Geology Study Aid 2 - Test 1 - Plate Tectonics
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Virginia Tech *
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Course
2104
Subject
Geology
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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14
Uploaded by BrigadierSteel12120
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-1 Plate Tectonics Plate Tectonics how big is Earth? what evidence is used to understand Earth’s deep interior? what are the important characteristics of Earth’s interior layers (size, composition, strength, etc.)? inner core & outer core mantle oceanic crust & continental crust lithosphere asthenosphere
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-2 Plate Tectonics describe global patterns of: earthquakes: (where?) active: http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/ volcanoes: (where?) active:
http://volcano.si.edu/reports_weekly.cfm mid-ocean ridges
(what are they & where?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathymetry#/media/File:Mid-ocean_ridge_system.gif ocean trenches
(what are they & where?) what is
PLATE TECTONICS? what is a
plate
? what part of the Earth?
compare to
continental drift: how fast do plates move? in which direction(s)?
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-3 Plate Tectonics plate boundaries: what happens at each type? where on Earth does extension
occur between plates? seafloor spreading
: what happens? where on Earth does compression
occur between
plates? subduction
: what happens? collision
: what happens? where on Earth does plate boundary-parallel motion
occur? transform fault
: what happens?
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Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-4 Plate Tectonics relate patterns from 2 pages ago to plate tectonics mid-ocean ridges: ocean trenches: mountain ranges: earthquakes: volcanoes: what drives plate tectonics? (why do the plates move?) heat what is the temperature inside Earth? what were/are the heat energy sources? what is
convection
? mantle convection hot-cold water convection in an aquarium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xWWowXtuvA lava lake “tectonics”: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/buac17-68-sci-ess-lavalake/lava-lake-tectonics/
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-5 Plate Tectonics Evidence for and History of Plate Tectonics add notes to explain the evidence in each case years 1600-1900 shape of continents across oceans (esp. Africa-S.America)
1910’s similar geologic features across some oceans (
esp. South Atlantic
)
mountains, rocks, fossils, paleo-climate è
continental drift
proposed... but rejected 1930’s gravity at ocean trenches indicates active pulldown è
subduction
and convection
proposed… but ignored 1950’s seafloor bathymetry (= under-water topography)
mid-ocean ridges, deep ocean trenches large fractures offset the ridges very thin sediments in oceans, except at margins continued...
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-6 Plate Tectonics … more 1950’s oceanic crust much thinner than continental crust “Wadati-Benioff zone” earthquakes are shallow at ocean trenches and get deeper inland under volcanoes paleomagnetic apparent “polar wandering” rocks can record Earth’s magnetic field when created rocks say North pole apparently moved through time different continents indicate different N-pole
motion è
seafloor spreading
& expanding Earth(?)
proposed... but rejected 1960’s paleomagnetic stripes on seafloor paleomagnetic N-S reversals, dated globally symmetric magnetic N-S pattern
across seafloor ridges continued...
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Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-7 Plate Tectonics … more 1960’s seafloor sampling and dating: near-zero age at mid-ocean ridge; gets older with distance from ridge è
seafloor spreading accepted
, but expanding Earth puzzling earthquake mechanisms (= rock movement directions)
compression at Benioff zones left/right lateral motions at ocean fracture zones seismic wavespeed: cold rocks at Benioff zones è
subduction accepted
transform faults accepted
… more 1960’s global earthquakes clustered at plate boundaries mountain-building and continental geology can be explained by nearby plate boundary motions è
collision accepted
~1970 è
plate tectonics accepted
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-8 Plate Tectonics a scientific revolution: plate tectonics: a new theory, new paradigm terms used in science
… fact, data
: objectively measurable hypothesis, model
: a proposed explanation of data; makes predictions that are testable should be simple (Occam’s razor) theory
: a hypothesis accepted after thorough testing law
: a fundamental, universal, thoroughly tested theory paradigm
: a way of thinking & understanding a topic paradigms change through a revolutionary new theory or law e.g., force (Newton) in physics evolution (Darwin) in biology relativity (Einstein) in physics DNA in biology plate tectonics in geology
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-9 Plate Tectonics what happens at a seafloor spreading center
? explain processes and make a simple drawing where on Earth does it occur? what happens at a subduction zone
? explain processes and make a simple drawing where on Earth does ocean-ocean subduction occur? what is an island arc
?
how is ocean-continent subduction different? where on Earth? what is a continental arc
?
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Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-10 Plate Tectonics what happens at a continent-continent collision zone? explain processes and make a simple drawing where on Earth does it occur? what happens at a transform fault? (explain and make a simple drawing) where on Earth does it occur?
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-11 Plate Tectonics what happens as plates move through geologic time? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_iEWvtKcuQ global tectonics from 540 Ma (
million years ago
) to present from Chris Scotese, PALEOMAP Project - North America starts the movie in the lower-left of the map, lying on its side with today’s north pointing east; find North America and follow it through time
watch the movie a few times, pausing and moving forward and backward; find continents how & when did the Appalachians form? (also see last page of these notes)
what was Pangea
? when? (outside US, usually spelled Pangaea
)
when & how did the Atlantic Ocean form? (also see last page)
- find India in the movie, starting ~120 Ma, and follow it (it’s fast!) when & how did the Himalaya mountains form? (still active today!)
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-12 Plate Tectonics what happens as plates move through geologic time? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yKNhbY3Nbk North American tectonics from Pangaea 200 Ma (
million years ago
) to present from Chris Scotese, PALEOMAP Project - watch the east and south coasts in the movie when & where did North America break apart from Pangaea? from Africa & South America? from northern Europe? from Greenland? what modern ocean formed? - watch the west coast in the movie how/why & when & did the western North America mountains form (
the “North American Cordillera”, which includes the Rocky Mountains and many other ranges
)? what covered the Great Plains ~90 to ~80 Ma? - carefully watch the very ending of the movie when was the ice age? (answer: much less than 1 Ma)
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Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-13 Plate Tectonics what happens as plates move through geologic time? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlnwyAbczog global tectonics from 1480 Ma (
million years ago
) to present from Chris Scotese, PALEOMAP Project - the US-Canada border and Hudson Bay (northern Canada) are at the far left at the beginning of the movie, lying on its right side - by 1200 Ma, North America is on the upper-right corner, lying on its right side - a series of collisions happen to the modern-east coast (then south) of the USA ~1180 Ma, ~1020 Ma, until ~900 Ma (on the right side of the movie) these collisions formed a major mountain chain called the Grenville Mountains, that created the rocks in the modern Blue Ridge of Virginia (the much-later Appalachian collisions brought these rocks to the surface) what was Rodinia? - from ~950 to ~750 Ma, there was one super-continent, called Rodinia - ~650 Ma, North America falls off the bottom-right of the movie (lying on its right side) and reappears on the lower-left side - ~600 Ma, North America is near the south pole (left side) - by 500 Ma, North America is on the left side of the movie, at the equator, lying with current-east-coast facing south => then the movie two pages ago starts
Hole: GEOS 2104 Study Aid B-14 Plate Tectonics relate geologic provinces of Virginia to plate tectonics compare map to bottom cross-section Chuck Bailey, William and Mary
Chuck Bailey, William and Mary