Geology 12 - Historical Geology
Course Syllabus	Course Schedule	Assignments	Department Home Page	Kusnick Home Page

Plate Tectonics

Handouts: Download and bring to class

• Faults
• Plate Boundary Features
• Recognizing Plate Boundaries

Reading: Chapter 7

p. 126-129: We are not going to do much with the historical development of plate tectonic theory. BUT if you are planning to go to graduate schol in geology, this stuff is on the Geology GRE, so if you don't read it now, plan to read it later.

p. 129-132: Paleomag: we need this.

p. 133-137: Read this section for the theory rather than the history of the theory

p. 138-145: we need all of it.

Background

Terms you should know (you may need to look some of these up in the Glossary):

Key Concepts and Questions:

1. What are the geologic features associated with the three kinds of plate boundaries?

Boundary type	Sketch it	What geologic features do you find there?
Spreading center (diverging boundary)
Converging Subduction Zone
Converging Suture Zone
Transform Fault

 

2. What is the evidence for the plate tectonic model?

What features of the ocean floor are evidence of plate tectonic processes?

 

 

 

How does paleomagnetism give evidence of plate motions?

 

 

 

What other kinds of evidence support plate tectonics (i.e., horizontal and vertical patterns of earthquakes, changes in seismic wave speeds, age of ocean floor, etc.)?

 

 

 

3. What is the driving mechanism?

What are the hypothesized mechanisms that might drive plates?

 

 

 

 

4. How do we use sedimentary rocks to recognize plate settings?

We're going to do a lot of this in class. Review Table 7-2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessment

1. Plate boundaries

You should be able to:

• describe the geologic features associated with each kind of plate boundary
• identify an ancient plate boundary by the geologic features it left behind

2. Evidence

You should be able to:

• cite the evidence for the plate tectonic model
• use paleomagnetic evidence to support arguments for plate motions
• apply the plate tectonic model to evaluate whether other planets have plate tectonics

3. Driving mechanism

You should be able to :

• describe possible mechanisms that drive plate tectonics

4. Tectonic stratigraphy

You should be able to :

• associate sedimentary basins with the appropriate plate boundaries
• identify an ancient plate boundary by the sedimentary rocks it left behind