GEOL 106 Final: Lecture 21

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

Document Summary

The earth"s crust: oceanic crust (5 km) has 5 km water on top. Rocks are black and mafic (magnesium and iron): continental crust (30-70 km). Rocks are pinkish-white and felsic rocks (rich in feldspar mineral): the boundary between the crust and the mantle is called the moho. Plate tectonics (active for the past 3,500 million years!: type 1: constructive and divergent. This type opens oceans: type 2: destructive and convergent. A lithospheric plate subducts at a trench. Creates island/continental volcanic arcs: type 3: slide past; transform plate margin. Lithospheric plates slide horizontally past each other (eg, san andreas fault).