GEOL 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Pacific Plate, Continental Crust, Oceanic Crust

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
• Course: GEOL 106
• Professor: Hutchinson

Document Summary

Geology 106 - week 2 (plate tectonics, minerals and rocks) Ring of fire: the pacific tectonic plate, where two plates meet. Geology (study of): earth, the materials that make it up, the structure of those materials, the processes acting upon them, how these have changed over time. Plate tectonics: the lithosphere is broken into large pieces called lithospheric plates that move relative to one another, processes associated with the creation, movement, and destruction of these plates are known as plate tectonics. Push and pull in moving plates: ridge push and slab pull allow movement of lithospheric plates, slab pull appears to be more dominant force, mantle convection likely to continue for billions of years due to heat source. Rates of plate motion: move a few cm per year (same rate as nails, the rates and direction of movement changes over time. The wilson cycle: heat from mantle rises, creates a rift valley because the continents are drifting apart.