Edible Plate Tectonics
Special thanks to Dr. Bob Lillie of the OSU Department of Geosciences who normally does this presentation as a guest lecture.
TECTONICS:
From the Greek “tecton” (builder/ architect)The study of large features on Earth’s surface
and the processes that formed them.
Mt Jefferson, Cascade Range, Oregon
PLATE TECTONICS:
Large features:continentsocean basinsmountain ranges
and processes:earthquakesvolcanic eruptions
due to movement of plates of Earth’s outer shell.
Cracked Egg Shell!
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
Divergent Plate Boundary
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
DIVERGENT Plate Boundary:Seafloor Spreading
DIVERGENT Plate Boundary:Seafloor Spreading
DIVERGENT Plate Boundary:Seafloor Spreading
Seafloor Spreading & Plate Tectonics
• New ocean basins form from volcanism• Ocean floor forms IN BETWEEN pieces
that have split
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Tectonics/tectonics_3.html
Convergent Plate Boundary
CONVERGENT Plate Boundary
Sediment and Basalt Scraped off Subducting Plate
Coastal Mountain Range
Plate Sweats
Composite Volcanoes
Transform Plate Boundary
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
North American
Plate
Pacific
Plate
2 inches/yearx 100 years
= 200 inches= 17 feet!
North American Plate
Pacific Plate
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
Hot Spot
≈ 14,000 feetMauna Kea
≈ 14,000 feetMauna Loa
14,000 feet abovesea level
TALLER THAN MOUNT EVEREST!
18,000 ft below sea
level
Divergent Plate Boundary:Seafloor Spreading
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
Convergent Plate Boundary:
Subduction
Transform Plate Boundary:Transform (Strike-Slip)
Faulting
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
Parks and Plates©2002 Robert J. Lillie
Hot Spot:Plate Interior