Brian DiBartolo M.S. Geography & Geosciences

• Board of Directors, Gastonia Sister Cities.

• Lived in the following overseas locations (all non-military): – Schroebenhousen, West Germany:

1987 – Da Nang, Vietnam: 1998 – Sicily, Italy: 1999 – La Antigua, Guatemala: 2006 – Baja California Sur, Mexico: 2013

• Have my passport stamped from eleven countries

• Followed the USMNT in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup

• Have visited or seen about 25 volcanoes, including 4 active.

Brian DiBartolo M.S. Geography & Geosciences

• I am a father of 3 school-aged children. – Alessandro, 3rd Grade – Nick, 2nd Grade – Emma Rosalie, Kindergarten

• My wife is an instructor in Anthropology, Archaeology, and also Sociology online at various colleges in North and South Carolina. Both my parents were also teachers.

Mrs. Di and two Peruvian girls with Mt. Misti in the background, south of Arequipa, Peru, 2003

Brian DiBartolo M.S. Geography & Geosciences

• James Madison University Duke (Geography and History)

• University of Tennessee Volunteer (Geography)

• Mississippi State University - Teachers in Geosciences (Geology)

• I took two cross-country trips in my life. – The 1st was a 10,000 mile, 8-week

excursion when I was in high school with my family in which we visited numerous National Parks/Monuments - many pertaining to geology.

– The 2nd was a trip from San Diego to Knoxville solo on my GS850 motorcycle in which I visited many other National Parks/Monuments pertaining to geology.

Acquiring Data “Lava Fishing”

Figure 1.8b

Figure 1.2

Plate Tectonics

Expected Outcomes

• How plates move

• What causes them to move

• What are the results of the movement

• What are the different types of movements

• How do the movement of plates relate to unbalanced forces

• Very large crustal slabs ride along the outside of the silly-putty type substance called the Asthenosphere

• Lithosphere (outer rigid shell) – Consists of several plates

• Plates are moving slowly • Largest plate is the Pacific plate • Plates are mostly beneath the ocean

• Asthenosphere – Exists beneath the lithosphere – Hotter and weaker than lithosphere – Allows for motion of lithosphere

How plates move?

Earth’s Internal Structure

Earth’s Internal Structure

• Four main layers of Earth are based on physical properties and hence mechanical strength – Lithosphere – Asthenosphere – Outer Core – Inner Core

Earth = Peach

https://dreamtigers.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/earth_layers_final_21.jpg

• Driving mechanism of plate tectonics

– No one model explains all facets of plate tectonics

– Earth’s heat is the driving force

• Radioactive decay drives the heat in the core

• Cooling off from the formation of the Earth still provides the heat

– Several models have been proposed

• Slab-pull and slab-push model – Descending oceanic crust pulls the plate

– Elevated ridge system pushes the plate

What causes tectonic plates to move?

Mechanisms Contributing to Plate Motion

What Drives Plate Motion

• Several models have been proposed

– Plate-mantle convection

• Mantle plumes extend from mantle-core boundary and cause convection within the mantle

• Models – Whole-mantle convection

– “Layer Cake” Model

https://dreamtigers.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/convection_currents_2final.jpg

Whole-Mantle Convection

Theory of Plate Tectonics

What are the different types of movements

• Plate boundaries

– All major interactions among plates occur along their boundaries

– Types of plate boundaries

• Divergent plate boundaries (constructive margins)

• Convergent plate boundaries (destructive margins)

• Transform fault boundaries (conservative margins)

The Lithospheric Plate Boundaries: Tectonic Plates Compared to a Cracked Egg Shell

https://dreamtigers.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tectonic_plates_1_final.jpg

What are the different types of movements

Divergent Boundaries

The Divergent Plate Boundary

https://dreamtigers.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/divergent_boundary_draft.jpg

The East African rift A divergent boundary on land

Figure 16.19

Divergent Boundaries

The East African rift – a

divergent boundary on land. Afar Depression, Ethiopia

An Oceanic-Continental Convergent Plate Boundary

The Collision of Continetal and Oceanic Plates

https://dreamtigers.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/subduction_final3.jpg

The Collision of two Continetal Plates

https://dreamtigers.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/mountain_final.jpg;

A Continental-Continental Convergent Plate Boundary

• Geologic Evidence for Plate Motion – By knowing the age of the seafloor and the distance

from the spreading center, an average rate of plate motion can be calculated

Directions and Rates of Plate Motions

Plate Tectonics

What are the results of the movement

• All major tectonics interactions among plates occur along their boundaries – Seismic Events (Earthquakes & Tsunamis)

– Volcanism

– Mountain Building

– Submarine Trenches

– Mid-Ocean Ridges & Rift Valleys

– Atmospheric and Oceanic changes in global currents

03.02.a1

Observe the pattern of earthquakes (yellow dots)

Mid-ocean ridges EQ in belts

Trenches Sparse in some regions

Southern Eurasia

Mountain belts

03.02.b1

Observe the pattern of volcanoes (orange triangles)

Mid-ocean ridges (not all shown) Belts

Mountain belts next to trenches

Sparse in some regions

Island arcs next to trenches

Oceanic islands

Red Sea and East Africa

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

03.02.b2

Observe the pattern of elevations (brown = high)

Southern Eurasia high

Mountains in belts

Some belts next to trenches

Oceans vs. continents

East Africa high

Most of continents gentle and low

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

03.03.a1

Compare the distribution of earthquakes (yellow), volcanoes (orange), and high elevations (brown)

EQ, volcanism, or mtn. building = tectonic activity

Belts of tectonic activity divide lithosphere into tectonic plates

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Plate tectonics: A modern version of an old idea

• Plate boundaries – All major interactions among individual plates

occur along their boundaries

– Types of plate boundaries

1. Divergent plate boundaries (constructive margins)

2. Convergent plate boundaries (destructive margins)

3. Transform fault boundaries (conservative margins)

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

03.03.c1

Observe the locations of different types of plate boundaries

Compare these locations with mid-ocean ridges, oceanic trenches, mountains belts, line of islands, etc.

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.