plate tectonics, theory dealing with the dynamics of Earth’s outer shell—the lithosphere—that

revolutionized Earth sciences by providing a uniform context for understanding mountain-

building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes as well as the evolution of Earth’s surface and
reconstructing its past continents and oceans.

The concept of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s. According to the theory, Earth has a
rigid outer layer, known as the lithosphere, which is typically about 100 km (60 miles) thick and
overlies a plastic (moldable, partially molten) layer called the asthenosphere. The lithosphere is
broken up into seven very large continental- and ocean-sized plates, six or seven medium-sized
regional plates, and several small ones. These plates move relative to each other, typically at
rates of 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) per year, and interact along their boundaries, where they
converge, diverge, or slip past one another. Such interactions are thought to be responsible for
most of Earth’s seismic and volcanic activity, although earthquakes and volcanoes can occur in
plate interiors. Plate motions cause mountains to rise where plates push together, or converge,
and continents to fracture and oceans to form where plates pull apart, or diverge. The continents
are embedded in the plates and drift passively with them, which over millions of years results in
significant changes in Earth’s geography.

The theory of plate tectonics is based on a broad synthesis of geologic and geophysical data. It is now
almost universally accepted, and its adoption represents a true scientific revolution, analogous in its
consequences to quantum mechanics in physics or the discovery of the genetic code in biology.
Incorporating the much older idea of continental drift, as well as the concept of seafloor spreading, the
theory of plate tectonics has provided an overarching framework in which to describe the past
geography of continents and oceans, the processes controlling creation and destruction of landforms,
and the evolution of Earth’s crust, atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and climates. During the late
20th and early 21st centuries, it became apparent that plate-tectonic processes profoundly influence
the composition of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, serve as a prime cause of long-term climate change,
and make significant contributions to the chemical and physical environment in which life evolves.

Principles of plate tectonics

Earth's lithosphere and upper mantle
A cross section of Earth's outer layers, from the crust through the lower mantle.

In essence, plate-tectonic theory is elegantly simple. Earth’s surface layer, 50 to 100 km (30 to
60 miles) thick, is rigid and is composed of a set of large and small plates. Together, these plates
constitute the lithosphere, from the Greek lithos, meaning “rock.” The lithosphere rests on and
slides over an underlying partially molten (and thus weaker but generally denser) layer of plastic
partially molten rock known as the asthenosphere, from the Greek asthenos, meaning “weak.”
Plate movement is possible because the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is a zone of
detachment. As the lithospheric plates move across Earth’s surface, driven by forces as yet not
fully understood, they interact along their boundaries, diverging, converging, or slipping past
each other. While the interiors of the plates are presumed to remain essentially undeformed, plate
boundaries are the sites of many of the principal processes that shape the terrestrial surface,
including earthquakes, volcanism, and orogeny (that is, formation of mountain ranges).

The process of plate tectonics may be driven by convection in Earth’s mantle, the pull of heavy old
pieces of crust into the mantle, or some combination of both. For a deeper discussion of plate-driving
mechanisms, see Plate-driving mechanisms and the role of the mantle.
Earth’s layers

crustal generation and destruction

Three-dimensional diagram showing crustal generation and destruction according to the theory of plate
tectonics; included are the three kinds of plate boundaries—divergent, convergent (or collision), and
strike-slip (or transform).
Knowledge of Earth’s interior is derived primarily from analysis of the seismic waves that
propagate through Earth as a result of earthquakes. Depending on the material they travel
through, the waves may either speed up, slow down, bend, or even stop if they cannot penetrate
the material they encounter.

Collectively, these studies show that Earth can be internally divided into layers on the basis of
either gradual or abrupt variations in chemical and physical properties. Chemically, Earth can be
divided into three layers. A relatively thin crust, which typically varies from a few kilometres to
40 km (about 25 miles) in thickness, sits on top of the mantle. (In some places, Earth’s crust may
be up to 70 km [40 miles] thick.) The mantle is much thicker than the crust; it contains 83
percent of Earth’s volume and continues to a depth of 2,900 km (1,800 miles). Beneath the
mantle is the core, which extends to the centre of Earth, some 6,370 km (nearly 4,000 miles)
below the surface. Geologists maintain that the core is made up primarily of metallic iron
accompanied by smaller amounts of nickel, cobalt, and lighter elements, such as carbon and
sulfur. (See also Earth.)

Discern between body and surface waves, primary and secondary waves, and Love and Rayleigh waves

The shifting rock in an earthquake causes vibrations called seismic waves that travel within Earth or
along its surface. The four main types of seismic waves are P waves, S waves, Love waves, and Rayleigh
waves.
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There are two types of crust, continental and oceanic, which differ in their composition and
thickness. The distribution of these crustal types broadly coincides with the division into
continents and ocean basins, although continental shelves, which are submerged, are underlain
by continental crust. The continents have a crust that is broadly granitic in composition and, with
a density of about 2.7 grams per cubic cm (0.098 pound per cubic inch), is somewhat lighter than
oceanic crust, which is basaltic (i.e., richer in iron and magnesium than granite) in composition
and has a density of about 2.9 to 3 grams per cubic cm (0.1 to 0.11 pound per cubic inch).
Continental crust is typically 40 km (25 miles) thick, while oceanic crust is much thinner,
averaging about 6 km (4 miles) in thickness. These crustal rocks both sit on top of the mantle,
which is ultramafic in composition (i.e., very rich in magnesium and iron-bearing silicate
minerals). The boundary between the crust (continental or oceanic) and the underlying mantle is
known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity (also called Moho), which is named for its discoverer,
Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić. The Moho is clearly defined by seismic studies,
which detect an acceleration in seismic waves as they pass from the crust into the denser mantle.
The boundary between the mantle and the core is also clearly defined by seismic studies, which
suggest that the outer part of the core is a liquid.

The effect of the different densities of lithospheric rock can be seen in the different average
elevations of continental and oceanic crust. The less-dense continental crust has greater
buoyancy, causing it to float much higher in the mantle. Its average elevation above sea level is
840 metres (2,750 feet), while the average depth of oceanic crust is 3,790 metres (12,400 feet).
This density difference creates two principal levels of Earth’s surface.

The lithosphere itself includes all the crust as well as the upper part of the mantle (i.e., the region
directly beneath the Moho), which is also rigid. However, as temperatures increase with depth,
the heat causes mantle rocks to lose their rigidity. This process begins at about 100 km (60 miles)
below the surface. This change occurs within the mantle and defines the base of the lithosphere
and the top of the asthenosphere. This upper portion of the mantle, which is known as the
lithospheric mantle, has an average density of about 3.3 grams per cubic cm (0.12 pound per
cubic inch). The asthenosphere, which sits directly below the lithospheric mantle, is thought to
be slightly denser at 3.4–4.4 grams per cubic cm (0.12–0.16 pound per cubic inch).

In contrast, the rocks in the asthenosphere are weaker, because they are close to their melting
temperatures. As a result, seismic waves slow as they enter the asthenosphere. With increasing
depth, however, the greater pressure from the weight of the rocks above causes the mantle to
become gradually stronger, and seismic waves increase in velocity, a defining characteristic of
the lower mantle. The lower mantle is more or less solid, but the region is also very hot, and thus
the rocks can flow very slowly (a process known as creep).

During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, scientific understanding of the deep mantle was
greatly enhanced by high-resolution seismological studies combined with numerical modeling
and laboratory experiments that mimicked conditions near the core-mantle boundary.
Collectively, these studies revealed that the deep mantle is highly heterogeneous and that the
layer may play a fundamental role in driving Earth’s plates.
Earth's core

The internal layers of Earth's core, including its two inner cores.

At a depth of about 2,900 km (1,800 miles), the lower mantle gives way to Earth’s outer core,
which is made up of a liquid rich in iron and nickel. At a depth of about 5,100 km (3,200 miles),
the outer core transitions to the inner core. Although it has a higher temperature than the outer
core, the inner core is solid because of the tremendous pressures that exist near Earth’s centre.
Earth’s inner core is divided into the outer-inner core (OIC) and the inner-inner core (IIC), which
differ from one another with respect to the polarity of their iron crystals. The polarity of the iron
crystals of the OIC is oriented in a north-south direction, whereas that of the IIC is oriented east-
west.

Plate boundaries

Examine how the theory of plate tectonics explains volcanic activity, earthquakes, and mountains

A general discussion of plate tectonics.

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Lithospheric plates are much thicker than oceanic or continental crust. Their boundaries do not
usually coincide with those between oceans and continents, and their behaviour is only partly
influenced by whether they carry oceans, continents, or both. The Pacific Plate, for example, is
entirely oceanic, whereas the North American Plate is capped by continental crust in the west
(the North American continent) and by oceanic crust in the east and extends under the Atlantic
Ocean as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
plate movement

Theoretical diagram showing the effects of an advancing tectonic plate on other adjacent, but
stationary, tectonic plates. At the advancing edge of plate A, the overlap with plate B creates a
convergent boundary. In contrast, the gap left behind the trailing edge of plate A forms a divergent
boundary with plate B. As plate A slides past portions of both plate B and plate C, transform boundaries
develop.

In a simplified example of plate motion shown in the figure, movement of plate A to the left
relative to plates B and C results in several types of simultaneous interactions along the plate
boundaries. At the rear, plates A and B move apart, or diverge, resulting in extension and the
formation of a divergent margin. At the front, plates A and B overlap, or converge, resulting in
compression and the formation of a convergent margin. Along the sides, the plates slide past one
another, a process called shear. As these zones of shear link other plate boundaries to one
another, they are called transform faults.

Divergent margins
As plates move apart at a divergent plate boundary, the release of pressure produces partial
melting of the underlying mantle. This molten material, known as magma, is basaltic in
composition and is buoyant. As a result, it wells up from below and cools close to the surface to
generate new crust. Because new crust is formed, divergent margins are also called constructive
margins.

Continental rifting
rift valley in Thingvellir National Park

The Thingvellir fracture zone at Thingvellir National Park in southwestern Iceland is an example of a rift
valley. The Thingvellir fracture lies in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through the centre of
Iceland.

Upwelling of magma causes the overlying lithosphere to uplift and stretch. (Whether magmatism
[the formation of igneous rock from magma] initiates the rifting or whether rifting decompresses
the mantle and initiates magmatism is a matter of significant debate.) If the diverging plates are
capped by continental crust, fractures develop that are invaded by the ascending magma, prying
the continents farther apart. Settling of the continental blocks creates a rift valley, such as the
present-day East African Rift Valley. As the rift continues to widen, the continental crust
becomes progressively thinner until separation of the plates is achieved and a new ocean is
created. The ascending partial melt cools and crystallizes to form new crust. Because the partial
melt is basaltic in composition, the new crust is oceanic, and an ocean ridge develops along the
site of the former continental rift. Consequently, diverging plate boundaries, even if they
originate within continents, eventually come to lie in ocean basins of their own making.
Seafloor spreading

age of Earth's oceanic crust

The age of Earth's oceanic crust can be presented to show the pattern of seafloor spreading at the global
scale.

As upwelling of magma continues, the plates continue to diverge, a process known as seafloor
spreading. Samples collected from the ocean floor show that the age of oceanic crust increases
with distance from the spreading centre—important evidence in favour of this process. These age
data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined, and they show that rates vary
from about 0.1 cm (0.04 inch) per year to 17 cm (6.7 inches) per year. Seafloor-spreading rates
are much more rapid in the Pacific Ocean than in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. At spreading
rates of about 15 cm (6 inches) per year, the entire crust beneath the Pacific Ocean (about 15,000
km [9,300 miles] wide) could be produced in 100 million years.

Divergence and creation of oceanic crust are accompanied by much volcanic activity and by
many shallow earthquakes as the crust repeatedly rifts, heals, and rifts again. Brittle earthquake-
prone rocks occur only in the shallow crust. Deep earthquakes, in contrast, occur less frequently,
due to the high heat flow in the mantle rock. These regions of oceanic crust are swollen with heat
and so are elevated by 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 miles) above the surrounding seafloor. The elevated
topography results in a feedback scenario in which the resulting gravitational force pushes the
crust apart, allowing new magma to well up from below, which in turn sustains the elevated
topography. Its summits are typically 1 to 5 km (0.6 to 3.1 miles) below the ocean surface. On a
global scale, these ridges form an interconnected system of undersea “mountains” that are about
65,000 km (40,000 miles) in length and are called oceanic ridges.

Convergent margins
Given that Earth is constant in volume, the continuous formation of Earth’s new crust produces
an excess that must be balanced by destruction of crust elsewhere. This is accomplished at
convergent plate boundaries, also known as destructive plate boundaries, where one plate
descends at an angle—that is, is subducted—beneath the other.

Because oceanic crust cools as it ages, it eventually becomes denser than the underlying
asthenosphere, and so it has a tendency to subduct, or dive under, adjacent continental plates or
younger sections of oceanic crust. The life span of the oceanic crust is prolonged by its rigidity,
but eventually this resistance is overcome. Experiments show that the subducted oceanic
lithosphere is denser than the surrounding mantle to a depth of at least 600 km (about 400 miles).

Britannica Quiz

Everything Earth

The mechanisms responsible for initiating subduction zones are controversial. During the late
20th and early 21st centuries, evidence emerged supporting the notion that subduction zones
preferentially initiate along preexisting fractures (such as transform faults) in the oceanic crust.
Irrespective of the exact mechanism, the geologic record indicates that the resistance to
subduction is overcome eventually.
major types of volcanic eruptions

Volcanic eruptions may fall into six major types: Icelandic, Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, Pelean,
and Plinian.

Where two oceanic plates meet, the older, denser plate is preferentially subducted beneath the
younger, warmer one. Where one of the plate margins is oceanic and the other is continental, the
greater buoyancy of continental crust prevents it from sinking, and the oceanic plate is
preferentially subducted. Continents are preferentially preserved in this manner relative to
oceanic crust, which is continuously recycled into the mantle. This explains why ocean floor
rocks are generally less than 200 million years old whereas the oldest continental rocks are more
than 4 billion years old. Before the middle of the 20th century, most geoscientists maintained
that continental crust was too buoyant to be subducted. However, it later became clear that
slivers of continental crust adjacent to the deep-sea trench, as well as sediments deposited in the
trench, may be dragged down the subduction zone. The recycling of this material is detected in
the chemistry of volcanoes that erupt above the subduction zone.

Two plates carrying continental crust collide when the oceanic lithosphere between them has
been eliminated. Eventually, subduction ceases and towering mountain ranges, such as the
Himalayas, are created. See below Mountains by continental collision.

Because the plates form an integrated system, it is not necessary that new crust formed at any
given divergent boundary be completely compensated at the nearest subduction zone, as long as
the total amount of crust generated equals that destroyed.

Subduction zones
subducting tectonic plate

A subducting plate's path (called the Benioff-Wadati [or Wadati-Benioff] zone) is defined by numerous
earthquakes along a plane that is typically inclined between 30° and 60° into the mantle.

The subduction process involves the descent into the mantle of a slab of cold hydrated oceanic
lithosphere about 100 km (60 miles) thick that carries a relatively thin cap of oceanic sediments.
The path of descent is defined by numerous earthquakes along a plane that is typically inclined
between 30° and 60° into the mantle and is called the Wadati-Benioff zone, for Japanese
seismologist Kiyoo Wadati and American seismologist Hugo Benioff, who pioneered its study.
Between 10 and 20 percent of the subduction zones that dominate the circum-Pacific ocean basin
are subhorizontal (that is, they subduct at angles between 0° and 20°). The factors that govern the
dip of the subduction zone are not fully understood, but they probably include the age and
thickness of the subducting oceanic lithosphere and the rate of plate convergence.

Most, but not all, earthquakes in this planar dipping zone result from compression, and the
seismic activity extends 300 to 700 km (200 to 400 miles) below the surface, implying that the
subducted crust retains some rigidity to this depth. At greater depths the subducted plate is
partially recycled into the mantle.

The site of subduction is marked by a deep trench, between 5 and 11 km (3 and 7 miles) deep,
that is produced by frictional drag between the plates as the descending plate bends before it
subducts. The overriding plate scrapes sediments and elevated portions of ocean floor off the
upper crust of the lower plate, creating a zone of highly deformed rocks within the trench that
becomes attached, or accreted, to the overriding plate. This chaotic mixture is known as an
accretionary wedge.

The rocks in the subduction zone experience high pressures but relatively low temperatures, an
effect of the descent of the cold oceanic slab. Under these conditions the rocks recrystallize, or
metamorphose, to form a suite of rocks known as blueschists, named for the diagnostic blue
mineral called glaucophane, which is stable only at the high pressures and low temperatures
found in subduction zones. (See also metamorphic rock.) At deeper levels in the subduction zone
(that is, greater than 30–35 km [about 19–22 miles]), eclogites, which consist of high-pressure
minerals such as red garnet (pyrope) and omphacite (pyroxene), form. The formation of eclogite
from blueschist is accompanied by a significant increase in density and has been recognized as
an important additional factor that facilitates the subduction process.

Island arcs

When the downward-moving slab reaches a depth of about 100 km (60 miles), it gets sufficiently
warm to drive off its most volatile components, thereby stimulating partial melting of mantle in
the plate above the subduction zone (known as the mantle wedge). Melting in the mantle wedge
produces magma, which is predominantly basaltic in composition. This magma rises to the
surface and gives birth to a line of volcanoes in the overriding plate, known as a volcanic arc,
typically a few hundred kilometres behind the oceanic trench. The distance between the trench
and the arc, known as the arc-trench gap, depends on the angle of subduction. Steeper subduction
zones have relatively narrow arc-trench gaps. A basin may form within this region, known as a
fore-arc basin, and may be filled with sediments derived from the volcanic arc or with remains of
oceanic crust.

If both plates are oceanic, as in the western Pacific Ocean, the volcanoes form a curved line of
islands, known as an island arc, that is parallel to the trench, as in the case of the Mariana Islands
and the adjacent Mariana Trench. If one plate is continental, the volcanoes form inland, as they
do in the Andes of western South America. Though the process of magma generation is similar,
the ascending magma may change its composition as it rises through the thick lid of continental
crust, or it may provide sufficient heat to melt the crust. In either case, the composition of the
volcanic mountains formed tends to be more silicon-rich and iron- and magnesium-poor relative
to the volcanic rocks produced by ocean-ocean convergence.

Back-arc basins
back-arc basin

The trench “roll back” process of back-arc basin formation.

Where both converging plates are oceanic, the margin of the older oceanic crust will be
subducted because older oceanic crust is colder and therefore more dense. As the dense slab
collapses into the asthenosphere, however, it also may “roll back” oceanward and cause
extension in the overlying plate. This results in a process known as back-arc spreading, in which
a basin opens up behind the island arc. The crust behind the arc becomes progressively thinner,
and the decompression of the underlying mantle causes the crust to melt, initiating seafloor-
spreading processes, such as melting and the production of basalt; these processes are similar to
those that occur at ocean ridges. The geochemistry of the basalts produced at back-arc basins
superficially resembles that of basalts produced at ocean ridges, but subtle trace element analyses
can detect the influence of a nearby subducted slab.
sea anchor process in back-arc basin formation

The slab “sea anchor” process of back-arc basin formation.

This style of subduction predominates in the western Pacific Ocean, in which a number of back-
arc basins separate several island arcs from Asia. Examples include the Mariana Islands, the
Kuril Islands, and the main islands of Japan. However, if the rate of convergence increases or if
anomalously thick oceanic crust (possibly caused by rising mantle plume activity) is conveyed
into the subduction zone, the slab may flatten. Such flattening causes the back-arc basin to close,
resulting in deformation, metamorphism, and even melting of the strata deposited in the basin.

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What Causes a Volcano to Erupt?

Mountain building
If the rate of subduction in an ocean basin exceeds the rate at which the crust is formed at
oceanic ridges, a convergent margin forms as the ocean initially contracts. This process can lead
to collision between the approaching continents, which eventually terminates subduction.
Mountain building can occur in a number of ways at a convergent margin: mountains may rise as
a consequence of the subduction process itself, by the accretion of small crustal fragments
(which, along with linear island chains and oceanic ridges, are known as terranes), or by the
collision of two large continents.
Jurassic paleogeography

Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins during the late
Jurassic Period. Included in the paleogeographic reconstruction are the locations of the interval's
subduction zones.

Many mountain belts were developed by a combination of these processes. For example, the
Cordilleran mountain belt of North America—which includes the Rocky Mountains as well as
the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges near the Pacific coast—developed
by a combination of subduction and terrane accretion. As continental collisions are usually
preceded by a long history of subduction and terrane accretion, many mountain belts record all
three processes. Over the past 70 million years the subduction of the Neo-Tethys Sea, a wedge-
shaped body of water that was located between Gondwana and Laurasia, led to the accretion of
terranes along the margins of Laurasia, followed by continental collisions beginning about 30
million years ago between Africa and Europe and between India and Asia. These collisions
culminated in the formation of the Alps and the Himalayas.

Mountains by subduction
Mountain building by subduction is classically demonstrated in the Andes Mountains of South
America. Subduction results in voluminous magmatism in the mantle and crust overlying the
subduction zone, and, therefore, the rocks in this region are warm and weak. Although
subduction is a long-term process, the uplift that results in mountains tends to occur in discrete
episodes and may reflect intervals of stronger plate convergence that squeezes the thermally
weakened crust upward. For example, rapid uplift of the Andes approximately 25 million years
ago is evidenced by a reversal in the flow of the Amazon River from its ancestral path toward the
Pacific Ocean to its modern path, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition, models have indicated that the episodic opening and closing of back-arc basins have
been the major factors in mountain-building processes, which have influenced the plate-tectonic
evolution of the western Pacific for at least the past 500 million years.

Mountains by terrane accretion

continental margin

The broad, gentle pitch of the continental shelf gives way to the relatively steep continental slope. The
more gradual transition to the abyssal plain is a sediment-filled region called the continental rise. The
continental shelf, slope, and rise are collectively called the continental margin.

As the ocean contracts by subduction, elevated regions within the ocean basin—terranes—are
transported toward the subduction zone, where they are scraped off the descending plate and
added—accreted—to the continental margin. Since the late Devonian and early Carboniferous
periods, some 360 million years ago, subduction beneath the western margin of North America
has resulted in several collisions with terranes. The piecemeal addition of these accreted terranes
has added an average of 600 km (400 miles) in width along the western margin of the North
American continent, and the collisions have resulted in important pulses of mountain building.

During these accretionary events, small sections of the oceanic crust may break away from the
subducting slab as it descends. Instead of being subducted, these slices are thrust over the
overriding plate and are said to be obducted. Where this occurs, rare slices of ocean crust, known
as ophiolites, are preserved on land. They provide a valuable natural laboratory for studying the
composition and character of the oceanic crust and the mechanisms of their emplacement and
preservation on land. A classic example is the Coast Range ophiolite of California, which is one
of the most extensive ophiolite terranes in North America. These ophiolite deposits run from the
Klamath Mountains in northern California southward to the Diablo Range in central California.
This oceanic crust likely formed during the middle of the Jurassic Period, roughly 170 million
years ago, in an extensional regime within either a back-arc or a forearc basin. In the late
Mesozoic, it was accreted to the western North American continental margin.

Because preservation of oceanic crust is rare, the recognition of ophiolite complexes is very
important in tectonic analyses. Until the mid-1980s, ophiolites were thought to represent vestiges
of the main oceanic tract, but geochemical analyses have clearly indicated that most ophiolites
form near volcanic arcs, such as in back-arc basins characterized by subduction roll-back (the
collapse of the subducting plate that causes the extension of the overlying plate). The recognition
of ophiolite complexes is very important in tectonic analysis, because they provide insights into
the generation of magmatism in oceanic domains, as well as their complex relationships with
subduction processes. (See above back-arc basins.)

Mountains by continental collision

Continental collision involves the forced convergence of two buoyant plate margins that results
in neither continent being subducted to any appreciable extent. A complex sequence of events
ensues that compels one continent to override the other. These processes result in crustal
thickening and intense deformation that forces the crust skyward to form huge mountains with
crustal roots that extend as deep as 80 km (about 50 miles) relative to Earth’s surface, in
accordance with the principles of isostasy.

The subducted slab still has a tendency to sink and may become detached and founder
(submerge) into the mantle. The crustal root undergoes metamorphic reactions that result in a
significant increase in density and may cause the root to also founder into the mantle. Both
processes result in a significant injection of heat from the compensatory upwelling of
asthenosphere, which is an important contribution to the rise of the mountains.

Continental collisions produce lofty landlocked mountain ranges such as the Himalayas. Much
later, after these ranges have been largely leveled by erosion, it is possible that the original
contact, or suture, may be exposed.

The balance between creation and destruction on a global scale is demonstrated by the expansion
of the Atlantic Ocean by seafloor spreading over the past 200 million years, compensated by the
contraction of the Pacific Ocean, and the consumption of an entire ocean between India and Asia
(the Tethys Sea). The northward migration of India led to collision with Asia some 40 million
years ago. Since that time India has advanced a further 2,000 km (1,250 miles) beneath Asia,
pushing up the Himalayas and forming the Plateau of Tibet. Pinned against stable Siberia, China
and Indochina were pushed sideways, resulting in strong seismic activity thousands of kilometres
from the site of the continental collision.

Transform faults

San Andreas Fault

At the San Andreas Fault in California, the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate slide past each
other along a giant fracture in Earth's crust.

Along the third type of plate boundary, two plates move laterally and pass each other along giant
fractures in Earth’s crust. Transform faults are so named because they are linked to other types of
plate boundaries. The majority of transform faults link the offset segments of oceanic ridges.
However, transform faults also occur between plate margins with continental crust—for
example, the San Andreas Fault in California and the North Anatolian fault system in Turkey.
These boundaries are conservative because plate interaction occurs without creating or
destroying crust. Because the only motion along these faults is the sliding of plates past each
other, the horizontal direction along the fault surface must parallel the direction of plate motion.
The fault surfaces are rarely smooth, and pressure may build up when the plates on either side
temporarily lock. This buildup of stress may be suddenly released in the form of an earthquake.

Many transform faults in the Atlantic Ocean are the continuation of major faults in adjacent
continents, which suggests that the orientation of these faults might be inherited from preexisting
weaknesses in continental crust during the earliest stages of the development of oceanic crust.
On the other hand, transform faults may themselves be reactivated, and recent geodynamic
models suggest that they are favourable environments for the initiation of subduction zones.

Hotspots
Earth's principal tectonic plates

The principal tectonic plates that make up Earth's lithosphere. Also located are several dozen hotspots
where plumes of hot mantle material are upwelling beneath the plates.
earthquake zones and volcanoes

The world's earthquake zones occur in red bands and largely coincide with the boundaries of Earth's
tectonic plates. Black dots indicate active volcanoes, whereas open dots indicate inactive ones.

Although most of Earth’s volcanic activity is concentrated along or adjacent to plate boundaries,
there are some important exceptions in which this activity occurs within plates. Linear chains of
islands, thousands of kilometres in length, that occur far from plate boundaries are the most
notable examples. These island chains record a typical sequence of decreasing elevation along
the chain, from volcanic island to fringing reef to atoll and finally to submerged seamount. An
active volcano usually exists at one end of an island chain, with progressively older extinct
volcanoes occurring along the rest of the chain. Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson and
American geophysicist W. Jason Morgan explained such topographic features as the result of
hotspots.
atoll formation

Diagram depicting the process of atoll formation. Atolls are formed from the remnant parts of sinking
volcanic islands.
The number of these hotspots is uncertain (estimates range from 20 to 120), but most occur
within a plate rather than at a plate boundary. Hotspots are thought to be the surface expression
of giant plumes of heat, termed mantle plumes, that ascend from deep within the mantle, possibly
from the core-mantle boundary, some 2,900 km (1,800 miles) below the surface. These plumes
are thought to be stationary relative to the lithospheric plates that move over them. A volcano
builds upon the surface of a plate directly above the plume. As the plate moves on, however, the
volcano is separated from its underlying magma source and becomes extinct. Extinct volcanoes
are eroded as they cool and subside to form fringing reefs and atolls, and eventually they sink
below the surface of the sea to form a seamount. At the same time, a new active volcano forms
directly above the mantle plume.

The best example of this process is preserved in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. The
plume is presently situated beneath Hawaii, and a linear chain of islands, atolls, and seamounts
extends 3,500 km (2,200 miles) northwest to Midway and a further 2,500 km (1,500 miles)
north-northwest to the Aleutian Trench. The age at which volcanism became extinct along this
chain gets progressively older with increasing distance from Hawaii—critical evidence that
supports this theory. Hotspot volcanism is not restricted to the ocean basins; it also occurs within
continents, as in the case of Yellowstone National Park in western North America.

Measurements suggest that hotspots may move relative to one another, a situation not predicted
by the classical model, which describes the movement of lithospheric plates over stationary
mantle plumes. This has led to challenges to this classic model. Furthermore, the relationship
between hotspots and plumes is hotly debated. Proponents of the classical model maintain that
these discrepancies are due to the effects of mantle circulation as the plumes ascend, a process
called the mantle wind. Data from alternative models suggest that many plumes are not deep-
rooted. Instead, they provide evidence that many mantle plumes occur as linear chains that inject
magma into fractures, result from relatively shallow processes such as the localized presence of
water-rich mantle, stem from the insulating properties of continental crust (which leads to the
buildup of trapped mantle heat and decompression of the crust), or are due to instabilities in the
interface between continental and oceanic crust. In addition, some geologists note that many
geologic processes that others attribute to the behaviour of mantle plumes may be explained by
other forces.

Plate motion
Euler’s contributions
plate movement on a sphere

Theoretical depiction of the movement of tectonic plates across Earth's surface. Movement on a sphere
of two plates, A and B, can be described as a rotation around a common pole. Circles around that pole
correspond to the orientation of transform faults (that is, single lines in the horizontal that connect to
divergent plate boundaries, marked by double lines, in the vertical).

In the 18th century, Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler showed that the movement of a rigid
body across the surface of a sphere can be described as a rotation (or turning) around an axis that
goes through the centre of the sphere, known as the axis of rotation. The location of this axis
bears no relationship to Earth’s spin axis. The point of emergence of the axis through the surface
of the sphere is known as the pole of rotation. This theorem of spherical geometry provides an
elegant way to define the motion of the lithospheric plates across Earth’s surface. Therefore, the
relative motion of two rigid plates may be described as rotations around a common axis, known
as the axis of spreading. Application of the theorem requires that the plates not be internally
deformed—a requirement not absolutely adhered to but one that appears to be a reasonable
approximation of what actually happens. Application of this theorem permits the mathematical
reconstruction of past plate configurations.

Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler, c. 1740s. Euler was a Swiss mathematician and physicist known for being one of the
founders of pure mathematics.

Because all plates form a closed system, all movements can be defined by dealing with them two
at a time. The joint pole of rotation of two plates can be determined from their transform
boundaries, which are by definition parallel to the direction of motion. Thus, the plates move
along transform faults, whose trace defines circles of latitude perpendicular to the axis of
spreading, and so form small circles around the pole of rotation. A geometric necessity of this
theorem—that lines perpendicular to the transform faults converge on the pole of rotation—is
confirmed by measurements. According to this theorem, the rate of plate motion should be
slowest near the pole of rotation and increase progressively to a maximum rate along fractures
with a 90° angle to it. This relationship is also confirmed by accurate measurements of seafloor-
spreading rates.

Past plate movements

Plate tectonics involves the movements of Earth’s lithospheric plates relative to one another over
the planet’s weak asthenosphere. This activity changes the positions of all plates with respect to
Earth’s spin axis and the Equator. To determine the true geographic positions of the plates in the
past, investigators have to define their motions, not only relative to each other but also relative to
this independent frame of reference. Hotspots, as classically interpreted, provide an example of
such a reference frame, assuming they are the sources of plumes that originate within the deep
mantle and have relatively fixed positions over time. If this assumption is valid, the motion of the
lithosphere above these plumes can be deduced. The hotspot island chains serve this purpose,
their trends providing the direction of motion of a plate. The speed of the plate can be inferred
from the increase in age of the volcanoes along the chain relative to the distance between the
islands.

Earth scientists are able to accurately reconstruct the positions and movements of plates for the
past 150 million to 200 million years because they have the oceanic crust record to provide them
with plate speeds and direction of movement. However, since older oceanic crust is continuously
consumed to make room for new crust, this kind of evidence is not available for earlier intervals
of geologic time, making it necessary for investigators to turn to other, less-precise techniques.
(See below Paleomagnetism, polar wandering, and continental drift.)

Development of tectonic theory

Precursors
The outlines of the continents flanking the Atlantic Ocean are so similar that their
correspondence was apparent as soon as accurate maps became available. The earliest references
to this similarity were made in 1596 by Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius and later in 1620
by the English philosopher Francis Bacon, in his book Novum Organum, and by French
naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon, a century later. Toward the end of the 18th
century, Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist, suggested that the lands bordering the
Atlantic Ocean had once been joined.
paleocontinent

Infographic showing evidence of submerged continents that formed and broke up during Earth's
geologic history.

In 1858 French geographer Antonio Snider-Pellegrini proposed that identical fossil plants in
North American and European coal deposits could be explained if the two continents had
formerly been connected. He suggested that the biblical Flood was due to the fragmentation of
this continent, which was torn apart to restore the balance of a lopsided Earth. In the late 19th
century the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess proposed that large ancient continents had been
composed of several of the present-day smaller ones. According to this hypothesis, portions of a
single enormous southern continent—designated Gondwana (or Gondwanaland)—foundered to
create the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Such sunken lands, along with vanished land bridges, were
frequently invoked in the late 1800s to explain sediment sources apparently present in the ocean
and to account for floral and faunal connections between continents. These explanations
remained popular until the 1950s and stimulated belief in the ancient submerged continent of
Atlantis.

In 1908 American geologist Frank B. Taylor postulated that the arcuate (bow-shaped) mountain
belts of Asia and Europe resulted from the creep of the continents toward the Equator. His
analysis of tectonic features foreshadowed in many ways modern thought regarding plate
collisions.

Alfred Wegener and the concept of continental drift

Alfred Wegener

Alfred Wegener, German geophysicist and meteorologist.

In 1912 German meteorologist Alfred Wegener, impressed by the similarity of the geography of
the Atlantic coastlines, explicitly presented the concept of continental drift. Though plate
tectonics is by no means synonymous with continental drift, the term encompasses this idea and
derives much of its impact from it.
continental drift

The location of Earth's continents at various times between 225 million years ago and the present.

Wegener came to consider the existence of a single supercontinent from about 350 million to 245
million years ago, during the late Paleozoic Era and early Mesozoic Era, and named it Pangea,
meaning “all lands.” He searched the geologic and paleontological literature for evidence
supporting the continuity of geologic features across the Indian and Atlantic oceans during that
time period, which he assumed had formed during the Mesozoic Era (about 252 million to 66
million years ago). He presented the idea of continental drift and some of the supporting
evidence in a lecture in 1912, followed by his major published work, The Origin of Continents
and Oceans (1915).

Isostasy
continental drift

In this map depicting a portion of Gondwana (an ancient supercontinent that once contained South
America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica), the discovery of fossil plants and animals whose
geographic home ranges cut across the greater landmass is supporting evidence for continental drift.

Wegener pointed out that the concept of isostasy (the ideal theoretical balance of all large
portions of Earth’s lithosphere as though they were floating on the denser underlying layer)
rendered the existence of large sunken continental blocks, as envisaged by Suess, geophysically
impossible. He concluded that if the continents had been once joined together, the consequence
would have been drift of their fragments and not their foundering. The assumption of a former
single continent could be tested geologically, and Wegener displayed a large array of data that
supported his hypothesis, ranging from the continuity of fold belts across oceans, the presence of
identical rocks and fossils on continents now separated by oceans, and the paleobiogeographic
and paleoclimatological record that indicated otherwise unaccountable shifts in Earth’s major
climate belts. He further argued that if continents could move up and down in the mantle as a
result of buoyancy changes produced by erosion or deposition, they should be able to move
horizontally as well.

Driving forces
The main stumbling block to the acceptance of Wegener’s hypothesis was the driving forces he
proposed. Wegener described the drift of continents as a flight from the poles due to Earth’s
equatorial bulge. Although these forces do exist, Wegener’s nemesis, British geophysicist Sir
Harold Jeffreys, demonstrated that these forces are much too weak for the task. Another
mechanism proposed by Wegener, tidal forces on Earth’s crust produced by gravitational pull of
the Moon, were also shown to be entirely inadequate.

Wegener’s proposition was attentively received by many European geologists, and in England
Arthur Holmes pointed out that the lack of a driving force was insufficient grounds for rejecting
the entire concept. In 1929 Holmes proposed an alternative mechanism—convection of the
mantle—which remains today a serious candidate for the force driving the plates. Wegener’s
ideas also were well received by geologists in the Southern Hemisphere. One of them, the South
African Alexander Du Toit, remained an ardent believer. After Wegener’s death, Du Toit
continued to amass further evidence in support of continental drift.

Evidence supporting the hypothesis

The strikingly similar Paleozoic sedimentary sequences on all southern continents and also in
India are an example of evidence that supports continental drift. This diagnostic sequence
consists of glacial deposits called tillites, followed by sandstones and finally coal measures,
typical of warm moist climates. An attempt to explain this sequence in a world of fixed
continents presents insurmountable problems. Placed on a reconstruction of Gondwana,
however, the tillites mark two ice ages that occurred during the drift of this continent across the
South Pole from its initial position north of Libya about 500 million years ago and its final
departure from southern Australia 250 million years later. About this time, Gondwana collided
with Laurentia (the precursor to the North American continent), which was one of the major
collisional events that produced Pangea.

Both ice ages resulted in glacial deposits—in the southern Sahara during the Silurian Period
(443.8 million to 419.2 million years ago) and in southern South America, South Africa, India,
and Australia from 382.7 million to 251.9 million years ago, spanning the latter part of the
Devonian, as well as the Carboniferous and the Permian. At each location, the tillites were
subsequently covered by desert sands of the subtropics and these in turn by coal measures,
indicating that the region had arrived near the paleoequator.

During the 1950s and 1960s, isotopic dating of rocks showed that the crystalline massifs of
Precambrian age (from about 4.6 billion to 541 million years ago) found on opposite sides of the
South Atlantic did indeed closely correspond in age and composition, as Wegener had surmised.
It is now evident that they originated as a single assemblage of Precambrian continental nuclei
later torn apart by the fragmentation of Pangea.

By the 1960s, although evidence supporting continental drift had strengthened substantially,
many scientists were claiming that the shape of the coastlines should be more sensitive to coastal
erosion and changes in sea level and are unlikely to maintain their shape over hundreds of
millions of years. Therefore, they argued, the supposed fit of the continents flanking the Atlantic
Ocean is fortuitous. In 1964, however, those arguments were laid to rest. A computer analysis by
Sir Edward Bullard showed an impressive fit of these continents at the 1,000-metre (3,300-foot)
depth contour, which strongly supported the notion that Africa and South America were once
joined together. A match at this depth is highly significant and is a better approximation of the
edge of the continents than the present shoreline. With this reconstruction of the continents, the
structures and stratigraphic sequences of Paleozoic mountain ranges in eastern North America
and northwestern Europe can be matched in detail in the manner envisaged by Wegener.

Disbelief and opposition

Sir Harold Jeffreys was one of the strongest opponents of Wegener’s hypothesis. He believed
that continental drift is impossible because the strength of the underlying mantle should be far
greater than any conceivable driving force. In North America, opposition to Wegener’s ideas was
most vigorous and very nearly unanimous. Wegener was attacked from virtually every possible
vantage point—his paleontological evidence attributed to land bridges, the similarity of strata
(layers of rock) on both sides of the Atlantic called into question, and the fit of Atlantic shores
declared inaccurate. This criticism is illustrated by reports from a symposium on continental drift
organized in 1928 by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. The mood that
prevailed at the gathering was expressed by an unnamed attendant quoted with sympathy by the
great American geologist Thomas C. Chamberlin: “If we are to believe Wegener’s hypothesis,
we must forget everything which has been learned in the last 70 years and start all over again.”
The same reluctance to start anew was again displayed some 40 years later by the same
organization when its publications provided the principal forum for the opposition to plate
tectonics.
Renewed interest in continental drift
Paleomagnetism, polar wandering, and continental drift
Ironically, the final vindication of Wegener’s hypothesis came from the field of geophysics, the
subject used by Jeffreys to discredit the original concept. The ancient Greeks realized that some
rocks are strongly magnetized, and the Chinese invented the magnetic compass in the 13th
century. In the 19th century geologists recognized that many rocks preserve the imprint of
Earth’s magnetic field as it was at the time of their formation. The study and measurement of
Earth’s ancient magnetic field and the remanent magnetism in rocks is called paleomagnetism.
Iron-rich volcanic rocks, such as basalt, contain minerals that are good recorders of remanent
magnetism, and some sediments also align their magnetic particles with Earth’s field at the time
of deposition. These minerals behave like fossil compasses that indicate, like any magnet
suspended in Earth’s field, the direction to the magnetic pole and the latitude of their origin at the
time the minerals were crystallized or deposited.

During the 1950s, paleomagnetic studies, notably those of Stanley K. Runcorn and his coworkers
in England, showed that in the late Paleozoic Era the north magnetic pole—as reconstructed
from European data—seems to have wandered from a Precambrian position near Hawaii to its
present location in the Arctic Ocean by way of Japan. This could be explained by the migration
of the magnetic pole itself (that is, polar wandering), by the migration of Europe relative to a
fixed pole (that is, continental drift), or by a combination of these processes. When
paleomagnetic data from other continents was obtained, each continent yielded different results.
The possibility that they might reflect true wandering of the poles was discarded, because it
would imply separate wanderings of many magnetic poles over the same period. However, these
different paths could be reconciled into the same path by joining the continents in the manner
and at the time suggested by Wegener. In other words, this analysis implied that the poles’
geographic variations could be explained by the wandering of the continents. These geographic
variations are called apparent polar wander paths, and they are thought to be artifacts of
continental drift.

Impressed by this result, Runcorn became the first of a new generation of geologists and
geophysicists to accept continental drift as a proposition worthy of careful testing. Since then,
more sophisticated paleomagnetic techniques have provided both strong supporting evidence for
continental drift and a major tool for reconstructing the geography and geology of the past.

Gestation and birth of plate-tectonic theory

How Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor

Marie Tharp was an American geologist and oceanographer famous for helping to create the first maps
of the ocean floor.

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seafloor spreading in three ocean basins

Patterns of seafloor spreading in the Pacific (left), Arctic (centre), and Atlantic (right) oceans showing the
relative age of oceanic crust. The youngest regions are coloured red, whereas the oldest regions are
coloured blue.

After World War II, rapid advances were made in the study of the relief, geology, and
geophysics of the ocean basins. Largely because of the efforts of American oceanographer Bruce
C. Heezen, American geologist Henry W. Menard, and American oceanic cartographer Marie
Tharp, ocean basins, which constitute more than two-thirds of Earth’s surface, became well
enough known to permit serious geologic analysis. The studies revealed three very important
types of features present on the ocean floor. The first type appears as broad bulges in the oceanic
crust known as ocean ridges. The second set of features was revealed as deep and narrow linear
troughs known as oceanic trenches. The third type occurred in seismically active fracture zones
and became known as transform faults.

Discovery of ocean basin features

Systematic measurements of ocean depth conducted during the middle of the 20th century and
the three-dimensional relief maps that were produced from these surveys revealed broad,
relatively elevated oceanic ridges that form an interconnected network about 65,000 km (40,000
miles) in length and nearly girdle the globe. Ocean ridges have elevations that typically rise 2 to
3 km (1.2 to 1.9 miles) above the surrounding seafloor and widths that range from a few hundred
to more than 1,000 km (600 miles). Their crests tend to be rugged and are often endowed with a
rift valley at their summit where fresh lava, high heat flow, and shallow earthquakes typical of
extensional environments (areas where the crust is stretched rather than compressed) are found.

These surveys also revealed long, narrow depressions—oceanic trenches—that virtually ring the
Pacific Ocean; a few also occur in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, and some small
ones are found in the central Atlantic Ocean that encircle the Caribbean Plate. Elsewhere they are
absent. In contrast to ocean ridges, trenches have low heat flow, are often (but not always) filled
with thick sediments, and lie at the upper edge of the Wadati-Benioff zone of compressive
earthquakes. Trenches may border continents, as in the case of western Central and South
America, or may occur in mid-ocean, as, for example, in the southwestern Pacific.

Offsets of up to several hundred kilometres along oceanic ridges and, more rarely, trenches were
also recognized, and these fracture zones—later termed transform faults—were described as
transverse features consisting of linear ridges and troughs. In oceanic domains, these faults were
found to occur approximately perpendicular to the ridge crest, continue as fracture zones that
extend over long distances, and terminate abruptly against continental margins. They are not
sites of volcanism, and their seismic activity is restricted to the area between offset ridge crests,
where earthquakes indicating horizontal slip are common.
Hess’s seafloor-spreading model
seafloor spreading

Map showing the age of selected regions of the ocean floor. Chronological measurements were derived
from analysis of magnetic irregularities in the oceanic crust near spreading centres.

The existence of these three types of large, striking seafloor features demanded a global rather
than local tectonic explanation. The first comprehensive attempt at such an explanation was
made by Harry H. Hess of the United States in a widely circulated manuscript written in 1960
but not formally published for several years. In this paper, Hess, drawing on Holmes’s model of
convective flow in the mantle, suggested that the oceanic ridges were the surface expressions of
rising and diverging convective mantle flow, while trenches and Wadati-Benioff zones, with
their associated island arcs, marked descending limbs. At the ridge crests, new oceanic crust
would be generated and then carried away laterally to cool, subside, and finally be destroyed in
the nearest trenches. Consequently, the age of the oceanic crust should increase with distance
away from the ridge crests, and, because recycling was its ultimate fate, very old oceanic crust
would not be preserved anywhere. This model explained why rocks older than 200 million years
had never been encountered in the oceans, whereas the continents preserve rocks almost 4 billion
years old.

Hess’s model was later dubbed seafloor spreading by the American oceanographer Robert S.
Dietz. Confirmation of the production of oceanic crust at ridge crests and its subsequent lateral
transfer came from an ingenious analysis of transform faults by Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo
Wilson. Wilson argued that the offset between two ridge crest segments is present at the outset of
seafloor spreading. As each ridge segment generates new crust that moves laterally away from
the ridge, the crustal slabs move in opposite directions along that part of the fracture zone that
lies between the crests. In the fracture zones beyond the crests, adjacent portions of crust move in
parallel (and are therefore aseismic—that is, do not have earthquakes) and are eventually
consumed in a subduction zone. Wilson called this a transform fault and noted that on such a
fault the seismicity should be confined to the part between ridge crests, a prediction that was
subsequently confirmed by an American seismologist, Lynn R. Sykes.

The Vine-Matthews hypothesis

Magnetic anomalies
seafloor spreading and magnetic striping

Rising magma assumes the polarity of Earth's geomagnetic field before it solidifies into oceanic crust. At
spreading centres, this crust is separated into parallel bands of rock by successive waves of emergent
magma. When Earth's geomagnetic field undergoes a reversal, the change in polarity is recorded in the
magma, which contributes to the alternating pattern of magnetic striping on the seafloor.

In 1961 a magnetic survey of the eastern Pacific Ocean floor off the coast of Oregon and
California was published by two geophysicists, Arthur D. Raff and Ronald G. Mason. Unlike on
the continents, where regional magnetic anomaly patterns (that is, magnetic patterns that deviate
from the common rule) tend to be confused and seemingly random, the seafloor possesses a
remarkably regular set of magnetic bands of alternately higher and lower values than the average
values of Earth’s magnetic field. These positive and negative anomalies are strikingly linear and
parallel with the oceanic ridge axis, show distinct offsets along fracture zones, and generally
resemble the pattern of a zebra skin. The axial anomaly tends to be higher and wider than the
adjacent ones, and in most cases the sequence on one side is the approximate mirror image of
that on the other.

Reversal of Earth’s magnetic field

The magnetic patterns that were observed on the seafloor defied explanation until the 1960s.
Ironically, the clue for understanding these patterns came from the analysis of the magnetic
properties of basaltic rocks on land. Basaltic lavas were extruded in rapid succession in a single
locality on land and showed that the north and south poles had apparently repeatedly
interchanged. This could be interpreted in one of two ways—either the rocks must have
somehow reversed their magnetism, or the polarity of Earth’s magnetic field must periodically
reverse itself. Allan Cox of Stanford University and Brent Dalrymple of the United States
Geological Survey collected magnetized samples around the world and showed that they
displayed the same reversal at the same time, implying that the polarity of Earth’s magnetic field
periodically reversed. These studies established a sequence of reversals dated by isotopic
methods.

Assuming that the oceanic crust is indeed made of basalt intruded in an episodically reversing
geomagnetic field, Drummond H. Matthews of the University of Cambridge and a research
student, Frederick J. Vine, postulated in 1963 that the new crust would have a magnetization
aligned with the field at the time of its formation. If the magnetic field was normal, as it is today,
the magnetization of the crust would be added to that of Earth and produce a positive anomaly. If
intrusion of new magma had taken place during a period of reverse magnetic polarity, it would
subtract from the present field and appear as a negative anomaly. Subsequent to intrusion, each
new block created at a spreading centre would split, and the halves, in moving aside, would
generate the observed bilateral magnetic symmetry. The widths of individual anomalies should
correspond to the intervals between magnetic reversals.

In 1966, correlation of magnetic traverses from different oceanic ridges demonstrated an

excellent correspondence with the magnetic polarity-reversal timescale established by Cox and
Dalrymple on land. This reversal timescale went back some 3 million years, but since then
further extrapolation based on marine magnetic anomalies (confirmed by deep-sea drilling) has
extended the magnetic anomaly timescale far into the Cretaceous Period (145 million to 66
million years ago) Subsequent research in the 21st century suggests that the oldest oceanic crust
may have been formed during the middle of the Jurassic Period (174.1 million to 163.5 million
years ago).

About the same time, Canadian geologist Laurence W. Morley, working independently of Vine
and Matthews, came to the same explanation for the marine magnetic anomalies. Publication of
his paper was delayed by unsympathetic referees and technical problems and occurred long after
Vine’s and Matthews’s work had already firmly taken root.

Toward a unifying theory

Determination of plate thickness

After marine magnetic anomalies were explained, the cumulative evidence caused the concept of
seafloor spreading to be widely accepted. However, the process responsible for continental drift
remained enigmatic. Two important concerns remained. The spreading seafloor was generally
seen as a thin-skin process, most likely having its base at the Moho—that is, the boundary
between the crust and mantle. If only oceanic crust was involved in seafloor spreading, as
seemed to be the case in the Pacific Ocean, the thinness of the slab was not disturbing, even
though the ever-increasing number of known fracture zones with their close spacing implied
oddly narrow but very long convection cells. More troubling was the fact that the Atlantic Ocean
had a well-developed oceanic ridge but lacked trenches adequate to dispose of the excess oceanic
crust. This implied that the adjacent continents needed to travel with the spreading seafloor, a
process that, given the thin but clearly undeformed slab, strained credulity.

Working independently but along very similar lines, Dan P. McKenzie and Robert L. Parker of
Britain and W. Jason Morgan of the United States resolved these issues. McKenzie and Parker
showed with a geometric analysis that, if the moving slabs of crust were thick enough to be
regarded as rigid and thus to remain undeformed, their motions on a sphere would lead precisely
to those divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries that are indeed observed. Morgan
demonstrated that the directions and rates of movement had been faithfully recorded by magnetic
anomaly patterns and transform faults. He also proposed that the plates extended approximately
100 km (60 miles) to the base of a rigid lithosphere, which coincided with the top of the weaker
asthenosphere. Seismologists had previously identified this boundary, which is marked by strong
attenuation of earthquake waves, as a fundamental division in Earth’s upper layers. Therefore,
according to Morgan, this was the boundary above which the plates moved.

In 1968 a computer analysis by the French geophysicist Xavier Le Pichon proved that the plates
did indeed form an integrated system where the sum of all crust generated at oceanic ridges is
balanced by the cumulative amount destroyed in all subduction zones. That same year the
American geophysicists Bryan Isacks, Jack Oliver, and Lynn R. Sykes showed that the theory,
which they enthusiastically labeled the “new global tectonics,” could account for the larger part
of Earth’s seismic activity. Almost immediately, others began to consider seriously the ability of
the theory to explain mountain building and sea-level changes.

Plate-driving mechanisms and the role of the mantle

By the late 1960s, details of the processes of plate movement and of boundary interactions, along
with much of the plate history of the Cenozoic Era (the past 66 million years), had been worked
out. Yet the driving forces that bedeviled Wegener continue to remain enigmatic because there is
little information about what happens beneath the plates.

Mantle convection
slab pull process

The weight of the subducted slab may drag the rest of the tectonic plate toward the trench, a process
known as slab pull, much as a tablecloth will pull itself off a table if more than half of the cloth is draped
over the table's edge.

Most agree that plate movement is the result of the convective circulation of Earth’s heated
interior, much as envisaged by Arthur Holmes in 1929. The heat source for convection is thought
to be the decay of radioactive elements in the mantle. How this convection propels the plates is
poorly understood. In the western Pacific Ocean the subduction of old dense oceanic crust may
be self-propelled. The weight of the subducted slab may drag the rest of the plate toward the
trench, a process known as slab pull, much as a tablecloth will pull itself off a table if more than
half of the cloth is draped over the table’s edge.

Some geologists argue that the westward drift of North America and eastward drift of Europe
and Africa may be due to push at the spreading ridge (the Mid-Atlantic Ridge), known as ridge
push, in the Atlantic Ocean. This push is caused by gravitational force, and it exists because the
ridge occurs at a higher elevation than the rest of the ocean floor. As rocks near the ridge cool,
they become denser, and gravity pulls them away from the ridge. As a result, new magma is
allowed to well upward from the underlying hot mantle.

Hot mantle that spreads out laterally beneath the ridges or at hotspots may speed up or slow
down the plates, a force known as mantle drag. However, the mantle flow pattern at depth does
not appear to be reflected in the surface movements of the plates.

The relationship between the circulation within Earth’s mantle and the movement of the
lithospheric plates remains a first-order problem in the understanding of plate-driving
mechanisms. Circulation in the mantle occurs by thermal convection, whereby warm buoyant
material rises and cool dense material sinks. Convection is possible even though the mantle is
solid; it occurs by solid-state creep, analogous to the slow downhill movement of valley glaciers.
Materials can flow in this fashion if they are close to their melting temperatures. Several
different models of mantle convection have been proposed. The simplest, called whole mantle
convection, describes the presence of several large cells that rise from the core-mantle boundary
beneath oceanic ridges and begin their descent to that boundary at subduction zones. Some
geophysicists argue for layered mantle convection, suggesting that more vigorous convection in
the upper mantle is decoupled from that in the lower mantle. This model requires that the
boundary between the upper and lower mantle is coincident with a change in composition. A
third model, known as the mantle plume model, suggests that upwelling is focused in plumes that
ascend from the core-mantle boundary, whereas diffuse return flow is accomplished by
subduction zones, which, according to this model, extend to the core-mantle boundary.
Seismic tomography

tomography

A three-dimensional slice of the geology of western Washington imaged with seismic tomography.

A powerful technique, seismic tomography, provides insight into the understanding of plate-
driving mechanisms. This technique is similar in principle to that of the CT (computed
tomography) scan and creates three-dimensional images of Earth’s interior by combining
information from many earthquakes. Seismic waves generated at the site, or focus, of an
earthquake spread out in all directions, similar to light rays from a light source. As earthquakes
occur in many parts of Earth’s crust, information from many sources can be synthesized,
mimicking the rotating X-ray beam of a CT scan. Because their speed depends on the density,
temperature, pressure, rigidity, and phase of the material through which they pass, the velocity of
seismic waves provides clues to the composition of Earth’s interior. Seismic energy is absorbed
by warm material, so that the waves are slowed down. As a result, anomalously warm areas in
the mantle are seismically slow, clearly distinguishing them from colder, more rigid,
anomalously fast regions.

Tomographic imaging shows a close correspondence between surface features such as ocean
ridges and subduction zones to a depth of about 100 km (60 miles). Hot regions in the mantle
occur beneath oceanic ridges, and cold regions occur beneath subduction zones. However, at
greater depths the pattern is more complex. Tomographic images can track the subduction zones
beneath Central America and Japan close to the core-mantle boundary, suggesting that a 670-km-
(about 420-mile-) deep transition between the upper and lower mantle is not an impenetrable
barrier to mantle flow. These images also indicate that some subducted slabs have accumulated
in slab graveyards (regions where parts of subducted slabs remain partially intact); these were
observed in the mantle beneath portions of several continents and oceans but above the core-
mantle boundary.

Geodynamic models suggest that subducted slabs may initially collect at a depth of 670 km
beneath the surface, before rapidly descending toward the core-mantle boundary (located some
2,900 km [1,800 miles] deep) in a process known as a slab avalanche. More generally, the
geochemical and isotopic compositions of oceanic basalts (which originate by melting of the
mantle) appear to require a chemical contribution from the subducted slabs. Taken together, the
available data indicate that subducted slabs penetrate into the deep mantle and that slab pull is an
important plate-driving mechanism.

Imaging the mantle directly beneath hotspots has identified anomalously warm mantle down to
the core-mantle boundary, providing strong evidence for the existence of plumes and the
possibility that the mantle plume hypothesis may be a significant contributing process to mantle
convection.

The composition of the deep mantle (the lowermost 300–500 km [200–300 miles] of the mantle)
is considered to be very heterogeneous, and it may play a fundamental role in plate-driving
mechanisms. In addition to being the potential graveyard for subducted slabs throughout much of
geologic time, the heterogeneous nature of the deep mantle may be the product of chemical
exchanges between the core and the mantle. Furthermore, experiments that mimic conditions
near the core-mantle boundary have identified an important mineral reaction (the perovskite to
post-perovskite reaction). This reaction is exothermic (it releases energy), and thus it could
enhance the production of mantle plumes.

Dissenting opinions and unanswered questions

Dissenters
After decades of controversy, the concept of continental drift was finally accepted by the
majority of Western scientists as a consequence of plate tectonics. Sir Harold Jeffreys continued
his lifelong rejection of continental drift on grounds that his estimates of the properties of the
mantle indicated the impossibility of plate movements. He did not, in general, consider the
mounting geophysical and geologic arguments that supported the concept of Earth’s having a
mobile outer shell.

Russian scientists, most notably Vladimir Vladimirovich Belousov, continued to advocate a

model of Earth with stationary continents dominated by vertical motions. The model, however,
only vaguely defined the forces supposedly responsible for the motions. In later years, Russian
geologists came to regard plate tectonics as an attractive theory and a viable alternative to the
concepts of Belousov and his followers.

In 1958 the Australian geologist S. Warren Carey proposed a rival model, known as the
expanding Earth model. Carey accepted the existence and early Mesozoic breakup of Pangea and
the subsequent dispersal of its fragments and formation of new ocean basins, but he attributed it
all to the expansion of Earth, the planet presumably having had a much smaller diameter in the
late Paleozoic Era. In his view, the continents represented the preexpansion crust, and the
enlarged surface was to be entirely accommodated within the oceans. This model accounted for a
spreading ocean floor and for the young age of the oceanic crust; however, it failed to deal
adequately with the evidence for subduction and compression. Carey’s model also did not
explain why the process should not have started until some four billion years after Earth was
formed, and it lacked a reasonable mechanism for so large an expansion. Finally, it disregarded
the evidence for continental drift before the existence of Pangea.

Unanswered questions
In his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), the philosopher Thomas S.
Kuhn pointed out that science does not always advance in the gradual and stately fashion
commonly attributed to it. Most natural sciences begin with observations collected at random,
without much regard to their significance or relationship between one another. As the numbers of
observations increase, someone eventually synthesizes them into a comprehensive model, known
as a paradigm. A paradigm is the framework, or context that is assumed to be correct, and so
guides interpretations and other models. When a paradigm is accepted, advances are made by
application of the paradigm. A crisis arises when the weight of observations points to the
inadequacy of the old paradigm and there is no comprehensive model that can explain these
contradictions. Major breakthroughs often come from an intuitive leap that may be contrary to
conventional wisdom and widely accepted evidence, while strict requirements for verification
and proof are temporarily relaxed. If a new paradigm is to be created, it must explain most of the
observations of the old paradigm and most of the contradictions.

This paradigm shift constitutes a scientific revolution; therefore, it often becomes widely
accepted before the verdict from rigorous analysis of evidence is completely in. Such was
certainly the case with the geologic revolution of plate tectonics, which also confirms Kuhn’s
view that a new paradigm is unlikely to supersede an existing one until there is little choice but
to acknowledge that the conventional theory has failed. Thus, while Wegener did not manage to
persuade the scientific world of continental drift, the successor theory, plate tectonics, was
readily embraced 40 years later, even though it remained open to much of the same criticism that
had caused the downfall of continental drift.

The greatest successes of plate tectonics have been achieved in the ocean basins, where
additional decades of effort have confirmed its postulates and enabled investigators to construct a
precise and credible history of past plate movements for the past 150 million to 200 million
years. Early Mesozoic and Paleozoic continental reconstructions are less rigorous because the
contemporary oceanic crust has been subducted. For the most part, the principles used to
reconstruct continents prior to 150 million years ago are similar to those used by Wegener (i.e.,
matching the geological evolution of ancient continents and terranes). However, the modern
database is far greater than what was available to Wegener during his time; it has allowed for
plate reconstructions with far greater resolution. Although geoscientists differ with one another
over some of the details, there is a broad consensus on plate reconstructions for the Phanerozoic
Eon (541 million years ago to the present).

Plate tectonics and the geologic past

The extent to which plate tectonics has influenced Earth’s evolution through geologic time
depends on when the process started. This is a matter of ongoing debate among geologists. The
principal problem is that almost all oceanic crust older than about 200 million years has been
obliterated by subduction. Some of the other hallmarks of subduction—such as the high-pressure
low-temperature metamorphic belts and the preservation of ophiolites—are very poorly
represented in orogenic belts (belts of former or actual mountain ranges resulting from crustal
deformation related to subduction or continental collision) that are older than 600 million years.
To some geoscientists, this implies that tectonic processes guiding the evolution of Earth were
different from those of today. Other geoscientists, however, point out that these features are
unlikely to be preserved in ancient orogenic belts or that their absence may be explained by the
higher geothermal gradient that must have been present during much of the Precambrian.
Although thick sequences of marine sedimentary rocks up to 3.5 billion years old imply that
oceanic environments did exist early in Earth’s history, virtually none of the oceanic crust that
underlay these sediments has been preserved. Despite these disadvantages, there is enough
fragmentary evidence to suggest that plate-tectonic processes similar to those of today extend
back in time at least as far as the Paleoproterozoic Era, some 2.5 billion to 1.6 billion years ago.

Wilson cycle
The first step toward this conclusion was once again provided by Tuzo Wilson in 1966, when he
proposed that the Appalachian-Caledonide mountain belt of western Europe and eastern North
America was formed by the destruction of a Paleozoic ocean that predated the Atlantic Ocean.
Wilson was impressed with the similarity of thick sequences of Cambrian-Ordovician marine
sediments to those of modern continental shelves. In a Pangea reconstruction, Wilson showed
that these shelflike sedimentary sequences extend along the entire length of the mountain chain
from Scandinavia to the southeastern United States. However, these shelf sequences contain two
distinct fossil assemblages on opposite sides of the mountain chain. The assemblages on the
western and eastern sides of the mountain chain were named the Pacific and Atlantic realms,
respectively. Both realms can be traced for thousands of kilometres along the length of the
mountain belt, but neither can be traced across it. Wilson concluded that these sediments with
distinctive faunal realms represented two opposing flanks of an ancient ocean that was consumed
by subduction to form the Appalachian-Caledonide mountain belt. (See also Appalachian
orogenic belt and Caledonian orogenic belt.) According to this model, subduction in this ocean in
Ordovician times (485.4 million to 443.8 million years ago) led to the foundering of the
continental shelves and the formation of volcanic arcs. The basaltic complexes of western
Newfoundland were interpreted as ophiolitic complexes representing slivers of oceanic crust that
escaped subduction as they were emplaced onto the continental margin. Continued subduction
resulted in the closure of this ocean sometime during the Silurian and Devonian periods (443.8
million to 358.9 million years ago). Rocks representing each of these environments were found,
lending strong support to this model. This ocean was subsequently named Iapetus, for the father
of Atlantis in Greek mythology.

The concept that oceans may close and then reopen became known as the Wilson cycle, and with
its acceptance came the application of plate-tectonic principles to ancient orogenic belts. But
how far back these principles may be extended is still an open question.

In the absence of the seafloor record, evidence of ancient oceans may be obtained from thick
sedimentary sequences similar to those of modern continental shelves or from preserved features
formed in or around subduction zones, such as accretionary wedges, glaucophane-bearing
blueschists, volcanic rocks with compositions similar to modern island arcs, and remnants of
oceanic crust preserved as ophiolites obducted onto continents. These features can be confidently
identified in the Paleozoic Era (approximately 541 million to about 252 million years ago) and
possibly in the Neoproterozoic Era (the later part of the Proterozoic Eon, occurring
approximately 1 billion to 541 million years ago), but their recognition is more problematic with
increasing age. It is not known with any certainty whether this is because the dynamic nature of
Earth’s surface obliterates such evidence or because processes different from the modern form of
plate tectonics existed at the time. Since the 1990s, however, most geoscientists have begun to
accept that some form of plate tectonics occurred throughout the Proterozoic Eon, which
commenced 2.5 billion years ago, and some extend these models back into the Archean, which
most geologists maintain lasted from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago. Indeed, seismic studies
across the Canadian Shield have identified buried geophysical anomalies that may represent the
vestiges of subduction zones that may be 2.7 billion years old.

Some of the critical field evidence supporting the presence of subduction some 2 billion years
ago comes from a suite of rocks in the Canadian Shield known as the Trans-Hudson belt. This
belt separates stable regions of continental crust, known as cratons. Marc St-Onge and colleagues
from the Geological Survey of Canada provided strong evidence that the formation of the Trans-
Hudson belt represents the oldest documented example of a Wilson cycle in which the cratonic
areas, once separated by oceans, were brought together by subduction and continental collision.
They found thick sedimentary sequences typical of modern continental rifts that are about 2
billion years old, and they found ophiolites of about the same age, which indicated that rifting
resulted in continental drift and formation of an ocean. About 1.85 billion years ago, volcanic
rocks typical of modern island arcs were deposited on top of this sequence, indicating that the
continental margins had foundered and become subduction zones. Finally, they dated the time of
continental collision at about 1.8 billion years. This collisional event is particularly important
because welding the cratons together provided the core of Laurentia, the continent that was
ultimately to become North America.

Supercontinent cycle
Uncover Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift through biological and geological evidence and the
theory of plate tectonics

A discussion of some of the evidence supporting continental drift on Earth.

See all videos for this article

Although the Wilson cycle provided the means for recognizing the formation and destruction of
ancient oceans, it did not provide a mechanism to explain why this occurred. In the early 1980s a
controversial concept known as the supercontinent cycle was developed to address this problem.
When viewed in a global context, it is apparent that episodes of continental rifting and mountain
building are not evenly distributed throughout geologic time but instead are concentrated in
relatively short time intervals approximately 350 million to 500 million years apart. Mountain
building associated with the formation of Pangea peaked at about 300 million years ago. This
episode was preceded by other mountain-building events peaking at 600 million to 650 million
years ago and at 1.1, 1.6, 2.1, and 2.6 billion years ago. Like Pangea, could these episodes
represent times of supercontinent amalgamation? Similarly, the breakup of Pangea is
documented by continental-rifting events that began about 200 million years ago. However,
regionally extensive and thick sequences of similar deposits occur 550 million years ago and 1,
1.5, and 2 billion years ago. Could these represent times of supercontinent dispersal?
If indeed a supercontinent cycle exists, then there must be mechanisms responsible for breakup
and amalgamation. The first step is to examine why a supercontinent like Pangea would break
up. There are several theories, the most popular of which, proposed by American geophysicist
Don Anderson, attributes breakup to the insulating properties of the supercontinent, which blocks
the escape of mantle heat. As a result, the mantle beneath the supercontinent becomes
anomalously hot, and vast volumes of basaltic magma pond beneath it, forcing it to arch up and
crack. Magma invades the cracks, and the process of continental rifting, ultimately leading to
seafloor spreading, begins. This model implies that supercontinents have built-in obsolescence
and can exist only for so long before the buildup of heat beneath them results in their
fragmentation. The dating of emplacement of vast suites of basaltic magma, known as basaltic
dike swarms, is consistent with the ages of continental rifting, suggesting that mantle upwelling
was an important contributor to the rifting process.

The processes initiating subduction that would bring reassembled continents into a
supercontinent are controversial. One theory proposes that the relative youth of modern oceanic
lithosphere, which is less than 200 million years old, supports the notion that old oceanic
lithosphere becomes gravitationally unstable (denser) with age and that it spontaneously
subducts. Thus, as oceanic lithosphere formed by supercontinent dispersal ages, it has a tendency
to subduct, possibly at fracture zones. The subducting slab undergoes mineralogical changes as it
descends, resulting in slab pull that eventually hauls one section of lithosphere capped by
continental crust to the subduction zone. Upon its arrival in the subduction zone, this relatively
buoyant continental crust does not subduct to any appreciable degree. Instead, it collides with
other masses of continental crust located behind the subduction zone and contributes to the
formation of a new supercontinent.
Continental reconstructions

Watch Earth's continents move, from 650 million years ago to 250 million years in the future

A time-lapse representation of Earth changing through geologic time, from the late Proterozoic Eon (c.
650 million years ago) to the projected period of Pangea Proxima (c. 250 million years from now).

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Magnetic anomalies, transform faults, hotspots, and apparent polar wandering paths permit
rigorous geometric reconstructions of past plate positions, shapes, and movements. Although
some important controversies remain, these paleogeographic reconstructions show the changing
geography of Earth’s past and can be determined with excellent precision for the past 150
million years. Before that time, however, the absence of the ocean-floor record makes the
process significantly more challenging. A variety of geologic data are used to help determine the
proper fit of continents through time. Some of the methods used to test these reconstructions are
based on matching patterns from one continental block to another and are similar to the approach
of Wegener. However, modern geoscientists have more precise data that help constrain these
reconstructions. Of the many advances, perhaps the most significant are the improved analytical
techniques for radiometric dating, allowing the age of geologic events to be determined with
much greater precision. One of the most common methods used measures the radioactive decay
of uranium to lead in the mineral zircon by comparing the ratio of one to the other in the sample
of zircon. Zircon is a common accessory mineral in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary
rocks. Modern techniques typically yield age determinations with an estimated error of 2 million
years or less, even for rocks of Archean age.

Since the 1990s the database has improved so that reasonably constrained reconstructions can
now be made as far back as 1 billion years. For example, the abundance of continental-
collisional events about 1.1 billion years ago is one of the principal lines of evidence suggesting
the presence of a supercontinent that is given the name of Rodinia. (See also Tonian Period.) By
about 750 million years ago a number of continental-rift sequences had developed, suggesting
that Rodinia had begun to break up. Between about 650 million and 550 million years ago,
however, a number of mountain belts formed by continental collision, which resulted in the
amalgamation of Gondwana, the supercontinent originally identified by Du Toit in 1937. The
continental fragment that rifted away from Laurentia did not return to collide with North
America as predicted by a simple Wilson cycle. Instead, it rotated counterclockwise away from
Laurentia until it collided with eastern Africa.

Interactions of tectonics with other systems

Oceans
Sea level
As plate tectonics changes the shape of ocean basins, it fundamentally affects long-term
variations in global sea level. For example, the geologic record in which thick sequences of
continental shelf sediments were deposited demonstrates that the breakup of Pangea resulted in
the flooding of continental margins, indicating a rise in sea level. There are several contributing
factors. First, the presence of new ocean ridges displaces seawater upward and outward across
the continental margins. Second, the dispersing continental fragments subside as they cool.
Third, the volcanism associated with breakup introduces greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,
which results in global warming, causing continental glaciers to melt.

As an ocean widens, its crust becomes older and denser. It therefore subsides, eventually forming
ocean trenches. As a result, ocean basins can hold more water, and sea level drops. This changes
once again when subduction commences. Subduction preferentially consumes the oldest oceanic
crust, so that the average age of oceanic crust becomes younger. Younger oceanic crust is
therefore more buoyant and has a higher elevation, a circumstance that causes sea level to rise
once more.

Composition of ocean water

Water’s strong properties as a solvent mean that it is rarely pure. Ocean water contains about
96.5 percent by weight pure water, with the remaining 3.5 percent predominantly consisting of
ions such as chloride (1.9 percent), sodium, (1.1 percent), sulfate (0.3 percent), and magnesium
(0.1 percent). The drainage of water from continents via the hydrologic cycle plays an important
role in transporting chemicals from the land to the sea. The effect of this drainage is profoundly
influenced by the presence of mountain belts. For example, the erosional power of the Ganges
River, which drains from the Himalayas, carries 1.45 billion metric tons of sediment to the sea
annually. This load is nine times that of the Mississippi River. The processes of weathering and
erosion strip soluble elements such as sodium from their host minerals, and the relatively high
concentration of sodium in ocean water is attributed to the weathering and erosion that
accompanies continental drainage.

Until the advent of plate tectonics, discovering the source of chlorine was problematic because
chlorine is present in only very minor amounts in the continental crust. Scientists hypothesized
that the source of this element may lie in underwater volcanic activity. In the late 1970s three
scientists investigating the oceanic ridge off the coast of Peru from a submersible craft
documented the occurrence of superheated jets of water, up to 350 °C (660 °F), continuously
erupting from chimneys that stood 13 metres (43 feet) above the ocean floor. These hot springs
were found to be rich in chlorine and metals, confirming that the source of chlorine in the oceans
lay in the tectonic processes occurring at oceanic ridges.

Life

vent tube worms (Riftia pachyptila)

Exotic biological communities exist near deep-sea vents; these ecosystems (which often support tube
worms) are totally independent of energy from the Sun, depending not on photosynthesis but rather on
chemosynthesis by sulfur-fixing bacteria.

Plate tectonics has influenced the evolution and propagation of life in a variety of ways. The
study of oceanic ridges revealed the presence of bizarre life adjacent to the chimneys of
superheated water that together makes up about 1 percent of the world’s ecosystems. The
existence of these life-forms in the deep ocean cannot be based on photosynthesis. Instead, they
are nourished by minerals and heat. The energy released when hydrogen sulfide in the vent reacts
with seawater is used by bacteria to convert inorganic carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into
organic compounds, a process known as chemosynthesis. Some scientists speculate that the
cumulative influence of this process over time has had a significant effect on evolution. Others
suggest that similar processes may ultimately be responsible for the origin of life on Earth.
The continuous rearrangement of the size and shape of ocean basins and continents over geologic
time, accompanied by changes in ocean circulation and climate, had a major impact on the
development of life on Earth. One of the first studies of the potential effects of plate tectonics on
life was published in 1970 by American geologists James W. Valentine and Eldridge M. Moores,
who proposed that the diversity of life increased as continents fragmented and dispersed and
diversity diminished when the continents were joined together.

Evolution

opossum

Nocturnal animals, such as opossums, have eyes with large, nearly spherical lenses.

When Pangea began to rift apart and the Atlantic Ocean started to open during the middle
Mesozoic, the differences between the faunas of opposite shores gradually increased in an almost
linear fashion—the greater the distance, the smaller the number of families in common. The
difference increased more rapidly in the South Atlantic than in the North Atlantic, where a land
connection between Europe and North America persisted until about 60 million years ago.

After the breakup of Pangea, no land animal or group of animals could become dominant,
because the continents were disconnected. As a result, the separated landmasses evolved highly
specialized fauna. South America, for example, was rich in marsupial mammals, which had few
predators. North America, on the other hand, was rich in placental mammals.
However, about 3 million years ago, volcanic activity associated with subduction of the eastern
Pacific Ocean formed a land bridge across the isthmus of Panama, reconnecting the separate
landmasses. The emergence of the isthmus made it possible for land animals to cross, forcing
previously separated fauna to compete. Numerous placental mammals and herbivores migrated
from north to south. They adapted well to the new environment and were more successful than
the local fauna in competing for food. The invasion of highly adaptable carnivores from the north
contributed to the extinction of at least four orders of South American land mammals. A few
species, notably the armadillo and the opossum, managed to migrate in the opposite direction.
Ironically, many of the invading northerners, such as the llama and tapir, subsequently became
extinct in their region of origin and found their last refuge to the south.

Extinction

Perhaps the most dramatic example of the potential impact of plate tectonics on life occurred
near the end of the Permian Period (roughly 299 million to 252 million years ago). Several
events contributed to the Permian extinction that caused the permanent disappearance of half of
Earth’s known biological families. The marine realm was most affected, losing more than 90
percent of its species. About 70 percent of terrestrial species became extinct. This extinction
appears to have occurred in several pulses, and there may have been numerous contributing
factors—including biogeographic changes associated with the formation of Pangea (which would
have been accompanied by a sharp decrease in area of shallow-water habitats), changes in the
patterns of nutrient-rich deep ocean currents, changes in the amount of dissolved oxygen in
ocean waters, and temperature increases and changes to the carbon cycle caused partly by the
population explosion of the methane-producing microbe Methanosarcina. Another contributing
factor could have been the environmental consequences of the vast volcanic outpourings of the
Siberian Traps, one of the largest volcanic events documented. It produced a region of flood
basalt that had an estimated volume of 2,000,000–3,000,000 million cubic km [about 480,000–
720,000 cubic miles]). The Siberian Traps eruption occurred about the same time as the
extinction, and the greenhouse gases emitted from these volcanoes may have affected the amount
of acidity of the oceans.

The extinction had a complex history. High latitudes were affected first as a result of the waning
of the Permian ice age when the southern edge of Pangea moved off the South Pole. The
equatorial and subtropical zones appear to have been affected somewhat later by a global
cooling. On the other hand, the extinctions were not felt as strongly on the continent itself.
Instead, the vast semiarid and arid lands that emerged on so large a continent, the shortening of
its moist coasts, and the many mountain ranges formed from the collisions that led to the
formation of the supercontinent provided strong incentives for evolutionary adaptation to dry or
high-altitude environments.

Climate
Climate changes associated with the supercontinent of Pangea and with its eventual breakup and
dispersal provide an example of the effect of plate tectonics on paleoclimate. Pangea was
completely surrounded by a world ocean (Panthalassa) extending from pole to pole and spanning
80 percent of the circumference of Earth at the paleoequator. The equatorial current system,
driven by the trade winds, resided in warm latitudes much longer than today, and its waters were
therefore warmer. The gyres that occupy most of the Southern and Northern hemispheres were
also warmer, and consequently the temperature gradient from the paleoequator to the poles was
less pronounced than it is at present.

Early in the Mesozoic Era, Gondwana split from its northern counterpart, Laurasia, to form the
Tethys seaway, and the equatorial current became circumglobal. Equatorial surface waters were
then able to circumnavigate the world and became even warmer. How this flow influenced
circulation at higher latitudes is unclear. From about 100 million to 70 million years ago, isotopic
records show, Arctic and Antarctic surface water temperatures were at or above 10 °C (50 °F),
and the polar regions were warm enough to support forests.

As the dispersal of continents following the breakup of Pangea continued, however, the surface
circulation of the oceans began to approach the more complex circulation patterns of today.
About 100 million years ago, the northward drift of Australia and South America created a new
circumglobal seaway around Antarctica, which remained centred on the South Pole. A vigorous
circum-Antarctic current developed, isolating the southern continent from the warmer waters to
the north. At the same time, the equatorial current system became blocked, first in the Indo-
Pacific region and next in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean and, about 6 million years
ago, by the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama. As a result, the equatorial waters were heated
less, and the midlatitude ocean gyres were not as effective in keeping the high-latitude waters
warm. Because of this, an ice cap began to form on Antarctica some 20 million years ago and
grew to roughly its present size about 5 million years later. This ice cap cooled the waters of the
adjacent ocean to such a low temperature that the waters sank and initiated the north-directed
abyssal flow that marks the present deep circulation.

Also at about 6 million years ago, the collision between Africa and Europe temporarily closed
the Strait of Gibraltar, isolating the Mediterranean Sea and restricting its circulation.
Evaporation, which produced thick salt deposits, virtually dried up this sea and lowered the salt
content of the world’s oceans, allowing seawater to freeze at higher temperatures. As a result,
polar ice sheets grew and sea level fell. About 500,000 years later, the barrier between the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean was breached, and open circulation resumed.

The Quaternary Ice Age arrived in full when the first ice caps appeared in the Northern
Hemisphere about 2 million years ago. It is highly unlikely that the changing configuration of
continents and oceans can be held solely responsible for the onset of the Quaternary Ice Age,
even if such factors as the drift of continents across the latitudes (with the associated changes in
vegetation) and reflectivity (albedo) for solar heat are included. There can be little doubt,
however, that it was a contributing factor and that recognition of its role has profoundly altered
concepts of paleoclimatology.

https://www.britannica.com/science/plate-tectonics/Extinction
Introduction

Plate tectonics theory explains many of the processes and structures in geology. Geologists
believe that the earth’s internal heat causes the movement of large tectonic plates, creating the
surface features that we see around us. This theory incorporates old ideas about geoclines and
mountain building, continental drift, and the more recent concept of seafloor spreading.
Virginia’s geology is now understood in terms of plate tectonics theory.

Main topics in this chapter:

6.1 Theory Development

6.2 Principles of Plate Tectonics

6.3 Plate Tectonics History of Virginia

Plate Tectonics Theory Development (Part 1)

Plate tectonics theory is a relatively new theory in geology, but it is very important because it
combines several older hypotheses and answers some very old questions in geology. How are
mountains like the Appalachians formed? Why do the coastlines of South America and Africa
seem to match? Why are identical fossils found on opposite sides of oceans?

1. Geoclines

2. Continental drift

3. Seafloor spreading

4. Plate tectonics

Geoclines

Geologic puzzle: How do folded mountain belts like the Appalachians form? In the 1850s,
American geologist James Hall proposed that the Appalachian Mountains began as a long,
narrow, thick pile of sediment deposited along the edge of the continent. Later, the sediments
were deformed and uplifted.

• The basins of sediments formed along the edges of continents came to be known first as
geosynclines, then later as geoclines.

• The theory became very popular, but was incomplete because no one knew how the geoclines
could become deformed and uplifted to create mountains.
The geocline contains the miogeoclinal and eugeoclinal sediments. The miogeoclinal sediments
are shallow water rocks such as limestone and sandstone. Eugeoclinal deposits are deep water
sediments such as shale, and also include volcanic rocks. (Diagram by Phyllis Newbill)

Continental Drift

Geologic puzzle: Why do the coastlines of South America and Africa on opposite sides of the
Atlantic Ocean seem to fit together? In 1915, German scientist Alfred Wegener proposed that
continents could move around on the earth’s surface.

• Wegener suggested that the continents were all together in the geologic past, forming the
supercontinent Pangaea.
(Diagrams courtesy of the United States Geological Survey)

Evidence suggested that Pangaea began to break up about 200 million years ago. By 160 million
years ago, continents had begun to drift to their present locations. Today’s coastlines of South
America and Africa are a match because these two continents were once joined together.

• Evidence supported the hypothesis. Similar fossils were found on both sides of the Atlantic.
Glacial features on widely distant continents matched.
Glossopteris fossil (circled) (Photograph by Parvinder Sethi)

This seed fern fossil, called Glossopteris, is one of the many fossils that were found on both
sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists could not understand how the seeds could have migrated
across the oceans unless the continents were connected by mysterious land bridges or perhaps the
oceans were much smaller.

• Continental drift was rejected because no known force could move continents through the
seafloors between them.

Seafloor Spreading

Geologic puzzle: How could continents move around the earth’s surface? In the 1950s and
1960s, ocean research suggested that seafloors move away from mid-ocean ridges, carrying
continents with them.

• The hypothesis of seafloor spreading proposed that magma rises to the surface at mid-ocean
ridges, creating new seafloor. As the seafloor rocks spread away from the mid-ocean ridge, they
become cooler and more dense, finally sinking or subducting into the earth’s interior.
Magma from the earth’s interior rises along the mid-ocean ridge, then cools to form new seafloor
rock. The older seafloor spreads away, becomes cold and dense, and sinks or subducts back into
the earth’s interior. The oldest seafloor rocks are found farthest from the mid-ocean ridge. The
oldest known ocean rocks are about 200 million years old. (Diagram by Phyllis Newbill)

• Evidence supported seafloor spreading. Magnetic signatures in seafloor rocks indicated that
rocks formed at the mid-ocean ridge and spread apart as new seafloor was created.
Over the course of the earth’s history, its magnetic poles have reversed many times. These
reversals are recorded in magnetic minerals that are common in seafloor rocks. Geologists
studying the seafloor in the 1950s and 1960s discovered that magnetic signatures on the seafloor
were mirror images of the same signatures on the other side of the mid-ocean ridge. (Diagram by
Phyllis Newbill)

Plate Tectonics

Plate tectonics theory states that the earth’s major geologic features are the result of giant
shifting tectonic plates. It is the unifying theory that combines ideas about geoclines and
mountain building, continental drift, and seafloor spreading into one explanation. The theory
was developed in the 1960s and is still being refined today.

• Geoclinal sediments are pushed up to create mountain chains along continent edges where plate
movement causes continents to collide.

• Carried with the plate, continents “drift” around the earth’s surface in a pattern of colliding,
rifting apart, and colliding again.
• Seafloors that spread apart and subduct into the earth’s interior are part of the shifting plates.
Spreading seafloors push and pull continents along with them.

Principles of Plate Tectonics (Part 1)

Several basic principles underlie the theory of plate tectonics. Key concepts include: the
lithosphere and the asthenosphere; "plates"; convection; the observation that the most active
geology takes place on plate boundaries; and the Wilson Cycle, a concept that describes
lifecycles of oceans and continents.

Lithosphere and Asthenosphere

• The earth’s outer shell (crust and upper mantle) consists of cool, brittle rock called the
lithosphere.

The ocean and continental lithosphere and the asthenosphere (Diagram by Phyllis Newbill)

Seafloors make up the denser, thinner part of the lithosphere. Continental crust makes up the
less dense, thicker part. The plastic layer beneath is called the asthenosphere.
The Plates

• The lithosphere is broken up into separate plates, which include continents and ocean basins.

World map showing the tectonic plates (Diagram courtesy of the United States Geological
Survey)

This map shows the locations of the major tectonic plates on the earth’s surface. Note that larger
plates include both ocean basins and continents. Plates are made of lithosphere, the earth’s cool,
brittle outer rocky shell.

Convection

• Plates move by convection currents flowing in the warm, plastic asthenosphere zone beneath
the plates.
Convection (Diagram by Phyllis Newbill)

Convection currents are powered by the heat deep within the earth. As material heats up, it
becomes less dense and rises near mid-ocean ridges. As the heated material moves farther from
the heat source, it cools, becomes more dense, and begins to sink. This cycle of heating and
cooling is called a convection current. Convection currents can occur in the solid earth as well as
in water and air. For example, convection currents in the atmosphere are what power weather
systems.

Principles of Plate Tectonics (Part 3)

The Wilson Cycle

• The cycle of rifting, drifting, and colliding plates is called the Wilson Cycle.

• The cycle begins with the rifting of a large continent (a supercontinent) to form a young ocean.
Over time, the ocean widens to form a "passive margin" style of geology. Eventually, the ocean
begins to close and the style of geology changes to subduction and mountain-building. The cycle
ends with the complete closing of the ocean, a continent-continent collision and the formation of
a new supercontinent.
Rifting

• First, continental rifting begins when magma from the asthenosphere rises toward the surface.
Continents overlying the rising magma are stretched and faulted.

The East African Rift. Note that as the African continent stretches, and normal faulting creates a
central rift valley that includes volcanoes. (Photograph courtesy of NASA)

The East African rift system is an example of present-day rifting. The African continent lies
over an area where a convection current in the asthenosphere is rising, causing Africa to be
stretched apart. This young rift basin has not pulled apart enough to allow sea water to enter.
Basalt rich volcanoes have pierced the valley floor.

Formation of Young Ocean

• The continental fragments separate, and new seafloor crust, made of basalt, forms a mid-ocean
ridge in the rift. Seafloor spreading begins along the young mid-ocean ridge. The now separated
continents "drift" apart as the ocean widens.
The Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea, and Africa. The Mediterranean Sea is in the lower left
corner and the Nile River valley is in the lower right corener. (Photograph courtesy of NASA)

This satellite view (above photo, looking south from the Nile delta) shows the young ocean basin
of the Red Sea. The oldest seafloor rocks in the Red Sea are about five million years old,
indicating that the Red Sea began to form at that time.

Principles of Plate Tectonics (Part 2)

Plate Boundaries

• Three types of plate boundaries exist. Where plates move away from each other, the boundary
is divergent. Where they move toward each other, the boundary is convergent. Where they slide
past each other, the boundary is a transform boundary.

Divergent Plate Boundaries

Divergent boundaries can be mid-ocean ridges or continental rift valleys. At these boundaries,
two neighboring plates move away from each other. Continental rift valleys are characterized by
normal faulting and basalt-rich volcanoes.
The diagram shows a typical continental rift. Note the central rift valley that includes volcanoes.
In oceanic rifts, there is a midocean ridge with a central rift valley, volcanoes, and the formation
of new ocean crust. (Diagram by Phyllis Newbill)

Convergent Plate Boundaries

Convergent boundaries form where two plates collide. These boundaries often form major
mountain chains. These boundaries are identified by their high mountains, volcanic island arc
chains, and deep earthquakes.
An ocean plate converges with a continental plate. The collision of the plates causes subduction
and destruction of the ocean plate. Note the formation of a trench at the plate boundary and a line
of volcanoes called an "island arc". (Diagram by Phyllis Newbill)

In the diagram above, the ocean lithosphere subducts underneath the continental lithosphere.
This results in the destruction of the ocean lithosphere and the formation of magmas (with island
arc volcanoes above). The deep ocean trench marks the plate boundary and is where the
subduction of the ocean lithosphere begins. Earthquakes can occur in the trench (where they can
cause tsunamis) and all along the subduction zone.

Transform Plate Boundaries

Transform boundaries form where two plates slide past each other. These boundaries are
characterized by shallow earthquakes. This satellite photograph shows Point Reyes, California,
and the San Andreas Fault. Here the Pacific Plate is sliding past the North American Plate.
The San Andreas Fault, an example of a transform fault, where two plates slide past each other.
Numerous earthquakes occur along the San Andreas Fault, which passes through highly
populated areas of California. (Photograph courtesy of NASA)

Principles of Plate Tectonics (Part 4)

The Wilson Cycle (continued)

Passive Margin

• The ocean basin widens. The continental margin, called a passive margin, cools and sinks.
Thick geoclinal sediments pile up along the edge.
The Hampton Roads area of Virginia's Coastal Plain is typical of a continental passive margin.
Passive margins are dominated by sediments and sedimentary rock, with a flat landscape, few
earthquakes, and a lack of volcanoes. (Photograph courtesy of NASA)

The eastern seaboard of the United States is a modern example of a passive margin where
sediments are accumulating. This satellite photograph shows the Hampton Roads area, where
sediment from the James River enters the Chesapeake Bay. These sediments will contribute to
the continental margin deposits.

Subduction

• The Wilson Cycle continues as the ocean basin eventually closes. Subduction occurs, and
island arcs and deep ocean trenches form.
Unimak Island, is part of the Aleutian volcanic island arc chain in Alaska, and is where the
Pacific Plate is subducting under the North American Plate. (Photograph courtesy of NASA)

This space shuttle view shows Unimak Island, one island in an island arc created from the
subduction of colliding tectonic plates. Near Alaska, the Pacific Plate is being subducted under
the North American Plate. Note the snow-capped volcanic peaks on the island.

Continent-continent Collision

• The continent eventually collides with another continent. Sediments along the continental
margins are deformed and uplifted.
The Himalayan Mountains and the world's highest peak, Mount Everest (oval). (Photograph
courtesy of NASA)

Where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates are colliding, the Himalayan Mountains have been
pushed up. This satellite image shows Mount Everest (oval), the highest peak in the world.
Fossil shells of animals that once lived in the ocean are found on Mount Everest.

https://sites.radford.edu/~jtso/GeologyofVirginia/Tectonics/GeologyOfVATectonics6-
2d.html#PassiveMargin

Present-day plate configuration

Present-day principal tectonic plates of the Earth

The eastern parts of the Ring of Fire result from the collision of a few relatively large plates. The western
parts of the Ring are more complex, with a number of large and small tectonic plates in collision. [49] In
South America, the Ring of Fire is the result of theAntarctic Plate, theNazca Plateand theCocos
Platebeingsubductedbeneath theSouth American Plate. InCentral America, the Cocos Plate is being
subducted beneath theCaribbean Plate. A portion of thePacific Plateand the smallJuan de Fuca Plateare
being subducted beneath theNorth American Plate