Earth and Life Science

Grade 11/12 • Unit 8: Plate Tectonics

LESSON 8.2
Plate Boundaries: Geologic Landforms
and Seafloor Spreading
Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Learning Competency 2

Learning Objectives 2

Warm-Up 2

Learn about It 3
Types of Plate Boundaries 4
Divergent Plate Boundaries 4
Convergent Plate Boundaries 6
Transform Plate Boundaries 9
Development of the Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis 10
Parts of the Ocean Floor 14

Key Points 16

Check Your Understanding 17

Photo Credits 19

Bibliography 19
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Lesson 8.2
Plate Boundaries: Geologic Landforms
and Seafloor Spreading

The Pacific Ring of Fire covers the tectonic plates of the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos,
India-Australia, Nazca, North America, and the Philippines.

Introduction
How many earthquakes have you experienced so far? Do you think that the Philippines gets
frequent earthquakes compared with other countries? According to the Philippine Institute
of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the country records an average of twenty
earthquakes a day. However, most of these earthquakes are not strong enough to be felt.
The frequent earthquake results from the country being situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
This path along the Pacific Ocean is approximately 40,000 kilometers in length and covers
boundaries between several tectonic plates. As the Ring of Fire is considered a convergent
plate boundary, volcanoes form a chain parallel to it. Powerful earthquakes are common in

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this boundary, and 90 percent of Earth’s earthquakes occur along this path. How did the
Pacific Ring of Fire form? Do all types of plate tectonic boundaries lead to the
formation of volcanoes?

Learning Competency
At the end of this lesson, the given enabling learning competency should be met
by the students.
Relate plate movement to landform formation and seafloor spreading.

Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
● Differentiate among divergent, convergent, and transform plate
boundaries.
● Explain how the movement of plates leads to the formation of trenches,
volcanoes, rift valleys, and mountain ranges.
● Explain how the seafloor spreads.
● Describe the structure and evolution of ocean basins.

Warm-Up

Plate Movement Crossword

Material
● word search worksheet about plate movement

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Procedure
1. Find a partner. You will take turns on searching words in the box shown below. Each
person will only be given one minute per turn to search for a word. If the first player
cannot search a word for a minute, that certain player will lose a turn.

Word search

2. Look for the geologic terms or words that relate to sea-floor spreading.
3. The player who gets three points first will win the game.

Guide Questions
1. What geologic terms or words were you able to find?
2. Based on your prior knowledge, choose one term and define it.
3. How are geologic landforms like mountain ranges and volcanoes related to these
terms?

Learn about It
Plates are in constant motion relative to each other. Most major tectonic activities can be
found in plate boundaries. Additionally, several geological formations, such as mountains,

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volcanoes, rift valleys, ridges, and trenches, are produced along these boundaries. There are
three types of plate boundaries categorized by the kind of movement they demonstrate.
Specifically, these are divergent plate boundaries, convergent plate boundaries, and
transform plate boundaries.

Essential Questions
● What are the different types of plate boundaries? How do these types
of plate boundaries differ from each other?
● How can the movement of plates lead to the formation of geologic
features?

Types of Plate Boundaries

Divergent Plate Boundaries
Divergent boundaries are formed when two plates move away from each other, resulting
in the rising of the molten material. This type of boundary is also known as constructive
margins because new ocean seafloor is created during the processes. This type of
boundary is associated with spreading centers because it is where the spreading of the
ocean floor happens. Molten material from the mantle rises from the ridge then fills up the
space created by the spreading plates. Thus, a new crust is formed.

Fig. 1. Divergent plate boundary

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Aside from the formation of oceanic ridge and seafloor, this type of boundary would create
a continental rift or rift valley, an elongated depression that can either form on land or
under the sea. There are several processes involved in the formation of continental rift or
rift valley.

Fig. 2. Birth of an ocean floor

Strong upwelling of magma causes uplift and doming in the area. The central block collapses
inwardly, then cracks and continuously expands at the surface. At this point, the crust starts
to separate into two pieces. There are instances where rivers may form in the depression,
but the main drainage continues to move away from the uplifted area. As the two plates
diverge, the process leaves space for the upwelling of basaltic magma. As more cracks are
formed, more magma upwells and floods into the rift valley floor. Spreading continues as
more basaltic magma extrudes in the mid-oceanic centerline. This area is relatively hotter

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and more buoyant than the other parts of the ocean, creating elevated ridges along
spreading centers. As the oceanic crust moves away from the spreading center, it becomes
older, cooler, and denser. The older oceanic crust is recycled in oceanic trenches. This
process continues and only stops when a new ocean floor region is opened in another
divergent boundary forcing the old one to close.

An example of a product of a divergent boundary is the formation of the Atlantic Ocean. It

was formed from the separation of the African and American continents. Meanwhile, the
Red Sea is continuously widening because of the constant divergence of the Arabian plate
and Nubian plate. On the other hand, the East African Rift valley was formed due to the
splitting of the African plate into Somalian and Nubian plates.

Fig. 3. The East African Rift Valley, Atlantic Ocean, and the Red Sea are products of divergent
boundaries.

Convergent Plate Boundaries

Convergent boundaries are formed when two plates move toward each other. This is also
known as destructive margins since the processes involved in this plate motion generally
destroy crust. Moreover, this type of boundary is also called subduction zone, where a
denser lithospheric plate descends into the mantle. It is a consequence of the rifting and
forming of new oceanic floors in other parts of the world. The continental lithosphere is less
dense, making it more buoyant than the oceanic lithosphere, which sinks to a greater depth.

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There are three types of plate convergence: oceanic-continental convergence,

oceanic-oceanic convergence, and continental-continental convergence. Subduction
zones are formed during oceanic-continental convergence and oceanic-oceanic
convergence. The occurrence of earthquakes and volcanic mountain ranges mark the path
of the descending plate as it sinks below the other plate. The location where most seismic
activities occur during subduction is called the Wadati-Benioff zone. Moreover, the surface
manifestations of convergent boundaries are deep-ocean trenches that are often
remarkably long and deep formations mainly caused by the subducting oceanic lithosphere
into the mantle.

In oceanic-continental convergence, the continental crust remains buoyant while the

oceanic crust sinks into the mantle. The process forms continental volcanic arcs such as the
Andes Mountain range.

Fig. 4. Oceanic-continental convergence

On the other hand, when two oceanic crusts converge, the denser oceanic crust sinks
beneath the other oceanic crust, creating a volcanic island arc such as the island of Japan.
This is called an oceanic-oceanic convergence.

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Fig. 5. Oceanic-oceanic convergence

Lastly, the third type of convergence happens when a continental crust moves toward
another landmass. This is called continental-continental convergence. Aside from the
sediments of the continental crust, the seafloor sediments comprised the old oceanic crust
where they were trapped between the closing continents. Together, these sediments are
folded into linear belts, metamorphosed, and pushed upward to form mountain ranges.

Fig. 6. Continental-continental convergence

When Pangaea broke up, India became part of the southern continent called
Gondwanaland, which also split. About 145 million years ago, India began moving towards
Eurasia and reduced the size of the Tethys Sea. As India approached Eurasia, the seafloor
subducted beneath the continental crust of the latter. Volcanoes started to form along the
edge of the plate where a nearby trench was located. When all of the remnants of the

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Tethys Sea already descended, India started to be pushed against the Eurasian plate.
Seafloor sediments trapped between the continents are compressed and pushed upward to
form the Himalayas mountain range.

Folding and uplifting continue until today. Sedimentary rocks are also turned into
metamorphic rocks because of the extreme compression. As India cannot subduct below
Eurasia, this process of collision will eventually stop.

Transform Plate Boundaries

Transform plate boundaries (also called transform fault boundaries) happen when two
plates simply slide horizontally past each other. This is also known as conservative
margins since there is neither destruction nor formation of the new lithosphere. Along with
this boundary, a fault zone is created, which is composed of fractures on Earth’s surface
produced due to the appreciable movement of rock layers. One of its examples is the San
Andreas Fault formed due to the interaction of the Pacific Plate and North American Plate.

Fig. 7. Transform plate boundary

Essential Question
What is the seafloor spreading? How does it affect oceanic basins?

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Development of the Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis

The seafloor spreading hypothesis was proposed by Harry Hess, a petrologist at
Princeton University, and Robert Dietz, an oceanographer in the US Coast and Geodetic
Survey. Hess suggested that the oceanic crust and the overlying continental crust are
moving. He stated that the oceanic crust spreads, cools down, and becomes denser as it
moves away from the ridge. This colder and denser oceanic crust is subducted into the
oceanic trenches and will be later on melted and recycled in the mantle. Additionally, the
movement of the seafloor is driven by convection in the mantle.

Fig. 8. Harry Hess and Robert Dietz, proponents of the seafloor spreading hypothesis

In line with this, paleomagnetism is used as evidence of seafloor spreading. This is because
basaltic lavas contain iron-bearing minerals that record Earth’s magnetic orientation once
the lava cooled. The magnetic orientation of the oceanic crust and the determination of the
age of rocks through radiometric dating and data from the Deep Sea Drilling Project help
support that the ocean floor is spreading.

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Fig. 9. Magnetic orientation of seafloor rocks in Reykjanes ridge

Figure 9 shows the magnetic orientations of the oceanic crust along the Reykjanes ridge
near Iceland, which is a portion of the mid-oceanic ridge. The colored stripes represent
normal polarity, while the white stripes represent reversed polarity. The stripes have an
alternating pattern and are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the ridge.

This discovery leads to the conclusion of geologists that there is a sequence of events that
led to the alternating bands of the normal and reversed polarity of the oceanic crust.

New oceanic crust continuously forms as basaltic lava rises along the ridge, and as it cools, it
spreads outward from the ridge. As the lava cools, it aligns with Earth’s magnetic polarity.
The orientation of Earth’s magnetic field changes every half-million years on average.
Therefore, the magnetic stripes record the magnetic orientation of Earth when the
basaltic lava cooled.

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Fig. 10. Magnetic reversals in the mid-oceanic ridge

This mechanism led the scientists to the concept of seafloor spreading that explains the
source of the new oceanic crust. The seafloor spreading hypothesis and the plate tectonic
theory greatly helped geologists explain the origin and the features of the mid-oceanic
ridge, which is Earth’s largest mountain chain.

The mid-oceanic ridge system is one of the most spectacular features found in the deep
ocean floor, covering 20 percent of Earth’s surface. It is a continuous submarine mountain
with a length exceeding 80 000 kilometers, and some parts having a width of more than
1500 kilometers. The slightly elevated area formed by the submarine mountain was caused
by the relatively lower density of the fresh hot lava coming through the cracks. As the new
lithosphere moved away from the ridge, it started to cool down, creating a thicker, denser,
and slightly sinking oceanic crust. The heat flow at the ridge is several times greater than the
other parts of the ocean basin due to the heat flowing from the asthenosphere beneath the
spreading center and the heat flow from the rising magma. The red area in Figure 11
represents the most recent oceanic crust.

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Fig. 11. Mid-oceanic ridge system

Aside from discovering magnetic reversals, oceanographers also studied the thickness of
the sediments along the mid-Atlantic ridge. Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the segment of the
mid-oceanic ridge that is one to two kilometers deep and several kilometers wide. The
research was conducted in this area and was found to be made up of fresh basaltic lava not
yet covered by sediments. They observed that it is thinnest near the ridge axis and
gradually thickens as it moves farther from the ridge.

In addition, shallow earthquakes are common in the mid-oceanic ridge due to the fracturing
of the crust as two lithospheric crusts move away from each other. Transform faults are
also extensive in the mid-oceanic ridge dividing it into several short segments that are
slightly offset from each other. Offsets from the ridge may range from less than a kilometer
to hundreds of kilometers.

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Fig. 12. Transform fault in a segment of the mid-oceanic ridge

Parts of the Ocean Floor

High-temperature geothermal vents called smokers are also found near or along the
mid-oceanic ridge. These vents spew dark, mineral-rich fluids once in contact with the hot
basaltic lava.

Fig. 13. Black smokers

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Meanwhile, the greatest oceanic depths are found in oceanic trenches. These are long,
steep-sided depressions on the seafloor found near convergent plate boundaries and
represent two percent of the seafloor area.

Fig. 14. Challenger Deep or the Mariana Trench

Moreover, seamounts and volcanic islands are also formed in ocean basins. A seamount is
a submarine mountain with a height of one kilometer or more above the seafloor. If the
structure rises above sea level, it is called a volcanic island. These structures are made up
of basalt caused by the hot spot above the mantle plume. They form within a tectonic plate
rather than at its boundary. A flat-topped seamount is called a guyot. Lastly, flat areas in the
ocean floor are called abyssal plains. These areas consist of basaltic oceanic crust covered
by deep-sea sediments.

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Fig. 15. The ocean floor

Did You Know?

Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp made the scientific map of the Atlantic
ocean floor. Interestingly, the chief scientist of the Deep Sea Drilling
Project, Maurice Ewing, is Heezen’s doctoral thesis adviser.

Key Points

● There are three different plate boundaries: divergent boundary, convergent

boundary, and transform fault boundary.
● Divergent boundary is formed when two plates move apart. This is also known as
constructive margins. Rift, ridge, and new seafloor are the land formations
created from plate divergence.
● Convergent boundary is formed when two plates move toward each other. This is
also known as destructive margins. Mountains, island arcs, and volcanic arcs are
formed due to the convergence of plates.
● Transform plate boundary happens when two plates simply slide horizontally past

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each other. Fault zones are formed in the transform plate boundary.
● The seafloor spreading hypothesis states the seafloor moves away from the ridge
crest and towards the trenches and is constantly melted and recycled in the
subduction zones towards the mantle.
● Paleomagnetism and data from Deep Sea Drilling Project supported the seafloor
spreading hypothesis.
● Mid-oceanic ridge is the longest underwater mountain range which comprises 20
percent of Earth’s surface. Mid-Atlantic ridge is a segment of mid-oceanic ridge
where most research on the ocean floor is conducted.
● The different features of the ocean floor include abyssal plain, seamount, guyot,
trench, smoker, and volcanic island.

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify which plate movement leads to the formation of a certain geologic feature or
event. Use the choices given below.

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1. It can cause the formation of fault line systems.

2. It is also known as constructive plate margin.
3. It could be associated with the presence of the Wadati-Benioff zone.
4. This plate movement creates new seafloor.
5. It can create trenches.

B. Identify the term described in each question below.

1. What is the high-temperature geothermal opening on the ocean seafloor
found along the ridge?
2. What is the deepest trench on earth?
3. What oceanic land formation is like a plateau in the seafloor?
4. Which feature in the ocean seafloor serves as the passageway of molten
material coming from beneath the surface?
5. What is the depression in the ocean floor which results when plates move
towards each other?

C. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, write false.

1. New seafloor is created when molten material from the lowermost crust rises
and fills up the gap formed due to divergence of the plates.
2. Younger oceanic crust is found along the oceanic ridge.
3. The collision between oceanic and continental crust forms a continental
volcanic arc.
4. San Andreas fault is formed due to two plates passing slide each other.
5. Slab pull could most likely be observed at the transform boundary.
6. Seafloor spreading is the process that occurs at the ridge, where new oceanic
crust is formed.
7. Alfred Dietz is an oceanographer who helped in mapping the ocean floor,
further supporting the seafloor spreading theory.
8. Harry Hess is the scientist who proposed the theory of seafloor spreading.
9. Silicate is a mineral that could imprint magnetic polarity during its formation.
10. Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the longest geographical land formation covering 20
percent of Earth’s surface.

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Photo Credits
Introduction Photo. Tectonic plates and ring of fire by Astroskiandhike is licensed under CC
BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Fig. 11. Mid-Atlantic Ridge by Universe Today is licensed under CC BY 4.0 via Universe
Today.

Fig. 13. Life in Deep Sea Vents by Oregon State University is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via
Flickr.

Bibliography

Carlson, Diane H. and Charles C. Plummer. 2009. Physical Geology: Earth Revealed. 8th ed. ew
York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Coenraads, Robert R. 2005. Rocks & Fossils: A Visual Guide. Australia: Weldon Owen Inc.

Hamblin, W. Kenneth, and Eric H. Christiansen. 2003. Earth’s Dynamic Systems. 10th ed. New
Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Monroe, James S. and Reed Wicander. 2013. The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and
Evolution. 6th ed. United States: Brooks Cole Publishing.

Reynolds, Stephen J., et al. 2013. Exploring Geology. 3rd ed. United States: McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.

Tarbuck, Edward J. and Frederick J. Lutgens. 2015. Earth Science. New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall.

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