1 / 7

Unveiling Plate Tectonics: Sea Floor's Role in Earth's Puzzle

Discover how sea floor features tie into plate tectonics, from the formation of oceans to the movement of continents and the creation of mountain ranges. Explore the evidence of Pangaea's breakup and the dynamics of plate boundaries, revealing why the Earth's lithosphere is in constant motion.

jack-holden
Download Presentation

Unveiling Plate Tectonics: Sea Floor's Role in Earth's Puzzle

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Plate Tectonics Preview: What does the sea floor have to do with plate tectonics?

  2. Evidence we already know • Pangaea= continents all together • Begin to split and rifts occur to form new continents • Oceans begin to form around new continents • India crashes into Eurasia= Himalaya Mountains • Fossils found on 2 sets of continents • Mountain ranges match up

  3. Sea floor • Under water mountain ranges- mid-ocean ridges • Mid-ocean ridges • Form on cracks by crust • Youngest rock near ridge • Oldest rock furthest away from ridge • Contains magnetic patterns that creates mirror image on other side of ridge • Sea- floor spreading • Molten rock rises through cracks, cools, forms new oceanic crust • Old crust breaks at ridge and pieces move in other directions, causing continents to move • Ocean trenches • Heavier oceanic crust sinks into asthenosphere • Old crust sinks as new crust rises

  4. What is Plate Tectonics • Movement of earth’s lithosphere • Tectonic plates • Made up of lithosphere on top of asthenosphere • Major plates • Pacific • North American • Nazca • South American • African • Australia • Eurasian • Indian • Antarctic

  5. Plate Boundaries • Can be on ocean floor, edge of continents, within continents • Convergent • 2 plates collide • Continent-Continent • Lithosphere • Mountains form • Continent-Ocean • Oceanic lithosphere and continental lithosphere • Volcanoes • Ocean-Ocean • Older plate subducts under other plate

  6. Plate Boundaries • Divergent • 2 plates move away from each other • Asthenosphere rises and lava erupts • Lava cools and forms new rock • Form mid-ocean ridges • Transform • 2 plates move (slide) past each other • Earthquakes

  7. Why plates move • Mantle convections • Hot parts of rocks move up and cooler rock sinks • Ridge push • New rock is higher than older rock • New rock cools and continues to push further away from ridge • Slab pull • Subduction- 1 plate sinks under another • Leaning edge of plate pulls rest of plate with it

More Related