Lesson 1

PLATE
TECTONICS
THEORY
The Theory of Plate Tectonics
 Based on two hypotheses
 Continental Drift
 Seafloor spreading
The Theory of Plate Tectonics
 Hypothesis - hypothesis is an assumption made before any
research has been completed for the sake of testing.
 Theory - is a principle set to explain phenomena already
supported by data.
Continental Drift Hypothesis

Alfred Wegener proposed the

hypothesis of continental drift in
1911
He gathered information from
many different sources and used
it as evidence for his hypothesis
 This theory states that the Earth was once composed of only
one supercontinent called Pangaea.
 Through time, this supercontinent split into two sub-continents
Laurasia and Gondwanaland.
 Million years further, Laurasia split into a few smaller
continents forming the continents in the northern hemisphere of
the Earth. This includes Asia, Europe, North America, South
America, and Africa. On the other hand, the continents of the
southern hemisphere, Australia and Antarctica, are the two
continents divided from Gondwanaland.
 The continental drift
hypothesis proposes
that the continents were
assembled to form the
super continent
Pangaea.
 Moved through time

3:20
Evidences of Continental Drift Theory
 Fit of the continents
 Fossil evidence
 Ancient mountain ranges
 Past climate evidence

Swamps formed in tropical regions

Glaciers formed at the south pole

Fit of Continents

 Antonio Snider-Pelligrini
(1858), a geographer cut
out a map of Africa and
South America suggesting
they were connected at one
time
 Other physical evidence
based on observation was
used by Wegener
Fit of Continents
Fossil Evidence

 Similar terrestrial species were found on many

continents now separated by oceans.
 Information collected by paleontologists
Fossil Evidence
Fossil Evidence
Fossil Evidence
Ancient Mountain Ranges

The same sequence of rocks is found in North America,

Great Brittain, and Norway. The pattern does not make
sense with the continents in their current configuration.
Ancient Mountain Ranges
 Evidence of Ancient
Glaciers

•Glaciers carve the rock as they move.

•Scientists can determine the direction of movement (notice the direction of
movement noted in South America)
•As South America sits today, the pattern would not make sense. (glaciers
do not move from sea level to higher elevations)
 Lack of mechanism to explain continental
movement.

 Evidenceimplied that the continents were at one time

assembled
 Wegener’s idea was not accepted by the scientific community
because he could not explain how the continents moved
 With advances in technology, new information was gathered
 Seafloor Spreading Theory

Seafloor Spreading Theory

(www.divediscover.whoi.edu)
Proposed by Harry Hess of Princeton University
States that the seafloor is continuously spreading and
the extra crust gets recycled into the mantle
Seafloor Spreading

Continental movement
is the result of ocean
floor movement
 Seafloor Spreading

 Mafic lava is extruded along the mid-oceanic ridge to produce ocean floor.
 New material is added, the cooler material is split and is “pushed” away from the
ridge, goes back to the mantle and regenerated
Driving Mechanisms

Convection cells within

the mantle
Push

Pushing at the mid-

oceanic ridges
Pull

Pulling at the subduction Convection

zones
Scientistswere suprised to find that rocks taken
from the ocean floor were much younger than
those found on the continents. The youngest rocks
were those nearest the underwater ridge
system ,which is a series of mountains that extend
around the world, stretching more than 64
thousand kilometers (40 thousand miles).
How is seafloor spreading theory
and continental drift theory
related?
• Seafloor spreading explains how the
continents moved apart

Seafloor spreading, along with the

continental drift theory, became part of the
theory of plate tectonics.
 Plate Tectonics Theory (www.ck12.org;
Oskin, 2017)

Plate States that the crust is composed of

Tectonics different plates which move either
towards, away or past each other.
Theory
The modern version of the Continental
Drift Theory of Alfred Wegener
Important concepts in the theory of plate
tectonics include the following:

1.The ocean floors are continually moving —

spreading from the center, sinking at the edges, and
being regenerated.
2.Convection currents beneath the plates are
responsible for plate movement.
3. The source of energy responsible for generating
the heat and convection currents that move the
plates is most likely radioactivity deep in Earth's
mantle.
Earthquakes and volcanoes outline the
tectonic plate boundaries
Lesson 2
Types of Volcanoes
 A volcano is an opening in a planet or
moon’s crust through which molten rock and
gases trapped under the surface erupt, often
forming a hill or mountain.
Volcanoes form when magma is forced up
and flows onto Earth’s surface as lava. Volcanoes
often form in places where plates are moving
apart, where plates are moving together, and at
locations called hot spots. Active volcanoes are
commonly found at plate boundaries. The Ring
of fire is a belt of active volcanoes that circles
that Pacific Ocean.

Fig. 6 Formation of Volcano

 THREE TYPES ACCORDING TO
CONE SHAPE and SIZE
Composite

Cinder

Shield
 COMPOSITE
The most majestic of the volcanoes are composite
volcanoes, also known as strato-volcanoes.
Composite volcanoes are tall, symetrically shaped,
with steep sides, sometimes rising 10,000 feet high.
They are built of alternating layers of lava flows,
volcanic ash, and cinders.
 SHIELD
Shield volcanoes can grow to be very big. These
are large gently sloping volcanoes that spread
but on all directions.
 CINDER
Cinder cones are simple volcanoes which have a bowl-shaped crater
at the summit and steep sides. They only grow to about a thousand
feet, the size of a hill. They usually are created of eruptions from a
single opening, unlike a strato-volcano or shield volcano which can
erupt from many different openings.
Types of Volcanoes in Terms of Activity
Active Volcano
- These are volcanoes that are “currently erupting or are
expected to erupt in the near future”
Dormant Volcano
- These are “not currently erupting but have erupted within
recordable history and are expected to erupt again in the
future.”
Extinct Volcano
- “These volcanoes are considered as dead and are not expected
to erupt in the future.”
Lesson 3

Distribution of Volcanoes
Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire where

the Philippines is situated along
with, comprises the tectonic
boundaries of Pacific Plate,
Philippine Plate, Eurasian Plate,
Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates,
and the Nazca Plate.
In the Philippines, there are twenty-four active
volcanoes as listed by Delos Reyes et. al. (2018).
 Item No. Name of Volcano Latitude Longitude Province
 1 Babuyan Claro 19.52408 121.95005 Babuyan Island Group, Cagayan in Luzon
 2 Banahaw 14.06038 121.48803 Boundaries of Laguna and Quezon in Luzon
 3 Biliran (Anas) 11.63268 124.47162 Leyte in Visayas
 4 Bud Dajo 6.01295 121.05772 Sulu in Mindanao
 5 Bulusan 12.76853 124.05445 Sorsogon, Bicol Region in Luzon
 6 Cabalian 10.27986 125.21598 Southern Leyte in Visayas
 7 Cagua 18.22116 122.1163 Cagayan in Luzon
 8 Camiguin de Babuyanes 18.83037 121.86280 Babuyan Island Group, Cagayan in Luzon
 9 Didicas 19.07533 122.20147 Babuyan Island Group, Cagayan in Luzon
 10 Hibok-hibok 9.20427 124.67115 Camiguin in Mindanao
 11 Iraya 20.46669 122.01078 Batan Island, Batanes in Luzon
 Item No. Name of Volcano Latitude Longitude Province
 12 Iriga 13.45606 123.45479 Camarines Sur in Luzon
 13 Isarog 13.65685 123.38087 Camarines Sur in Luzon
 14 Kanlaon 10.41129 123.13243 Negros Oriental
 15 Leonard Kniaseff 7.39359 126.06418 Davao del Norte
 16 Makaturing 7.64371 124.31718 Lanao del Sur
 17 Matutum 6.36111 125.07603 Cotabato in Mindanao
 18 Mayon 13.25519 123.68615 Albay, Bicol Region in Luzon

 19 Musuan (Calayo) 7.87680 125.06985 Bukidnon in Mindanao

 20 Parker 6.10274 124.88879 South Cotabato/General Santos/ North
Cotabato/Sarangani Provinces in Mindanao
 21 Pinatubo 15.14162 120.35084 Boundaries of Pampanga,
Tarlac and Zambales in Luzon
 22 Ragang 7.69066 124.50639 Lanao del Sur and Cotabato in
Mindanao
 23 Smith 19.53915 121.91367 Babuyan Island Group,
Cagayan in Luzon
 24 Taal 14.01024 120.99812 Batangas in Luzon
Inactive
Volcanoes in
the
Philippines
 The map shows that volcanoes are
not randomly distributed around
the world. Majority of them are
found along the edges of some
continents particularly in the
western coast of North and South
America, East and South East Asia.
There are also scattered volcanoes
which have no relation to the belts
of folding, and which show no
linear arrangement.
From the two map, we can say that volcanoes around the world are situated along the plate
boundaries.