GEO 124- Introduction
to GEOLOGY
Kambai
[email protected]
+267 71986361
Course Outline
Divided into four (4) parts (Part 1 of 4)
Part 1:
Brief introductory to Geology
History of the earth
Earth’s internal structure
Earth’s magnetic and gravity fields
Introduction to continental drift and plate tectonics
WORD OF THE DAY
INTEGRITY IS DOING THE RIGHT THING EVEN
WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING- C.S Lewis
Earth’s Magnetic Field
Earth’s magnetic field is generated within the
outer core by the convective movement of
liquid iron.
Earth’s Magnetic Field
Unpopular Opinion
This convection is the primary driving force for the
movement of tectonic plates.
At places where convection currents in the mantle are
moving upward, new lithosphere forms (at ocean ridges),
and the plates move apart (diverge). Where two plates
are converging (and the convective flow is downward),
one plate will be subducted (pushed down) into the
mantle beneath the other. Many of Earth’s major
earthquakes and volcanoes are associated with
convergent boundaries.
Earth Temperature and Pressure
An important property of Earth (and other planets) is that
the temperature increases with depth, from close to 0°C
at the surface to about 7000°C at the centre of the core.
In the crust, the rate of temperature increase is about
30°C every kilometre.
This is known as the geothermal gradient.
Understanding Plate Tectonics/Tectonic Plates
Tectonic Plates are fragments of the Lithosphere of the
Earth. They are also called Lithospheric Plates.
Plate tectonics is the model or theory that has been
used for the past 60 years to understand and explain how
the Earth works—more specifically the origins of
continents and oceans, of folded rocks and mountain
ranges, of earthquakes and volcanoes, and of continental
drift.
Continental and Oceanic Crust
Earth’s Crust is divided into two:
(a)Continental Crust (less dense) and
(b)Oceanic Crust (highly dense).
The average density of the continental crust is about 2.8
g/cm3, whereas that of the rocks of the oceanic crust is
about 3.3 g/m3.
After Welbert Kehelpannala
Continental Crust Vs Oceanic Crust
The average composition of the Earth’s Crust
Continental Crust Oceanic Crust
SiO2 57.3 49.5
Al2O3 15.9
16.0 FeO 9.1
10.5 MgO
5.3 7.7
CaO 7.4 11.3
Na2O 3.1
2.8 K2O 1.1
0.2
Lithospheric Plates
A tectonic plate (also called a lithospheric plate) is a
massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally
composed of both continental and oceanic crust.
Generally, lithospheric plates are of two types They are:
(i)Continental plates and
(ii) Oceanic plates.
Lithospheric Plates
1. Pacific Plate
The Pacific major plate is the
largest which underlies the
Pacific Ocean.
This plate forms most of the Pacific
Ring of Fire.
2. North American Plate
The North American major plate
not only contains the
continent of North America
but also part of the Atlantic
Ocean.
3. South American Plate
The South American plate is a
major plate that includes the
continent of South America
and a large portion of the ocean
from the Atlantic Ocean.
4. Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian major plate
consists of most of Europe,
Russia, and parts of Asia.
5. African Plate
The African plate contains the
whole continent of Africa
as well as the surrounding
oceanic crust of the Atlantic
Ocean.
6. Antarctic Plate
The Antarctic plate holds the
entire continent of
Antarctica including its
surrounding oceanic crust.
7. Indo-Australia Plate
The Indo-Australia plate is a
major plate combining the
Australian and Indian Plates.
A map showing 15 of the Earth’s tectonic plates and the approximate rates and
directions of plate motions.
Mantle Plumes
A mantle plume is an area under the rocky outer layer of
Earth, where magma is hotter than surrounding
magma.
Mantle Plumes
Mantle Plumes Origin
There is a certain amount of controversy surrounding their
origin and real nature.
The existence of mantle plumes on Earth was first suggested
by J. Tuzo Wilson (1963) as an explanation of oceanic island
chains, such as the Hawaiian-Emperor chain,
A mantle plume is thought to be hotter than the ambient
asthenosphere.
The melts generated from the hotter mantle may show higher
MgO concentrations (> 12 wt.%).
Mantle Plumes Origin Theory 1
Originate from the sudden destabilization of a
compositionally heterogeneous layer at the base
of the mantle that produces thermochemical
instabilities (that rise rapidly to the base of the
lithosphere and undergo extensive melting
Mantle Plumes Origin Theory 2
A mantle plume is a buoyant mass of material in
the mantle, which rises because of its buoyancy.
RIFTING
Rifting is defined as the splitting apart of a single tectonic
plate into two or more tectonic plates separated by
divergent plate boundaries.
Failed rifts is a failed rift or aulacogen.
In many cases, only two of the three arms of the triple
junction develop into a divergent plate boundary. The
third arm that does not go to completion is known as a
failed rift or aulacogen
RIFTING PROCESS
AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM
MID-OCEANIC RIDGES
Spreading floors
Spreading is hypothesized to start within a continental area with
up-warping or doming related to an underlying mantle plume or
series of mantle plumes. The buoyancy of the mantle plume
material creates a dome within the crust, causing it to fracture.
Spreading floors
Sea Floor Spreading
Development of Ocean
Sea Floor Spreading
Hot springs (geothermal vents) should be found at the
active spreading centers along the mid-oceanic ridges.
Plate Boundaries
Boundaries between the plates are of three types:
Divergent (i.e., moving apart),
Convergent (i.e., moving together),
and Transform (moving side by side).
Plate Boundaries
Boundaries between the plates are of three types:
Divergent -(Mid-Ocean Ridges or Oceanic Spreading
Centers)
Convergent (Subduction Zones/ Collisional Zones)
and Transform
Plate Movements
Divergent Plate Boundaries
Divergent boundaries are spreading boundaries, where
new oceanic crust is created from magma pushing up
from the mantle
Divergent Plate Boundaries
The rate of spreading along the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge averages about
2.5 centimeters per year (cm/yr)
Convergent Boundaries (Collision
Zones)
Convergent boundaries, where two plates are moving toward each
other, are of three types, depending on whether oceanic or
continental crust is present on either side of the boundary.
The types are ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, and continent-
continent.
At an ocean-ocean convergent boundary, one of the plates
(oceanic crust and lithospheric mantle) is pushed, or
subducted, under the other. Often it is the older and colder plate
that is denser and subducts beneath the younger and hotter plate.
Oceanic-Continental convergence (Subduction Zones)
The oceanic plate is pushed under the continental plate
Ocean-Continent convergent boundary
‘’’Pacific Ring of Fire’’
Oceanic-Oceanic convergence
As with oceanic-continental convergence, when two
oceanic plates converge, one is usually subducted under
the other.
Cooler, more dense oceanic plate subduct
Oceanic-Oceanic convergence
The magma, which is lighter than the surrounding
mantle material, rises through the mantle and the
overlying oceanic crust to the ocean floor where it
creates a chain of volcanic islands known as an
island arc.
Continental-continental
convergence
Continental-Continental
convergence
Continent-Continent convergence results in collision
zones. Mountain formation and deformational zone.
Examples of continent-continent convergent boundaries
are the collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian
Plate, creating the Himalayas Mountains, and the
collision of the African Plate with the Eurasian Plate,
Continental-Continental
convergence
Continental-Continental
convergence
Transform Plate Boundaries
Transform boundaries exist where one plate slides past
another without production or destruction of crustal material
Most transform faults are found on the ocean floor.
They commonly offset the active spreading ridges,
producing zig-zag plate margins, and are generally defined
by shallow earthquakes.
An example is the San Andreas Fault, in the Gulf of
California
Transform Plate Boundaries
Wilson Cycle
Plate Tectonics Significance
• Ocean formation
• Formation of volcanoes and earthquakes.
• Geologic environments (Passive margins,
rift zones
• Faults
• Mountains
