories that the Earth’s
crust was dynamic and always in motion.
Subduction is the opposite of seafloor spreading. Subduction

happens where tectonic plates crash into each other instead of
spreading apart.
2. Convergent Plate
Movement.
- When two plates
collide, some crust is
destroyed in the
impact and the plates
become smaller.
a. Oceanic Plate
Movement and
Continental Plate
- When a thin, dense
oceanic plate collides
with a relatively light,
thick continental plate,
the oceanic plate is
forced under the
continental plate; this
phenomenon is called
subduction.
b. Two Oceanic Plates.
When to oceanic plates
collide, one may be
pushed under the
other and magma from
the mantle rises,
forming volcanoes in
the vicinity.
C. Two Continental Plates.
When two continental
plates collide, mountain
ranges are created as the
colliding crust is
compressed and pushed
upwards.
3. Lateral Slipping Plate
Movement.
When two plates move

sideways against each
other, there is a
tremendous amount of
friction which makes the
movement jerky.
THE DIFFERENT METHODS (RELATIVE AND
ABSOLUTE DATING) TO DETERMINE THE AGE OF
STRATIFIED ROCKS AND GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
The study of layered rocks, their arrangement and history is called
stratigraphy.
In relative dating, we determine which things are older or younger

based on their relationships.
Absolute dating methods measure the physical properties of an

object itself and use these measurements to calculate its age.
Four Fundamental Principles of
Stratigraphy
1. The Principle of Original Horizontality. When sediments
are laid down on Earth’s surface, they form horizontal or
nearly horizontal layers.
2. The Principle of Lateral Continuity. Rock layers extend for

some distance over Earth’s surface – from a few meters to
hundreds of kilometers, depending on the conditions of
deposition.
3. The Principle of Superposition. As layers accumulate
through time, older layers are buried beneath younger layers.
4. The Principle of Faunal Succession. The principle is

attributed to William Smith, an English engineer in the late
1700s. Smith noticed that the kinds of fossils he found
changed through a vertical succession of rock layers.
a. Relative dating of rocks and fossils from an area is based
on the Principle of Superposition, which enables scientists
to put historical events in order.
b. Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a

specified time scale in archaeology and geology. Some
scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar
dating.
- In archaeology, absolute dating is usually based on the
physical, chemical, and life properties of the materials of
artifacts, buildings, or other items that have been modified by
humans.
STRATIGRAPHIC PRINCIPLES AND
RELATIVE TIME
The layers of rocks are known as strata, and the study of their
succession is known as stratigraphy.
The following are few principles found in Charles Lyell’s

Principles of Geology in 1830 – 1832.
a. The principle of superposition – in a vertical sequence of

sedimentary or volcanic rocks, a higher rock unit is younger
than a lower one. “Down” is older, “up” is younger.
b. The principle of original horizontality – rock layers were
originally deposited close to horizontal.
c. The principle of original lateral extension – a rock unit

continues laterally unless there is a structure or change to
prevent its extension.
d. The principle of cross-cutting relationships – a structure

that cuts another is younger than the structure that is cut.
e. The principle of inclusion – a structure that is included in
another is older than the including structure.
f. The principle of “uniformitarianism” – process operating in

the past were constrained by the same “laws of physics” as
operate today.
MARKER FOSSILS (ALSO KNOWN AS GUIDE FOSSILS) ARE
USED TO DEFINE AND IDENTIFY SUBDIVISIONS OF THE
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
Index fossil or guide fossils (also called key fossils or type

fossils), any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the
Earth that is characteristic of a particular period of geologic
time or environment.
Examples of index fossils
1. Ammonites were common during the Mesozoic Era (245 to 65
mya) and they were not found after the Cretaceous period, as
they went extinct during the K-T extinction (65 mya).
2. In terrestrial sediments of the Cenozoic Era, which began about

65.5 mya, mammals (e.g. rodents as well as larger animals) are
widely used to date deposits.
3. Trilobites, a very good index fossil for Paleozoic rocks (540 to 245
mya). They lived in all parts of the ocean and were constantly
evolving.
4. Nanofossils are small or microscopic, part of the floating
plankton (the remains of calcareous nannoplankton,
coccolithophores) in the world ocean. They were abundant,
widely distributed, and time-specific.
5. Brachiopods (mollusk-like marine animals) appeared during

the Cambrian (540 to 500 mya); some examples still survive.

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PLATE

a. Explain how the movement of plates leads to the formation

- In this theory, the Mid-Oceanic ridge is considered a

According to this theory, the Earth’s lithosphere is broken into

The top layers of the plates are called the crust.

Oceanic crust (the crust under the oceans) is thinner and

Continental 20-20 3 billion years Granite

Oceanic Crust 10 kilometers Hundreds of Basalt

The newest oceanic crust is located near the center of the

Subduction is the opposite of seafloor spreading. Subduction

When two plates move

In relative dating, we determine which things are older or younger

Absolute dating methods measure the physical properties of an

2. The Principle of Lateral Continuity. Rock layers extend for

4. The Principle of Faunal Succession. The principle is

b. Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a

The following are few principles found in Charles Lyell’s

a. The principle of superposition – in a vertical sequence of

c. The principle of original lateral extension – a rock unit

d. The principle of cross-cutting relationships – a structure

f. The principle of “uniformitarianism” – process operating in

Index fossil or guide fossils (also called key fossils or type

2. In terrestrial sediments of the Cenozoic Era, which began about

5. Brachiopods (mollusk-like marine animals) appeared during

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