OBJECTIVES:

-describe the continental drift theory;

-discuss the evidence that support

continental drift;
-explain how the seafloor spreads;

-describe the structure and evolution of

ocean basins; and

-explain how the movement of plates

leads to the formation of folds, faults,
trenches, volcanoes, rift valleys, and
mountain ranges.
 THE
COMPOSITION
OF
EARTH’S
INTERIOR
Before we start to look at the forces that
contribute to landforms,lets look at the different
layers of the earth that play a vital role in the
formation of our continents, mountains,
volcanoes, etc.
The Earth is made of many different and distinct layers.
The deeper layers are composed of heavier materials; they
are hotter, denser and under much greater pressure than
the outer layers.

Natural forces interact with and affect the earth’s crust,

creating the landforms, or natural features, found on the
surface of the earth.
Crust - the rigid, rocky
outer surface of the Earth, Crust
composed mostly of basalt Mantle
and granite. The crust is
Outer Core
thinner under the oceans.
Mantle - a rocky layer
Inner Core
located under the crust - it
is composed of silicon,
oxygen, magnesium, iron,
aluminum, and calcium.
Convection (heat) currents
carry heat from the hot
inner mantle to the cooler
outer mantle.
Inner core - the solid iron-
nickel center of the Earth Outer core - the molten
that is very hot and under iron-nickel layer that
great pressure. surrounds the inner core.
Continental Drift
 In 1912, Alfred Wegener
(pronounced as vey-guh-nuh r), a
German meteorologist, proposed a
theory that about 200 million years
ago, the continents were once one
large landmass.
 He called this landmass Pangaea,
a Greek word which means “All
Earth.”
 This Pangaea started to break into two
smaller supercontinent called Laurasia and
Gondwanaland during the Jurassic
Period.
 These smaller supercontinents broke into the
continents and these continents separated and
drifted apart since then.
 He came up with this explanation
when he observed from the map that
African and South American coastlines
on the opposite sides of the Atlantic
Ocean seemed fit as if they were
adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
EVIDENCES OF
CONTINENTAL
DRIFT
THEORY
CONTINENTAL FIT (JIGSAW PUZZLE)

The most visible and fascinating evidence that

these continents were once one is their
shapes. The edge of one continent
surprisingly matches the edge of another:
South America and Africa; fir together; India,
Antarctica, and Australia match one another;
Eurasia and North America complete the
whole continental puzzle in the north.
EVIDENCES FROM ROCKS
The rocks themselves provide
evidence that continents drifted
apart from each other. Similar
sequences of rocks are found in
Brazil and West Africa and
throughout the continents of the
Southern Hemisphere. A 2-billion-
year old rocks in Gabon, West
Africa matches with rocks of the
same age on the other side of the
Atlantic Ocean in Northeast
Brazil. Another example is the
deformed rocks of the Cape Fold
belt of South Africa which are
similar to rocks found in the
Buenos Aires province of
Argentina. Plotting it on the
Pangaea map, it shows that the
two sequences of rocks appear
as a single, continuous belt.
SIMILARITY OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
If the continents at one time joined,
then mountain ranges of the same age
adjoining locations on the opposite
continents should closely match. This
is proven by the observation that if
highlands in South Africa and Argentina
of South America and mountains in
Western Europe and Eastern Canada
will be aligned, it will form a continuous
mountain range. Furthermore, mountain
ranges of the same age and style occur
in Eastern Greenland, Ireland, Great
Britain, and Norway inspite of these
mountain ranges being separated by
the Atlantic Ocean. They form an
essentially continuous mountain range
when the continents are positioned next
to each other.
PALEOCLIMATES EVIDENCE
Wegener also presented as evidence that the glacial deposits
formed about 300 million years ago in India, Australia, South
America, and Southern Africa is identical to the thick ice sheets
found in Antarctica today. It is assumed that glaciation would have
occurs as the continents were being assembled to form Pangaea.
Glaciation would have required a global ice age if the continents
were in tropical swamps in the eastern United States and Eurasia at
the same time. Such apparently widespread glaciation could be best
explained if certain continents were located close to the South Pole.
Also, when Pangaea was reassembled, it was found that areas in
North America with coal deposits were located near the equator.
COAL DEPOSITS
Coal beds were formed from the compaction and
decomposition of swamp plants that lived million
years ago. These were discovered in South America,
Africa, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and
even in Antarctica. How is a coal bed formation
possible in Antarctica?
The current location of Antarctica could not
sustain substantial amount of life. If there is a
substantial quantity of coal in it, thus, it only means
that Antarctica must have been positioned in a part
of the Earth where it once supported large quantities
of life. This leads to the idea that Antarctica once
experienced a tropical climate, thus, it might have
been closer before to the equator.
EVIDENCE FROM FOSSILS
Fossils are preserved
remains or traces of organisms
(plants and animals) from the
remote past. Fossilized leaves
of an extinct plant Glossopteris
were found in 250 million years
old rocks. These fossils were
located in the continents of
Southern Africa, Australia, India,
and Antarctica, which are now
separated from each other by
wide oceans. The large seeds of
Glossopteris this plant could not possibly
travel a long journey by the
wind or survive a rough ride
through ocean waves.
EVIDENCE FROM FOSSILS
Mesosaurus and Lystosaurus are freshwater reptiles.
Fossils of these animals were discovered in different
continents, such as in South America and Africa. It is
impossible for these reptiles to swim over the vast
oceans and move from one continent to another. Fossils
were also found in Antarctica.

Mesosaurus
Seafloor Spreading Theory
In the early 1960’s, scientist Harry Hess, suggested an
explanation to the continental drift. This is the Seafloor
Spreading Theory. According to this theory, hot, less dense
material from below the earth’s crust rises towards the
surface at the mid-ocean ridge. This material flows sideways
carrying the seafloor away from the ridge, and creates a
crack in the crust. The magma flows out of the crack, cools
down and becomes the new seafloor.
 In the place where two oceanic plates collide or where
an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide, a
subduction zone occurs. As the new seafloor is formed
at the mid-ocean ridge, the old seafloor farthest from the
ridge is destroyed at the subduction zone. Subduction
zones are often marked by overlaying chains of volcanic
islands called island arcs.
Mid – Ocean Ridges
- Seafloor spreading occurs along
mid-ocean ridges, an area in the middle
of the ocean where a new ocean floor is
formed when lava erupts through the
cracks in the Earth’s crust.
Map of Mid – Ocean Ridges
Mid – Ocean Ridges

Examples:

- The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a slow spreading center. It

spreads 2-5 centimeters (.8-2 inches) every year and
forms an ocean trench about the size of the Grand
Canyon.
- The East Pacific Rise, is a fast spreading center. It
spreads about 6-16 centimeters (3-6 inches) every year.
There is not an ocean trench at the East Pacific Rise,
because the seafloor spreading is too rapid for one to
develop
Subduction is the process in which the crust
plunges back into the earth and an event in which a
slab of rock thrust into the mantle.
“If subduction is faster than seafloor spreading, the
ocean shrinks. When the seafloor spreading is greater
than the subduction, then the ocean gets wider.”

Findings that support Seafloor Spreading Theory:

1. Rocks are younger at the mid-ocean ridge.
2. Rocks far from the mid-ocean ridge are older.
3. Sediments are thinner at the ridge.
4. Rocks at the ocean floor are younger than those
at the continents.
MAGNETIC REVERSAL
Magnetic reversal is also called magnetic ‘flip’ of the
Earth. It happens when the North Pole is transformed
into a South Pole and the South Pole becomes the North
Pole. This is due to the change in the direction of flow in
the outer core.
Plate Tectonics Theory
PLATE TECTONICS
A theory which suggests that Earth’s crust is
made up of plates that interact in various ways,
thus producing earthquakes, mountains,
volcanoes, and other geologic features.
CONVECTION CURRENT

A current in the mantle due to the heat

from the inner layers of the Earth, and the
force that drives the plates to move
around.
PROCESS OF CONVECTION CURRENT
• The hot, less dense rising
material spreads out as it
reaches the upper mantle
causing upward and
sideward forces.
• These forces lift and split
the lithosphere at divergent
plate boundaries.
• The hot magma flows out of
the mantle and cools down
to form the new crust.
• The downward movement
of the convection current
occurs along a convergent
boundary where the sinking
force pulls the tectonic
plate downward.
PLATE BOUNDARIES

The fractures that separate one plate

from the other.
Convergent plate boundaries: a
boundary in which two plates move
toward each other, causing one of
the slabs of the lithosphere to
subduct beneath an overriding
plate.
OCEANIC-OCEANIC
• Ocean plate colliding with another
ocean plate.
• The less dense plate slides over the
more dense plate creating a
subduction zone called a TRENCH.
• The line of volcanoes that grows on
the upper oceanic plate is an island
arc.
• Examples of ocean-ocean convergent
zones are subduction of the Pacific
Plate south of Alaska (creating the
Aleutian Islands) and under the
Philippine Plate, where it creates the
Marianas Trench, the deepest part of
the ocean.
• Geological features/events present:
zone of deep earthquakes, oceanic
trench, chain of volcanic islands,
destruction of oceanic crust and
tsunamis.
OCEANIC-CONTINENTAL

• Ocean plate colliding with a less dense continental plate.

When this two plates converge, the denser is subducted
under the continental plate which is the oceanic plate.
• Geological feature/events present: Earthquake activity
zone (shallow along margin, deep beneath continent),
ocean trenches, line of volcanoes inland from shoreline,
destruction of oceanic crust.
 CONTINENTAL-CONTINENTAL
• A continental plate colliding with
another continental plate
• Have Collision Zones. A place
where folded and thrust faulted
mountains form.
• Creates some of the world’s
largest mountain ranges. 
• Example: the collision of the India
Plate with the Eurasian Plate,
creating the Himalaya Mountains,
and the collision of the African
Plate with the Eurasian Plate,
creating the series of ranges
extending from the Alps in Europe
to the Zagros Mountains in Iran.
• Geological features/events
present: Folding and faulting,
broad folded mountain range,
shallow earthquake activity
 Formation of rift valleys and oceanic ridges are indications that
the crust is spreading or splitting apart. In this case, the plates are
forming divergent plate boundaries wherein they tend to move
apart. Most divergent boundaries are situated along underwater
mountain ranges called oceanic ridges. As the plates separate, new
materials from the mantle ooze up to fill the gap. These materials
will slowly cool to produce new ocean floor.
The spreading rate at these ridges may vary from 2 to 20 cm per
year. Although a very slow process, divergence of plates ensures a
continuous supply of new materials from the mantle. The Mid-
Atlantic Ocean ridge is an example of spreading center which
causes the divergence of the South American plate and the African
plate.
• Are seen as transform faults, where two plates move past each
other in opposite directions.
• Natural or human-made structures that cross a transform
boundary are offset—split into pieces and carried in opposite
directions.
• Transform faults on continents bring massive earthquakes.
• Example: A transform plate boundary between the Pacific and
North American plates creates the San Andreas Fault, the
world’s most notorious transform fault.
SUMMARY;
• The Earth is composed of three major layers: the crust,
mantle, and core which is subdivided into outer and
inner core.
• The crust is the outermost and thinnest layer of the
Earth.
• The mantle is the middle layer of the Earth. It makes
most of the Earth’s volume and mass.
• The crust and a part of the upper mantle make up the
lithosphere. The lithosphere is subdivided into portions
called lithospheric plates.
• The asthenosphere is the weak layer of the mantle on
which the lithosphere floats.
• The outer core is made up of molten material and
accounts for the Earth’s magnetic field.
SUMMARY;
• The inner core is the deepest layer of the Earth. It is
made up of solid nickel and iron. The temperature in the
inner core reaches as high as 5000oC.
• The Continental Drift Theory of Alfred Wegener states
that the continents were once part of a large landmass
called Pangaea which drifted away from each other. The
continents moved away from each other towards their
current positions.
• Alfred Wegener based his theory on evidences from
fossils imbedded in rocks and rock formations.
• Seafloor spreading is believed to occur as hot magma
rises at the rift in the mid-ocean ridge. This magma
cools down and becomes the new seafloor as it pushes
the former.
SUMMARY;
• The old seafloor is destroyed at the subduction
zone and melts inside the mantle.
• The age of rocks and the magnetic stripes in the
ocean floor support the Seafloor Spreading Theory.
• The Theory of Plate Tectonics helps explain the
formation and destruction of the Earth’s crust and
its movement over time.
• Scientists believe that the plates’ movement is due
to convection currents in the mantle.
• According to the plate tectonics model, the entire
lithosphere of the Earth is broken into numerous
segments called plates.
SUMMARY;
• Each plate is slowly but continuously moving.
• As a result of the motion of the plates, three types
of plate boundaries were formed: Divergent,
Convergent, and Transform fault boundaries.
• Divergent boundary is formed when plates move
apart, creating a zone of tension.
• Convergent boundary is present when two plates
collide.
• Transform fault is characterized by plates that are
sliding past each other.
• Plate tectonics give rise to several geologic
features and events.
SUMMARY;
Type of Plate Boundary Relative Motion of the Plates Geologic Features/Events
Present

DIVERGENT Moving away from each other. Rift Valleys, oceanic ridges, and
earthquakes.

CONVERGENT Moving towards each other. Mountains, volcanoes, trenches,

and earthquakes.

TRANSFORM FAULT Sliding past each other. Earthquakes.

 Acoba, Abigail
Angas, Jibril
Anila, Khen Gee
Bonilla, Llyhan
Doria, Romel Andre
Fano, Jiesa Ada Stella
Ferre, Ernest Jhon
Liza, Vanessa Kaye
Mesias, Rubelyn
Palconite, Aubry Grace
Papna, Fiona Marie
Sumpo, Wendelyn