Bicol University

GRADUATE SCHOOL
Legazpi City

TERMINAL PAPER

Katherine R. Campillos
MABioEd
 PLATE TECTONICS Plate tectonics explains how the
Earth's surface moves.
The theory of plate tectonics was developed
between the 1950s and 1970s as an update to
continental drift, which was first presented by
physicist Alfred Wegener in 1912 and stated that
Earth's continents had "drifted" across the planet
through time. Wegener lacked an explanation for
how continents could move around the world, but
scientists now have one: plate tectonics.
Plate tectonics is the notion that Earth's crust is
composed of enormous slabs of solid rock called
"plates" that glide across Earth's mantle, the rocky
inner layer above the planet's core. The solid
exterior layer of the Earth, including the crust and
topmost mantle, is referred to as the lithosphere.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is 100
km (60 miles) thick. The asthenosphere lies
beneath the lithosphere and is a viscous layer that
is maintained flexible by heat deep below the Earth.
Plate tectonics is the process by which mountains originate. When two tectonic plates met along a
convergent border, solid rock buckled and folded, forming the Baird Mountains in Alaska's Kobuk It allows the lithosphere to move about by
Valley National Park. Plate tectonics describes how the Earth's surface moves.
lubricating the undersides of Earth's tectonic plates.
(Image credit: Eileen Devinney/NPS)

Plate tectonics is the "unifying theory of geology," according to Nicholas van der Elst, a seismologist at
Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York.
"Before plate tectonics, people had to come up with explanations of the geologic features in their region that were
unique to that particular region," said Van der Elst. "Plate tectonics unified all these descriptions and said that you
should be able to describe all geologic features as though driven by the relative motion of these tectonic plates."

A. HOW PLATE TECTONICS WORKS

The primary force underlying plate tectonics is mantle convection. Near the Earth's core, hot material rises, while
cooler mantle rock sinks. Van der Elst compared the situation to a kettle boiling on a stove:
In the meantime, geologists envision the plates above the roiling mantle to be bumper cars that continuously
collide, stick together, and then separate. Plate borders are the locations where segments meet and separate,
according to geologists. They are said to wrap around the Earth like baseball seams.
There are three ways in which plate boundaries might intersect, and each of them results in a distinct geological
structure.
When two plates contact, converging borders are formed. Where these plates collide, the Earth's crust fractures
and buckles, forming mountain ranges. Approximately 55 million years ago, India and Asia merged to form the
Himalaya Mountains. As the mash-up continues, the height of those mountains increases. According to a report
published in 2020 in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, geologists have determined that the Swiss Alps are
being raised quicker than they are being eroded away, and are consequently increasing each year. When a
mountain's mass grows too great to resist gravity, it will stop growing. According to the University of Hawai'i at
Manoa, erosion is often not victorious since mountains can grow at a rather quick rate.
However, plates that converge do not invariably clash upward. When an ocean plate (composed of denser rock
than landmasses) collides with a continental plate, it "subducts" or dives beneath the continental plate. The
material then sinks into the Earth's mantle, the layer beneath the crust, melts in the mantle's boiling magma, and
is ejected in a volcanic explosion. Subduction zones, such as the "Ring of Fire" that encircles the Pacific Ocean,
are home to numerous magnificent volcanoes.
When two oceanic plates collide, a deep trench is created, such as the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific
Ocean, which is thought to be the deepest point on Earth. These collisions can potentially result in the formation
of underwater volcanoes.
Divergent borders, as their name suggests, are tectonic boundaries where plates "diverge" or are torn apart. This
process produces enormous land valleys, such as the East Africa Rift. This similar process forms mid-ocean
ridges in the ocean. At these ridges, magma from the Earth's mantle rises to the surface, producing new ocean
crust and pushing the plates apart. Along this seam, underwater mountains and volcanoes can occasionally form
islands. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, for instance, passes right through Iceland.

When plates move laterally in regard to one another, transform barriers exist. Numerous earthquakes are
triggered by the slip-slide motion of plate boundaries. A prominent example of a transform boundary is the San
Andreas Fault in California, where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates grind past each other in a
predominantly horizontal motion.
National Geographic reports that tectonic plates move at a rate of one to two inches (3 to 5 cm) every year.
That's around the rate at which your fingernails grow!

Plate tectonics is responsible for the formation of the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Only in Iceland's Thingvellir Valley
is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge above sea level. The fissure
between the North American plate and the Eurasian
plate is navigable by foot. Volcanic activity and
earthquakes occur often in the region.
(Image credit: Kate Ramsayer/AGU.)

B. HOW MANY PLATES ARE THERE?

Due to the spherical nature of the Earth, its tectonic or lithospheric plates are fractured into a large number
of curved parts. (Think of it as a cracked egg shell.) According to the U.S. Geological Service (USGS), the
size of each plate spans from a few hundred to thousands of kilometers, and based on its size, it is
classified as "major," "minor," or "micro."
World Atlas identifies seven major tectonic plates: North American, Pacific, Eurasian, African, Indo-
Australian, South American, and Antarctic. However, according to a 2012 article in Nature, earthquakes in
the last few decades are evidence that the Indo-Australian plate has fractured over the past 10 million
years, resulting in the formation of a separate Indian Plate and Australian Plate, bringing the total number of
major plates to eight.

At a crack in the Wharton Basin in the Indian Ocean, this map

depicts the seabed as well as the deformation that occurred
underneath it. This crack most likely arose during the process
of forming the ocean crust; however, it is currently
transforming into a new plate boundary. The depressions are
evidence of a strike-slip fault, the same type of fault that is
responsible for the San Andreas Fault in California.
(Image credit: Aurélie Coudurier-Curveur; Coudurier‐Curveur,
A. et al. Geophysical Research Letters (2020); CC BY 4.0)

The Pacific Plate is remains the largest of all tectonic plates, regardless of whether or not the newly
discovered difference may be considered a boundary. It has a surface area of approximately 103,000,000
square kilometers, or 39,768,522 square miles, however it is completely submerged beneath the ocean.
The Arabian Plate, Caribbean Plate, Cocos Plate, Nazca Plate, Philippine Plate, Scotia Plate, and a number
of other plates are included on the list of the Earth's minor tectonic plates. Additionally, there are a great
number of plates of a lesser size all across the earth.
 C. WHEN DID PLATE TECTONICS START?

While the age of the Earth is calculated at 4.54 billion years, oceanic crust is continually recycled at
subduction zones. Therefore, the oldest seabed is just approximately 200 million years old. In the
northwestern Pacific Ocean and the eastern Mediterranean Sea are the oldest oceanic rocks. Large pieces
of continental crust at least 3.8 billion years old have been discovered in Greenland.

Using traces left in rocks and fossils, geoscientists may recreate the continents' previous history. Based on
old magmas and minerals retained in rocks from that time period, the majority of scientists believe modern
plate tectonics took over from earlier planetary development about 3 billion years ago. According to a 2020
article in Discover Magazine, experts have unearthed evidence that plate tectonics may have been
functioning for as long as 4 billion years.

Some of the major modern-day

plates under our feet. Plate
tectonics is an ongoing process, so
long in the future these plates could
be as unrecognizable as Earth's
surface was a billion years ago.
(Image credit: USGS)

Van der Elst stated, "We don't really know when plate tectonics as we know it now began, but we do have
continental crust that was likely scraped off a down-going slab [a tectonic plate in a subduction zone] 3.8
billion years ago." Plate tectonics may have been in operation, but the landscape may have appeared
considerably different than it does today.
Occasionally, when the continents jostle around the Earth, they unite to form supercontinents or a single
landmass. Rodinia, one of the earliest supercontinents, formed approximately 1 billion years ago. Its
disintegration is associated with a global glaciation known as Snowball Earth.
Pangaea, a supercontinent developed approximately 300 million years ago. Africa, South America, North
America, and Europe huddled closely together, leaving a distinctive pattern of fossils and rocks for
geologists to decode after the breakup of Pangaea. The puzzle pieces left behind by Pangaea, including
fossils and matching shorelines in the Atlantic Ocean, were the first indications that the Earth's continents
are in constant motion.

New model of a fundamental process behind the movement of Earth's tectonic plates

Pacific Ring of Fire. Credit: Gringer (talk) 23:52, 10 February 2009 (UTC), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The University of Lisbon (Portugal) and Johannes Gutenberg University (Germany) have created the first
advanced computer model of one of the primary processes driving tectonic plate movement.
The tectonic plates that make up the Earth's surface move like puzzle pieces at a snail's pace of roughly
10 centimeters every year. But the puzzle pieces aren't quite right: some zones on one plate end up diving
under another—subduction zones, vital to the planet's dynamics. This sluggish movement might result in
massive mountain ranges or marine trenches over thousands of years.

How do these subduction zones form and evolve? Scientists previously understood that over thousands of
years, this process can reverse itself, forming new subduction zones. But it was still important to
understand the process and model the many (and massive) forces involved. It was feasible to model all
forces dynamically and realistically, including Earth's own gravity, for the first time in three dimensions.
"Subduction zones are a major characteristic of our world, driving plate tectonics and planetary dynamics.
The Pacific Ring of Fire, the world's biggest ring of subduction zones, is prone to massive earthquakes. So
it's vital to understand how new subduction zones form ", says Jaime Almeida, first author and researcher
at Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon.

On a supercomputer at Johannes Gutenberg University, these simulations took up to a week to process

(Germany). Without the computational code recently developed at this University, which is substantially
more efficient than other current codes, it could have taken weeks or even months to run on this
supercomputer.
"Though theorized, this concept had never been tested in practice. It appears easier and more likely than
expected "the study's co-author Joo Duarte of the Instituto Dom Luiz says.
To investigate specific sections of our world, we use this model. "So far, these models have been applied
to specific examples like as the Atlantic Ocean subduction zones, the Caribbean, the Scotia Arc, next to
Antarctica, and the Southwest Portuguese coastline. Data from marine geology suggest that the Lisbon
earthquake of 1755 was a precursor to subduction on our margin "Joo Duarte concludes.

Discovery of new geologic process calls for changes to plate tectonic cycle

A recently discovered plate tectonics mechanism consists

of a mass (rock slab weight), a pulley (trench), a dashpot
(microcontinent), and a string (oceanic plate) that connects
these pieces. The microcontinent wanders toward the
subduction zone in its early condition (Figure a). As a
result of the tensional force exerted by the rock slab's pull
across the subduction zone, the microcontinent then
stretches on its trek to the subduction trench (Figure b).
Due to its low density, the microcontinent finally accretes to
the overriding plate and resists subduction, forcing the
down-going slab to break off (Figure c). Erkan
Gün/University of Toronto photo
VOLCANO-TECTONIC ENVIRONMENTS
DISTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES

The planet Earth is dynamic. Its solid exterior surface is divided into several tectonic plates that are in
constant relative motion. As shown on the figure below, the majority of the approximately 550 active
volcanoes on Earth are situated at the boundaries of neighbouring plates.

World map showing plate

boundaries (blue lines), the
distribution of recent
earthquakes (yellow dots) and
active volcanoes (red triangles).
Courtesy of NASA.

LATE MOTION, MANTLE CONVECTION, AND MAGMA GENERATION

The lithosphere, which is the solid outermost layer of the Earth, comprises tectonic plates. The
lithosphere consists of an upper layer of crust (7 km thick beneath the seas and 35 km thick under the
continents) and a lower, denser layer of the upper mantle, with a total thickness of around 100
kilometers. The asthenosphere is a hot, mobile layer of partially molten rock that lies within the upper
mantle of the planet.

Convection drives the stiff lithospheric plates. Warm mantle rises beneath mid-oceanic ridges,
whereas colder, denser mantle lowers in oceanic trenches.. The lithospheric plates' lateral motion is
like stiff bricks on a revolving conveyor belt.
Volcanic eruptions occur when magma (molten rock) rises from deep under the surface.
Physicochemical Controls on Eruption Style describes the magma kinds. Their silica (SiO2)
concentration varies from mafic to intermediate to felsic. Mafic (basaltic) magmas form directly from
the mantle, either in the asthenosphere or in the lithosphere above. These magmas appear to be
formed by the melting of hydrated lithospheric mantle. The melting of continental crust by hot mafic
magmas that either pond at the crust-mantle boundary or penetrate into the overlying continents
where they remain in magma chambers located at various crustal levels produces intermediate-to-
felsic magmas.

Volcanic activity is common along plate borders. Although intraplate volcanism is rare, it can produce
large eruptive products. Detailed descriptions of regional volcano-tectonic processes connected with
plate border and intraplate environments follow.

Plate borders indicate locations where two plates are moving away from, toward, or past one
another. This relative motion defines three sorts of boundaries between adjacent plates:

Divergent plate boundaries -- Plates diverge from one another at the site of thermally buoyant mid-
oceanic ridges. Oceanic crust is created at divergent plate boundaries.

Convergent plate boundaries -- Plates converge on one another at the site of deep oceanic
trenches. Oceanic crust is destroyed at convergent plate boundaries.

Transform plate boundaries -- Plates slide past one another

Although volcanism is common at divergent and convergent plate borders, there is a noticeable lack of
major volcanism linked with transform plate barriers. Spreading center volcanism occurs at divergent plate
edges, whereas subduction zone volcanism occurs at convergent plate margins. Intraplate volcanism
discusses volcanic eruptions inside tectonic plates. Each of these three volcano-tectonic settings is shown
in the following diagram:

Volcanism at divergent and convergent plate margins. Courtesy of USGS.

TAAL VOLCANO

The Taal volcano has a lake that is 15 by 20 kilometers wide. Talisay (Taal) caldera is a gorgeous caldera
volcano, but it is also one of the Philippines' most dangerous and active volcanoes. Taal has had some of
the greatest and deadliest eruptions in the country: Since 1572, at least six eruptions of Taal have
resulted in deaths, primarily due to massive pyroclastic flows and tsunamis generated in the crater lake.
The Taal caldera is mostly filled by the 267-square-kilometer Lake Taal, whose surface is just 3
meters above sea level. The lake has a maximum depth of 160 meters and has multiple
underwater eruptive foci. All historical eruptions emanated from the 5-km-wide volcanic island in
the lake's north-central region.
The island is composed of stratovolcanoes, cinder cones, and tuff rings that overlap (maars). The
island has undergone continuous modification and expansion as a result of historical eruptions.
Taal was responsible for one of the deadliest volcanic disasters in history: its 1911 eruption killed
1,334 people and sent ash as far as Manila. Taal was designated as one of the "Decade
Volcanoes" as part of the Decade Volcanoes initiative of the 1990s in order to encourage
research and monitoring of the volcano. Today, Taal is one of the region's most intensively
monitored volcanoes. In November 2006, an increase in seismic activity was detected beneath
Taal, followed by an increase in hot water springs in the crater in April 2007.
TIMELINE: Taal Volcano eruptions since 1572
As of January 2020, Taal Volcano has erupted 34 times in 448 years
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology lists twenty-
four active volcanoes, of which Taal is one (Phivolcs). It is also one of the lowest and deadliest
volcanoes in the world.
Taal Volcano and the surrounding area, located in Batangas, a province 60 kilometers south
of Manila, have become one of the most popular holiday destinations in Southern Luzon.
Despite being categorized as an active volcano, it has not erupted since 1977, 43 years ago.
Numerous stratovolcanoes and craters constitute the volcano. Since 1572, 34 eruptions have
been documented.
Not all eruptions were identical. Most of them were created by magma and water interacting
(phreatic and phreatomagmatic). Others were created by gas fusion within the volcano
forming bubbles that rose to the surface (strombolian).
In phreatic eruptions, only previous bits of solid rock are expelled. Alternatively,
phreatomagmatic eruptions emit magma.

Here is the Phivolcs chronology of Taal Volcano eruptions.

1572 – The volcano's main crater erupted in phreatomagma.

1591, 1605—1611, 1634–1635, 1641–1645 – Separate eruptions at the main crater. The 1591 and
1641 eruptions were phreatic. The 1641 occurrence had tephra or rock shards visible.
1707 – Taal Volcano erupted at Binintiang Malaki crater, viewable from Tagaytay City. This eruption is
thought to have created the Binintiang Malaki. It was phreatic with shock waves. A second eruption
occurred in 1715.
21 September 1716 Calauit, on the eastern shore of Taal Volcano, had an underwater
phreatomagmatic eruption.
1709, 1729 – Eruptions at Binintiang Munti crater. The 1709 event was phreatomagmatic.
Pira-Piraso, the island's eastern point, had an underwater eruption in 1731. This was
phreatomagmatic. Gas and rock pieces were recorded flowing, as well as dropping.
August 11, 1749 – Phivolcs documented a “very violent” phreatomagmatic eruption in the main crater.
Residents of Taal Volcano Island and Taal, Sala, and Tanauan were impacted.
From May 15 to December 5, 1754, a phreatomagmatic/plinian eruption occurred, followed by a “very
violent” explosion with rock falling and ejection. A plinian eruption has continuous gas bursts and lava
ejection.
This was Taal Volcano's longest eruption, lasting over 7 months. Ashes, volcanic rocks, and water
buried 4 Batangas towns. Shock waves, acid rain, and 100-110-centimeter ashfall were all observed.
(READ: Taal 1754 erupts again?)
Eruptions at the main crater in 1790, 1808, 1825, 1842, 1873, 1874, 1878, 1903, 1904 1808 and 1874
were phreatomagmatic, whereas 1878 and 1904 were phreatic.
1911/01/27-10/02 The main crater had a phreatic eruption, causing rock pieces to fall and blast out of
the volcano. This catastrophe claimed 1,335 lives.
There was also ashfall up to 80 cm thick, acid rain, shock waves, and ground breaking and sinking.
On September 28-30, 1965, Taal Volcano erupted near Mt Tabaro, killing 200 people. The eruption
was phreatomagmatic and severe, with rock fragmentation, ashfall, and acid rain.
Separate phreatomagmatic eruptions occurred on July 5, 1966 and August 16, 1967 at Mt Tabaro.
Both instances resulted in projectile rock fragments falling from the volcano
The only Strombolian eruptions of Taal Volcano were on January 31, 1968, and October 29, 1969,
both in Mt Tabaro crater. Both events had lava flow and fountaining.
These were the final three eruptions before the 2020 calamity. These eruptions were all phreatic and
occurred in the Mt Tabaro crater.
In 1977, Taal Volcano erupted, according to Renato Solidum, DOST undersecretary for disaster risk
reduction and climate change adaptation. Volcanic disturbance was documented in 2011, 2012, and
2014. 
TAAL VOLCANO AND BIODIVERSITY

The current Taal Volcano eruption is not just harmful to the people, towns, and businesses
nearby. In addition, it harms, if not kills, the plants, animals, and ecosystems that make up
this lovely protected region

Established in 1967 as Taal Volcano Island National Park, it was renamed in 1996 as Taal
Volcano Protected Landscape (TVPL) under the National Integrated Protected Areas System
Act (RA 7586). The TVPL was designated a National Park in 2018 by the Expanded National
Integrated Protected Areas System Act (RA 11038). It encircles Taal Volcano Island, Taal
Lake, and 37 tributaries of thirteen municipalities and three cities. TVPL also contains a
stretch of Pansipit River, Taal Lake's only exit to Balayan Bay in the West Philippine Sea.

TVPL attracts thousands of local and

foreign tourists every year because to its
closeness to Metro Manila and other tourist
destinations like Batangas beaches and
Laguna hotsprings.
But the TVPL is not only a tourist spot that
has to be crossed out of someone’s bucket
list or a weekend getaway where people go
to escape the city.

It provides various ecosystem services vital to our current and future well-being. TVPL
provides food, water, wood, and other basics to local populations. TVPL regulates the climate
so that visitors to Tagaytay may enjoy the cool weather. Many households and companies
rely on ecotourism for employment and revenue. TVPL's function in water control and
purification ensures cool, clean water. Visitors and tourists benefit from recreation and
aesthetic aspects.
The TVPL is home to several bird and fish species. A 2018 research found 52 migratory and
endemic marine species in Taal Lake. The most common and commercially significant is
Sardinella tawilis. The tawilis is indigenous to Taal Lake. Sardines are the only fish that can
live exclusively in freshwater. Because to overfishing, pollution of Taal Lake, and the
presence of invasive foreign species like the tilapia, the tawilis was sadly designated as
ENDANGERED by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2019.

TVPL is home to several Philippine indigenous bird species. In addition, there is the red
crested malkoha and the white-eared brown dove.
TVPL is a reptile haven. The Malay monitor lizard (Varanus marmoratus) is found. The Taal Lake
snake (Hydrophis semperi), a rare and endemic freshwater sea snake, is exclusively found in Taal
Lake. The Lake Taal snake's biology and traits are unknown. In any case, this species is dependent
on the somewhat sulfuric water of Taal Lake and cannot thrive beyond its ecology. IUCN lists the Taal
Lake snake (duhol) as VULNERABLE. Pollution from surrounding poultry and pig farms, as well as
chemical usage in fish cages, endangers the snake population. Also, due to their terrible image,
fisherman frequently kill snakes they discover.
These two tawilis species show how nature and
biodiversity work. Taal Lake was once part of Balayan
Bay. In the end, Taal Volcano sealed off and became Taal
Lake due to its frequent eruptions. A river has replaced a
sea. Several animals have developed to adapt to this new
ecosystem. And Taal Lake Snakes.
references
https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-
tectonics.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-fundamental-
movement-earth-tectonic-plates.html
http://sci.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Volcano_tect
onic.html
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/taal.html
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/249127-
timeline-taal-volcano-eruptions/
https://bmb.gov.ph/index.php/resources/news-and-
events/95-taal-volcano-and-biodiversity