Physical Geography and Plate Tectonics

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Physical Geography and Plate Tectonics
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Physical Geography
The study of the natural processes that shape the
surface of the Earth and life on it.
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Physical Geography
is also the characteristics of the natural
features of some portion of the Earth's surface.
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humanities.ucsd.edu/.../ kuchtahum4/pix/earth.jpg
The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion yrs. old.
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• II. Composition of the Earth
• The Earth is made up of FOUR Parts

INNER CORE
OUTER CORE
CRUST
MANTLE
www.spacedaily.com/ news/carbon-00e.html
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III. Internal Forces
250 million yrs. ago the continents were
one giant landmass called PANGAEA
Continental Drift over time plates drifted
away or collided
wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/docs/ parks/pltec/pangea.html
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bhc.edu/.../study/ Images/platetectonics.gif
Tectonic Plates form the crust layer
(Continents are on these plates) are
constantly moving and cause changes to the
earths surface when they make contact
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Type One Divergent Boundaries
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Boundary
Divergent
Plates spread or move apart
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• Where a divergent boundary crosses the land,
  rift valleys form, which are typically 30 to 50
  kilometers wide.

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Great Rift Valley in Africa
.aucegypt.edu/faculty/ hamroush/images/Geol...
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dataxinfo.com/hormuz/sinai.htm
Red Sea which is between Africa Southwest Asia
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• Where a divergent boundary crosses the ocean
  floor, the oceanic ridge is much narrower, only a
  kilometer or less across.

Oceanic ridges form a global network tens of
thousands of miles long.
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• Plate separation is a slow process.
• For example, divergence along the Mid-Atlantic
  Ridge causes the Atlantic Ocean to widen at only
  about 2 centimeters per year.

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kesgrave.suffolk.sch.uk/ learningzone/subjects/geo
graphy/iceland2.html
Iceland and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
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Type Two
CONVERGENT
BOUNDARIES
Note some convergent plates contain land and
other convergent plates contain water
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CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES
Convergent plate movement occurs when two plates
are headed for each other.
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When the plate types are the same, they tend to
form fold mountains (continental) or trenches
(oceanic).
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Continental-Continental
Himalaya Mountains
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The oceanic plate tends to sink below the
continental. It then melts into magma in the
mantle. This process is SUBDUCTION.
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Andes Mountains
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http//volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/southeas
t_asia/indonesia/krakatau.html
Krakatoa, Indonesia
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Convergent Plate Simulation
You can simulate convergent plate motion by
placing your hands together in front of you with
your palms down. Now gently slide your bottom
hand downward and your top hand upward, while
keeping them in contact.
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Type Three

• TRANSFORM

BOUNDARIES
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Transform
Boundaries

• At transform plate boundaries plates grind past
  each other side by side.

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Transform
Boundaries

• This type of boundary separates the North
  American Plate from the Pacific Plate along the
  San Andreas Fault, a famous transform plate
  boundary that is responsible for many of
  Californias earthquakes.

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View how transform boundaries impact the areas
where they are located.
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Kobe Japan
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Oakland, California
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New Zealand

• September 4, 2010
• 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake
• Damaged 2/3 of homes in Christchurch, New Zealand
• Pictures of Earthquake
• More Pictures of Earthquake

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Try It!

• You can simulate transformational plate motion
  by placing your hands together in front of you
  with your palms down. Now slide your left hand
  away from you and your right hand toward you.