Plate Tectonics

By: Hannah Moon

What is Plate Tectonics?

• Plate Tectonics: A geological model in which earth’s lithosphere is divided into sections.

In other words….. A model that shows how earth’s crust is divided up and how it moves.

Other important words:Plate: A section of earth’s lithosphereBoundary: separation of two plates

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_plate_tectonics_world.gif

Pangaea

Originated by Alfred Wegener a German geologist who also studied meteorology. He found a paper in which said back in the period of Permian to Jurassic the same plant was found on two separate continents that are no where near each other today.

Pangaea – “All Lands” It lasted from the Permian to Jurassic Periods

http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/mesozoic/mesozoicbasins.htm http://www.uni-graz.at/en/print/igamwww/igamwww_praesentation.htm

Pangaea

Alfred Wegener studied meteorology but how does that relate to what he found?

They scientific community did not agree with Wegener. They thought that the forces to move the continents were “Insufficient to the rotation of the earth.”

He had to study patterns and climates (like what type of plants need what climate) he realized that the plant had to have the same climate on the two separate continents.

http://www.topnews.in/usa/why-tectonic-plates-move-way-they-do-24873

Pangaea

Sea-floor spreading- plates moving away from each other and producing newoceanic crust. (Harry Hess)

Arther Holmes assisted Wegener’s idea…..Stated that the thermal convection built up pressure that had

enough force to break continents apart.

http://geology12-8.wikispaces.com/Unit+2+Internal+Processes+and+Plate+Tectonic+Theory

Convergent Boundary

Also know as Subduction ZoneConvergent Boundary- a place where land can join together

Could cause….• Trench• Volcanoes• Mountains

EX: Juan de Fuca plate is joining/ sliding under the North American Plate

http://connect.in.com/marianas-trench-map-image/photos-1-1-1-e2a4883b6c2486ff6498120370745d7e.html

http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/Alaska3/10.htm

Divergent Boundary

Divergent Boundary- Moving plates away from each other

Could cause….• Volcano• Rift Zone

EX: East African Rift ZoneAfrican plate & Arabian plate moving away from one another

http://agoraevangelism.org/AboutUs/business%20documents/MajorEvents.html http://hays.outcrop.org/GSCI100/lecture17.html

Transform Boundary

Transform Boundary- Two plates slide past each otherCould cause:• Earthquakes

EX: San Andreas FaultNorth American plate sliding past the Pacific

plate

http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/hundreds-of-thousands-dead-haiti-earthquake-has-transformed-most-hospitals-houses-schools-grocery-stores-and-roads-to-piles-of-rubble

http://jazba.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/country-to-hit-another-earthquake-geophysicists

Plate Tectonics For UsYou must be wondering what is this

information worth to me?Well…. We live on the North American Plate

surrounding us are the Juan de Fuca & the Caribbean plates.In Cincinnati we are in no serious danger to plate tectonics.

One of the places that is, is the west coast. The Juan de Fuca plate is pushing underneath the plate we live on which poses possible hazards for the west coast.

http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/projects/states-territories/

Plate Tectonics for Us

Based on the information I have learned….The United States could have potential

problems in the VERY distant future. Those could be • The North American plate could spilt.

• A mountain could collapse also know as a landslide• An earthquake could cause mud to flow down a mountain

also known as mudslide

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/69246/400-feared-dead-mudslide http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7454599.stm

Citations from 1st page

http://www.psdgraphics.com/icons/photoshop-world-globe-icon/(Globe)

http://www.reikicentre.com.sg/category/blog/(lightbulb)

ANY QUESTIONS

??

THE END