The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which

splits nearly the entire

Atlantic Ocean north to south,
is probably the best-known
and most-studied example of
a divergent-plate boundary.

Aerial view of
the area around
Thingvellir,
Iceland,
showing a
fissure zone (in
shadow) that is
an on-land
exposure of the
Mid-Atlantic
Ridge.

Lava fountains (5p;10 m high)

spouting from eruptive
fissures during the October
1980 eruption of Krafla
Volcano. (Photograph by
Gudmundur E. Sigvaldason,
Nordic Volcanological
Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland.)

Helicopter view (in February 1994)

of the active lava lake within the
summit crater of 'Erta 'Ale
(Ethiopia), one of the active
volcanoes in the East African Rift
Zone.
Map of East Africa showing some of the historically active
volcanoes(red triangles) and the Afar Triangle (shaded, center) -- a socalled triple junction (or triple point), where three plates are pulling
away from one another: the Arabian Plate, and the two parts of the
African Plate (the Nubian and the Somalian) splitting along the East
African Rift Zone.

Oldoinyo Lengai, another active volcano in the East African Rift Zone,
erupts explosively in 1966. (Photograph by Gordon Davies, courtesy of
Celia Nyamweru, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York.)

Nasca vs American
Plate

Oceanic-continental convergence
If by magic we could pull a plug and drain the Pacific Ocean, we would
see a most amazing sight -- a number of long narrow, curving trenches
thousands of kilometers long and 8 to 10 km deep cutting into the ocean
floor. Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean floor and are created
by subduction.

Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin
form the so-called Ring of Fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. The trenches are shown in blue-green. The volcanic
island arcs, although not labelled, are parallel to, and always landward
of, the trenches. For example, the island arc associated with the
Aleutian Trench is represented by the long chain of volcanoes that
make up the Aleutian Islands.

Oceanic-oceanic convergence
As with oceanic-continental convergence, when two
oceanic plates converge, one is usually subducted
under the other, and in the process a trench is
formed. The Marianas Trench (paralleling the Mariana
Islands), for example, marks where the fast-moving
Pacific Plate converges against the slower moving
Philippine Plate. The Challenger Deep, at the
southern end of the Marianas Trench, plunges deeper
into the Earth's interior (nearly 11,000 m) than Mount
Everest, the world's tallest mountain, rises above sea
level (about 8,854 m).

The zone between two plates sliding horizontally

past one another is called a transform-fault
boundary, or simply a transform boundary. The
concept of transform faults originated with Canadian
geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson, who proposed that
these large faults or fracture zones connect two
spreading centers (divergent plate boundaries) or,
less commonly, trenches (convergent plate
boundaries). Most transform faults are found on the
ocean floor.

Aerial view of the San Andreas fault slicing

through the Carrizo Plain in the Temblor
Range east of the city of San Luis Obispo.
(Photograph by Robert E. Wallace, USGS.)

Current Seismicity for Australia - Indonesia

Updated as of Sun Nov 2 23:12:20 UTC 2003.

Plate boundaries in yellow.

Open circles: Earthquake
Activity in the last 30 days;
not clickable.

Topographic Maps
One of the most widely used of all maps is the topographic
map. The feature that most distinguishes topographic maps
from maps of other types is the use of contour lines to
portray the shape and elevation of the land. Topographic
maps render the three-dimensional ups and downs of the
terrain on a two-dimensional surface.

Pinatubo - Philiphines

Adonara NTT - Indonesia

Mount Everest
Great Barrier Reef

The Shoemaker impact structure

lies in the arid, central part of
Western Australia near Wiluna.
The crater is about 30 kilometers
(18 miles) in diameter and
contains seasonal lakes that
produce salt deposits as they
evaporate. It is approximately 1.7
billion years old and is regarded
as the oldest known Australian
impact structure to date. A dark,
crescent-shaped inner ring
surrounds the core, which
consists of uplifted granitic rocks.
The outer ring is composed of
Precambrian sedimentary rocks.
The crater, formerly known as
Teague, was renamed the
Shoemaker impact structure in
honor of the late geologist Eugene
M. Shoemaker, one of the
founding fathers of impact
research

Felsic

Felsic

Intermediate

Inter-mediate

Intermediate

Mafic

Ultrabasic

(With quartz)

(Little
quartz)

(No quartz)

(No quartz)

(No quartz)

(No quartz)

(No quartz)

Subgroup

Minerals

Origin

Coursegrained:

More orthoclase than

plagioclase. Also muscovite,
biotite, amphibole, hornblende

Orthoclase in similar quantities as plagioclase.

Also biotite, amphibole, pyroxene, hornblende,
augite

More plagioclase than

orthoclase. Also
biotite, amphibole,
pyroxene, augite,
olivine, horn-blende,
biotite

No feldspar.
Few silicates.
Pyroxene,
olivine.

Pegmatite,
Granite

Syenite

Monzonite

Granodiorite

Diorite

Gabbro

Peridotite,
Dunite,
Pyroxenite

Granite
Porphyry,
Rhyolite
Porphyry

Syenite
Porphyry

Monzonite
Porphyry

Granodiorite
Porphyry

Andesite
Porphyry

Basalt Porphyry

Rhyolite

Trachyte,
Felsite

Latite

Dacite

Andesite

Basalt

cooled slowly
underground

Porphyritic:
cooled first below
then above
ground

FineGrained:
cooled quickly
above ground

Glassy:

Pumice

Obsidian

Scoria,
Basalt Glass

cooled very
quickly above
ground

Fragmental:
made of igneous
fragments

Tuff

Volcanic
Breccia

The Organization of Metamorphic Rocks

Original Rock

Metamorphic Rock 1 Metamorphic Rock 2

Foliated

Shale

Slate Phyllite Schist Gneiss

Felsite

Slate

Granite

Gneiss

Gabbro,
Basalt

Schist Amphibolite

Sandstone (without
quartz)

Schist High Grade Schist or Gneiss

Nonfoliated

Quartz Sandstone

Quartzite

Conglomerate

Quartzite Conglomerate or Conglomerate

Marble (depending on composition)

Limestone,
Dolomite

Marble

Bituminous Coal

Anthracite Graphitic Anthracite

Peridotite

Soapstone Serpentine

Classification

Table 2: The Organization of Sedimentary Rocks

Clastic (organized
by grain size)

256+ mm: boulders

Conglomerate

64-256 mm: cobbles

4-64 mm: pebbles
2-4 mm: granules

Sandstone

1-2 mm: course-grained sand

1 mm: medium-grained sand
1/16 mm: fine-grained sand

Clastic (special
circumstances)

1/256 1/16 mm: silt

Siltstone

1/256 mm or smaller: mud, clay

Shale

Cemented fragments have sharp

angles.

Breccia

Like sandstone, but has lots of

feldspar.

Arkose

Like sandstone, but cement ads

strong color.

Ferruginous
sandstone

Like sandstone, but has lots of

feldspar and some dark grains.

Graywacke

Chemical (organized by

NaCl

Rock Salt

chemical formula)

CaSO4 . 2H2O

Rock Gypsum

SiO2

Chert

CaMg(CO3)2

Dolomite

Various Other Minerals

Anhydrite, Hematite, Limonite,

Goethite, some Borates, Nitrates,
& Phosphates

CaCO3

Travertine,
Calcareous Tufa,
(Chemical) Limestone

Shells of ocean animals

(Shell) Limestone,
Coquina

Paleozoic trees & other

plants

Lignite Coal,
Bituminous Coal

Mainly protozoa shells

Chalk

Mud, clay, plant & animal

remains

Oil Shale

Organic (organized by
biological source)