SCIENCE 10

MARY JANE C. ALBAN

PLATE TECTONIC
 STANDARDS

CONTENT STANDARD
The learners demonstrate the relationship
among the locations of volcanoes, earthquake
epicenters, and mountain ranges.
STANDARDS
PERFORMANCE STANDARD
The learners should be able to demonstrate ways to
ensure disaster preparedness during earthquakes,
tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions by which he/she can
contribute to government efforts in reducing damage
due to earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
 LEARNING TARGET
1. How does the plate tectonics theory explain the
occurrence of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions?
2. How are the locations of volcanoes, earthquake
epicenters, and mountain ranges related to the plate
tectonics theory?
3. How are plate boundaries associated with the
processes that take place in sculpting the surface of
Earth?
LEARNING TARGET

4. How do geological features along the plate

boundaries explain the plate tectonics theory?
5. What are the measures needed to prepare and
mitigate the impact of earthquakes, tsunamis, and
volcanic eruptions?
 CHAPTER 1
EARTH AND SPACE
- PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
PLATE TECTONIC
 PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
Plate tectonics is a theory that explains the surface
of the earth is broken into large and small lithospheric
plates which are moving slowly. The size and position
of these plates change as years pass by. They move
against each other at their edges causing intense
geologic activity, such as earthquakes, volcanoes,
and mountain building.
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

Plate tectonics is a theory that explains the

different processes that cause the formation of
different geologic features and phenomena.
Alfred
Wegener
 Alfred Wegener 1880 - 1930

In 1912, Alfred Wegener, a

German meteorologist, and
geophysicist hypothesized, he
proposed, and suggested that all
the continents were once joined in
a single supercontinent, called
PANGAEA
 Alfred Wegener 1880 - 1930
He suggested that
Pangaea began to break
up about 200 million years
ago and the pieces drifted
apart to form the present-
day continents.
 Alfred Wegener 1880 - 1930
At the time, Wegener’s theory
of continental drift was
dismissed by geologist
because he could not provide
a convincing explanation for
how the continents were able
to move.
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
The plate tectonics theory states that Earth's
lithosphere is composed of fragments or plates that
move around and interact with one another.
- "tectonic"
- Latin word tectonicus or
- Greek word tektonikos,
- which means "to build"
LITHOSPHERE
LITHOSPHERE

The lithosphere is
the outermost layer of
Earth composed of
the upper part of the
mantle and the crust.
EARTH’S CRUST

Earth's crust has two types: continental and

oceanic.

The continental crust is thicker and less dense,

which makes it "float" over a denser and relatively
thinner oceanic crust.
 EARTH’S CRUST
OCEANIC CONTINENTAL
CRUST CRUST
PLATES
 PLATES
The plate tectonics theory suggests that the
lithosphere is divided into fragments known as
plates.

• North American • South American

• Eurasian • Pacific
• Indo-Australian • African
• Antarctic Plates
 PLATES
Each of these plates moves in
a slow and constant motion.
The Pacific Plate, for instance,
moves at a rate of
approximately 8 cm (3 inches)
per year, whereas the North
American plate is moving at
approximately 3 cm (1 inch) per
year.
EARTHQUAKE
AND VOLCANO
EARTHQUAKE
DISTRIBUTION
 Our country is situated in the
Pacific Ring of Fire where the
oceanic plate and several smaller
micro plates sub-ducting along the
Philippine plate and several
microplates along the Philippine
Trench to the East and smaller
trenches to the West.
PACIFIC RING OF FIRE
The Ring of Fire,
also referred to as
the Circum-Pacific
Belt, is a path along
the Pacific Ocean
characterized by
active volcanoes
and frequent
earthquakes.
To date, as per report of the
PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology), there
are 24 active volcanoes in the
Philippines characterized by two major
N-S trending arcs – the Luzon and
Mindanao Volcanic Arcs.
TWO MAJOR N-S TRENDING ARCS

The volcanoes of the

Philippines are produced
at the junction of the
Philippines tectonic
plate and the Eurasian
plate.
TRENCHES
The major magmatic arcs related to subduction along the
different trenches surrounding the Philippine archipelago
include:
1 – Luzon (Central Cordillera),
2 – Northern Sierra Madre,
3 – Southern Sierra Madre-Polillo-Catanduanes,
4 – Negros,
5 – East Philippines,
6 – Central Mindanao,
7 – Cotabato-Daguma and
8 – Sulu-Zamboanga
TRENCHES
1
A trench is a type of 2
excavation or depression in 3
the ground that is generally
deeper than it is wide.
In geology, trenches result 5
from erosion by rivers or by
geological movement of 8
tectonic plates.
7
This makes the country’s tectonic
setting complex aside from
having a number of small plates
squeezed between two
convergent plate margins,
separated by small subduction
zones and major transform faults.
SEISMIC
WAVES
SEISMIC WAVES

Earthquakes release different types of seismic

waves. The primary and secondary waves
travel within the interior of Earth and are
responsible for the detection of the epicenter of
an earthquake. Waves such as long surface
waves and Rayleigh waves are surface waves.
We will look into these waves as we go along.
SEISMOGRAPHS
SEISMOGRAM
SEISMOGRAPHS / SEISMOGRAM

Seismologists make use of seismographs to

record earthquake waves. The records
generated are called seismograms. Through
seismograms, scientists learn that seismic
waves possess elastic energy, radiating outward
from the focus to all directions.
TRIANGULATION METHOD - EARTHQUAKE
VOLCANO
DISTRIBUTION
VOLCANOES
Mt. Taal
BATANGAS Mt. Pinatubo
ZAMBALES,
TARLAC,
Mt. Canlaon PAMPANGA
NEGROS
OCCIDENTAL
Mt. Mayon
ALBAY
Mt. Ragang
MINDANAO
ACTIVE
AND
DORMANT
Some volcanoes in the Philippines
are active or dormant. We describe
volcanoes as dormant and active
based from their frequency of
eruptions. Those that erupt regularly
are called active and those that have
erupted in the past and are inactive
are called dormant.
 No. OF LATEST
ACTIVE VOLCANO HISTORICAL ERUPTION/ LOCATIONS
ERUPTIONS ACTIVITY

Banahaw 3 1843 Laguna, Quezon

Bulusan 17 2011 Sorsogon
Camiguin de Babuyanes 1 1857 Cagayan
Hibok-Hibok 5 1953 Camiguin
Iraya 1 1454 Batanes
Iraga 2 1642 Camarines Sur
Canlaon 26 2006 Negros Occidental
Makaturing 10 1882 Lanao del Sur
Matutum 1 1911 South Cotobato
Mayon 49 2009 Albay
Pinatubo 3 1992 Zambales, Tarlac, Pampanga
Taal 34 2020 Batangas
THE
HIMALAYAS
HIMALAYA
THE HIMALAYAS HIMALAYA
Are a mountain range in Asia separating
the plains of the Indian subcontinent from
the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some
of the planet's highest peaks, including
the highest, Mount Everest. Over 100
peaks exceeding 7,200 m in elevation lie in
the Himalayas.
MAJOR
MOUNTAIN
BELTS
OF THE
WORLD
MAJOR MOUNTAIN BELTS OF THE WORLD
Most mountains and mountain ranges are parts of
mountain belts that have formed where two
lithospheric plates have converged and where, in
most cases, they continue to converge. In effect,
many mountain belts mark the boundaries of
lithospheric plates, and these boundaries, in turn,
intersect other such boundaries. Consequently, there
exist very long mountain systems where a series of
convergent plate boundaries continue from one to the
next.
 MAJOR MOUNTAIN BELTS OF THE WORLD
A nearly continuous chain of volcanoes and mountain
ranges surrounds most of the Pacific basin—the so-
called Circum-Pacific System. A second nearly
continuous chain of mountains can be traced from
Morocco in North Africa through Europe, then across
Turkey and Iran through the Himalayas to Southeast
Asia; this chain, the Alpine-Himalayan (or Tethyan)
System, has formed where the African, Arabian, and
Indian plates have collided with the Eurasian Plate.
MAJOR MOUNTAIN BELTS OF THE WORLD

Nearly all mountain ranges on the Earth

can be included in one of these two major
systems and most that cannot are residual
mountains, which originated from ancient
continental collisions that occurred
hundreds of millions of years ago.
PLATE TECTONIC