Lesson 4: Plate Boundaries

• Aside from the continental drift

theory, the seafloor spreading
theory played a crucial role in
providing a conceptual base for
the development of the plate
tectonics. The seafloor spreading
theory was first proposed by an
American geologist, professor,
and military officer, Harry Hess,
in the 1960s. The term " seafloor
spreading“ was first coined by
Robert S. Dietz, a scientist with
the US Coast and Geodetic
Survey, in 1961.
 While serving in the United States during World
War II, Hess conducted echo sounding surveys in
the Pacific using the work of Arthur Holmes, an
English geologist in the 1930s, and came up with a
groundbreaking hypothesis that is now known as
the seafloor spreading.

 According to this theory, the seafloor was created

as mid-ocean ridges, spreading in both directions
from the ridge system. Hess suggested that new
oceanic crust continuously spread away from the
ridges in a conveyor
 After millions of years, the oceanic crust
eventually slides down into the oceanic trenches
along the Pacific Ocean basin. He believed that
the Atlantic Ocean was expanding while the
Pacific Ocean was shrinking. As old oceanic
crust was consumed in the trenches, new magma
was released from volcanic activities and
accumulate along the spreading ridges to form
new crust. As result, the ocean basins were
perpetually being recycled-creation and new
crust and destruction of old oceanic lithosphere
happen simultaneously.
 Hess explained that the sediment has been
accumulating for about 300 million years at
most. This interval is approximately the time
needed for the ocean floor to move from ridge
crest to the trench where oceanic crust descends
into the trench and is destroyed.
 This concept shed light to the men's inquiries as
to why Earth retains its size despite the seafloor
spreading, why there is so little accumulation on
the ocean floor, and why oceanic crust are much
younger than continental rocks.
 There are abundant pieces of evidence supporting
the seafloor spreading. While studying the deep
ocean floor, scientists found out that basaltic
ocean crust and overlying sediment become
progressively younger as the mid-ocean ridge is
approached, likewise, the sediment cover
becomes thinner near the ridge.
 Moreover, the rock that makes up the ocean floor
is considerably younger than the continents. The
oldest oceanic rock sample is about 200 million
years old, a very young crust when compared to
the maximum ages of continental rock reaching
to 300 m years and above.
 This data affirms that older oceanic crust has
been reabsorbed in the ocean trench system.
Figure 1.9 shows a hydrographic survey
conducted using Sound Navigation and Ranging
(SONAR), which uses sound waves to find and
identify the objects in the water, likewise to
determine the depth of the water.
 Figure 1.9
A Hydrographic Survey
 Magnetic reversal, which was investigated during
the 1960s, also supported Hess’theory. Magnetic
surveys conducted near the mid-ocean ridge
showed elongated patterns of normal and reversal
polarity of the ocean floor in bands paralleling
the rift and symmetrically distributed as mirror
images on other side of it. This provided proof
that the crust is being created in both directions
from the ridge. The presence of fracture zones
that offset the sections of the ridge is another
considerable evidence for the seafloor spreading
theory.
 Seafloor spreading and continental drift are inseparable
concepts in geology. Hess claimed that seafloor
spreading is caused by two plates moving apart, while
Wegener postulated that it is caused by plate tectonics.
When plates move, they carry continents with them and
thus, the continents spread drift away from one another.
 At present, it is clear that all tectonic plates constantly
move around the planet. The border between two
tectonic plates is called boundary. The movement of
plate varies-some are moving toward each other, some
are moving apart, while some are simply sliding past
each other. There are three types of plate boundaries:
convergent, divergent, and transform.
Different Types of Boundaries
 Different Types of Boundaries
• Convergent boundaries come together
– Places where crust is destroyed as one plate
dives under another

• Divergent boundaries spread apart

– Places where new crust is generated as the
plates pull away from each other
– New crust is created from magma pushing
up from the mantle

• Transform boundaries slide against each

other
– Places where crust is neither produced nor
destroyed as the plates slide horizontally
past each other
 Convergent
(Colliding)
• This type of plate
boundary is also called
destructive plate boundary.
It occurs where two plates
are pushing toward each
other. Here, the crust is
destroyed and recycled back
into the interior of the
Earth, while one plate dives
under another
• When a moving plate of dense oceanic lithosphere collides with a
plate moving in the opposite direction, one of the plates subducts
beneath the other. The younger of the two plates will ride over the
edge of the older plate because the former is less dense.
•The heavier plate eventually bends and plunges steeply through the
asthenosphere and descends into Earth creating a trench that can be as
much as 100 kilometers wide, more than a thousand kilometer long
and several kilometers deep.
•Subduction zones are the regions where a portion of the tectonic
plates are diving beneath other plates into Earth’s interior. These
zones are defined by deep oceanic trenches, large earthquakes that
extend from the trenches landward, and lines of volcanoes parallel to
the trenches
•Zone is an example of a subduction zone. Earthquakes in this area
may extend down to depths of 10 km before the subducting plate
heats up and loses its ability to deform in a brittle fashion.
•General examples of convergent boundaries include the boundary
between the Eurasian Plate and the Indian Plates at the Himalayas and
the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate
along the west coast of South America. There are three types of
convergent boundaries.
Oceanic-Oceanic Convergence
• When two oceanic plates converge, one
is usually subducted under the other.
• An older oceanic plate is colder,
therefore more dense and less buoyant,
and will subduct under a younger, hotter,
less dense, and more buoyant oceanic
plate.
• In the process, a trench is formed.
– The deepest trenches in the oceans
are along oceanic-oceanic
Oceanic – Oceanic Convergence
subduction zones (i.e., the Marianas
Trench in the Pacific, which is
deeper than Mt. Everest is high).
• Subduction in oceanic-oceanic plate
convergence can result in the formation
of volcanoes.
• Examples of oceanic-oceanic
convergence are the arcuate chains of
islands in the southwest Pacific, Japan,
and the Aleutian Islands.
Oceanic-Oceanic Convergence
• There are several structural and
topographic features created at
many subduction zones. A bulge in
the descending plate known as an
outer swell commonly develops
where the plate bends to dive down
the mantle.
• Closer to the island arc, a deep
trench and a forearc ridge can be
formed. The forearc ridge traps Oceanic – Oceanic Convergence

sedimentary deposits and is

underlain by faulted and highly
deformed sedimentary and
metamorphic rocks.
• The back arc, which is located
behind the volcanic arc, is a broad
region of variable character that
may be compressed or extended.
 Oceanic-Continental Convergence
• Ocean-to-continental convergence occurs when two oceanic plates
pushes into and moves underneath a continental plate. The continental
plate that overrides the oceanic plate lifts up to create mountain
ranges. As the oceanic plate sinks, it glides into the newly formed
trench and smaller pieces break off. These small pieces are locked in
their place for long periods of time before they produce sudden
movements and earthquakes. Some of the landforms created by the
convergence of ocean and continental crusts are the Andes Mountains
in Western South America and the Cascade Range in western North
America.

Oceanic – Continental Convergence

 Oceanic-Continental Convergence
• The oceanic plate subducts under the continental plate because it has lower density.
• The oceanic Nazca Plate is being subducted under the continental part of the South
American Plate.
• The South American Plate is being lifted up, creating the Andes mountains.
• Strong, destructive earthquakes and rapid uplift of mountain ranges are common in
this region.
• These earthquakes are often accompanied by uplift of the land by as much as a few
meters.
• Mount Saint Helens is along the subduction zone of the Juan de Fuca plate (an
oceanic plate) and the North American plate (a continental plate).

Oceanic – Continental Convergence

 Continental-Continental Convergence
• When two continents meet head-on,
neither is subducted because the
continental rocks are relatively light and,
like two colliding icebergs, resist
downward motion.
• Instead, the crust tends to buckle and be
pushed upward or sideways.
•Result of convergence is the formation of
tall mountain ranges.
•The Himalayas known as Earths highest
mountain belt, is an example of a zone of
mountains that rose when India collided
with the Eurasian continent. The collision between the Indian and
Eurasian plates has pushed up the
Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.

Continental – Continental Convergence

 Continental-Continental Convergence

• 50 million years ago, the Indian

Plate collided into the Eurasian
Plate.

• After the collision, the slow

continuous convergence of the
two plates over millions of years
pushed up the Himalaya and the
Tibetan Plateau to their present
heights.

• The Himalaya form the highest

continental mountains in the
world.
 Divergent
• A divergent boundary is a zone
where two lithospheric plates
move apart from each other.
• Also known as constructive
boundary, this plate boundary is
characterized by tensional
stresses that normally produced
long rift zones, normal faults, and
basaltic volcanism.
• The volcanic country of Iceland
exemplifies the processes that
occur along a divergent boundary
 Divergent
•It splits along the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge and borders North
American and Eurasian Plates. As
North America moves westward
and Eurasia shifts eastward, new
crust is created on both sides of
the boundary. As the crust adds
mass to Iceland on both sides, a
rift along the boundary is also
carved out.
 Divergent
• Divergent boundaries occur
along spreading centers where
plates are moving apart and new
crust is created by magma
pushing up from the mantle.
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a
divergent boundary.
• Sea-floor spreading over the
past 100 to 200 million years has
caused the Atlantic Ocean to
grow from a tiny inlet of water
between the continents of Europe,
Africa, and the Americas into the
ocean that exists today.
 Divergent
• Iceland is splitting along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between the North
American and Eurasian Plates, as North America moves westward relative
to Eurasia.
• In East Africa, spreading processes have already torn Saudi Arabia away
from the rest of the African continent, forming the Red Sea.
• The actively splitting African Plate and the Arabian Plate meet in what
geologists call a triple junction, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of
Aden.
 Transform
• The zone between two plates that slide
horizontally past one another is called a
transform-fault boundary, or transform
boundary.

•Unlike the two boundary types,

transform boundary neither creates nor
destroys a crust, hence is also called
conservative boundary.

• These large faults connect two

spreading centers or connect trenches.

• Most transform faults are found on the

ocean floor.
 Transform
• Transform boundaries are generally vertical and parallel to the
direction of movement. They are produced by shearing and are
closely related to divergent plate boundaries on the ocean floor.
• When they occur on the seafloor, they form oceanic fracture zones
when on land, transform boundaries produce faults.
• Both fracture and fault lines connect offsetting divergent zones. The
San Andreas Fault zone in California is a transform fault that
connects two diverging boundaries, namely the East Pacific Rise
along the Pacific Ocean and South Gorda in Florida.
• Transform faults can connect convergent and divergent plate
boundaries in three ways:
Transform
Ridge-ridge transform Ridge-trench transform Trench-trench transform
fault fault fault
• connects two • connects a ridge and a • couple trenches at two
segments of a trench different convergent
divergent plate • much less common plate boundaries
boundary • longest transform faults • rare
• by far the most are all of this kind • e.g., Alphine Fault in
abundant • form an important New Zealand
• fault cuts through the connection between
entire lithosphere spreading and
• active displacement converging plates
occurs only between • e.g., Queen Charlotte
the ridge segments Island Fault off the
• plate movements are western coast of
in opposite directions Canada
between the ridge
crests
• Sustain formidable
shearing movement
• e.g., Dead Sea
transform system Transform
• A triple junction is a point at which three plate boundaries meet.
At this boundary, one of the three types—ridge, trench, or
transform—are involved. There are approximately 50 tectonic
plates with about 100 triple junctions among them. At any
boundary between two plates, they may spread apart and produce
a mid-oceanic ridge, push each other, and create deep-sea trenches
or slide sideways and form transform faults.

• Triple junctions are described and assessed using the properties of

the ridges, trenches, and faults that are involved in the junction.
Geologists use the notation R (ridge), T (trench), and F (fault) to
catalogue triple junctions. Hence, a triple junction called RRR
exists at which all three plates are moving apart, TTT means three
plates are pushing together if they are lined up just right.
However, an all transform triple junction (FFF) is impossible to
occur.
Transform
• Figure 1.12 shows the Afar Triple Junction which is a junction of
three tectonic ridges centered in the Afar Depression (Afar
Triangle) or northeastern Africa. It represents the junction of the
Arabian Plate and two subplates known as the Nubian Plate
(southeast) and the Somali Plate (northeast). Here, the Red Sea
Rift also meets the Aden Ridge and East African Rift.

Transform
 Transform
• The San Andreas Fault is one
of the few transform faults
exposed on land.
– It connects the East
Pacific Rise, a divergent
boundary to the south, with
the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a
divergent boundary to the
north.

– Most earthquakes in
California are caused by
the accumulation and
release of strain as the two
plates slide past each other.
 Consequences of Plate Tectonics
• Earthquakes and volcanic activity are linked to plate tectonic
processes.
• The Ring of Fire is the most seismically and volcanically
active zone in the world.
 Consequences of Plate Tectonics

Aerial view of the area around Thingvellir, Iceland,

The San Andreas Fault – a showing a fissure zone (in shadow) that is an on-land
transform fault exposure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Right of the fissure,
the North American Plate is pulling westward away from
the Eurasian Plate (left of fissure).
 Consequences of Plate Tectonics

The Aleutian Islands, an island arc The 1980 eruption of Mount

Saint Helens
 Consequences of Plate Tectonics

Helicopter view (in February 1994) of the active

lava lake within the summit crater of 'Erta 'Ale
(Ethiopia), one of the active volcanoes in the
East African Rift Zone.

The convergence of the Nazca and South American Plates

has deformed and pushed up limestone strata to form
towering peaks of the Andes, as seen here in the
Pachapaqui mining area in Peru.
 References
• Understanding Plate Motions. USGS.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/unde
rstanding.html
• Plate Movement. OptIPuter Outreach.
http://education.sdsc.edu/optiputer/teacher
s/platemovement.html
• Plate Tectonics. The Way the Earth
Works. LHS GEMS, 2002.