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Tag: Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is explained clearly in this collection of accurate, accessible science graphics, designed to make teaching and learning about the Earth’s moving plates engaging and easy. Covering processes such as continental drift, seafloor spreading, and subduction, these visuals show how tectonic plates interact to form mountains, trigger earthquakes, and fuel volcanic activity. Perfect for educators, students, and geology enthusiasts, this plate tectonics graphic collection brings one of Earth science’s most important concepts to life with high-quality, visually rich resources.

Plate tectonic Earth map

Visually accessible and scientifically accurate global map of key plate tectonics characteristics on the Earth.

Visually accessible and scientifically accurate global map of key plate tectonics characteristics on the Earth. Superposed on the Earth’s surface topography (from s-ink.org/surface-topography-relief) are the seafloor age (from s-ink.org/oceanic-plate-age), plate boundaries (from s-ink.org/subduction-zones-map) and tectonic plate names (from s-ink.org/tectonic-plates-simple), active volcanoes (from s-ink.org/global-volcano-distribution), largest earthquakes (from s-ink.org/historic-earthquake-distribution), major rivers, and the outlines of the world map. 

Data sets shown are from Amante and Eakins (2009), Müller et al. (1997), Argus et al. (2011), Bird (2003), Deep Sea Drilling Project (1989), NCEI Volcano Location Database, and Hayes (2018). The Scientific colour map ‘lipari‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

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Magnetic Seafloor Anomalies

Global map of magnetic anomalies imprinted onto the seafloor of the Earth in form of characteristic stripes and other patterns.


Global map of magnetic anomalies imprinted onto the seafloor of the Earth in form of characteristic magnetic stripes and other patterns. The magnetic anomalies are not only observable on the seafloor, but also provide insight into the subsurface structure and composition of the Earth’s crust. Anomalies trending parallel to the isochrons (lines of equal plate age) in the oceans reveal the temporal growth of oceanic plate and crust: seafloor spreading.

Ever so often the Earth’s magnetic field flips its polarity in an occurrence called a geomagnetic reversal. These reversals throughout Earth’s history are recorded in solidifying rocks, such as in the ones making up the growing oceanic crust at mid-oceanic ridges. The successive bands of ocean floor representing alternating magnetic polarity parallel with mid-ocean ridges was important evidence for seafloor spreading, the concept central to the acceptance of the early theory of plate tectonics.

The data plotted is from the global Earth Magnetic Anomaly Grid (EMAG2) and was compiled from satellite, ship and airborne magnetic measurements.

  • Various other map projections included
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Pangea

Reconstruction of the supercontinent Pangea (or Pangaea) that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.

Reconstruction of the supercontinent Pangea (or Pangaea) that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. During the Carboniferous approximately 335 Million years ago, Pangea assembled from the earlier continental fragments of Gondwana, Euramerica, and Siberia, and started to break apart about 200 Million years ago, at the end of the Triassic and beginning of the Jurassic. Pangea extended between Earth’s northern and southern polar regions and was surrounded by the Panthalassa Ocean and the Paleo-Tethys and subsequent Tethys Oceans. Pangea is the most recent supercontinent to have existed and the first that was reconstructed by geoscientists.

Here shown is not only the position of the continents, but also the reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry from Scotese & Wright (2018) paleo-digital elevation model (PaleoDEMS). The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

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Continental drift hypothesis

The comparison of geographic and geologic continental features across oceans that encouraged the continental drift hypothesis.

The comparison of continental coastline geometries, rock types and patterns, fossils, and glacial formations across oceans that encouraged the continental drift hypothesis.

This map displays a simplified view of the early supercontinent Gondwana. During the time of Gondwana, present-day continents were geographically assembled like a jigsaw puzzle. Continental deformation such as mountain chains, glacial erosion patterns, and the distribution of plants and animals left their marks across the entire supercontinent. When it eventually split up, at around 180 Million years ago, some of these marks were preserved in the geologic record of the dispersed present-day continents.

Geologists, amongst which Antonio Snider-Pellegrini and Alfred Wegener, realised that some of the fossils of similar organisms matched across the present-day continents and encouraged the revolutionary theory of continental drift. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. More than fifty years later, this theory evolved into the concept of Ocean-plate tectonics, that describes the plate motion at the Earth’s surface as the uppermost dynamic part of mantle convection, the overturn of Earth’s solid but viscous silicate mantle.

The typeface ‚Fufu‘ by Lucia Perez-Diaz is used.

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Continental rift evolution (animation)

Continental rift evolution—from inception to breakup—accounting for surface processes and tectonic deformation.

Continental rift evolution—from inception to breakup—accounting for surface processes and tectonic deformation. Shown is the rifting evolution of a regional 3-D model covering upper crust, lower crust, and mantle lithosphere atop an asthenospheric layer. The rift fault network evolves through five major phases: (a) distributed deformation and coalescence, (b) fault system growth, (c) fault system decline and basinward localization, (d) rift migration, and (e) breakup. Sediments not only interact with tectonic deformation but they also record subsidence, block rotation, and rift migration. The visualisation is based on coupled numerical models of geodynamics (ASPECT) and landscape evolution (FastScape). The animation is based on the reference model of Neuharth et al., 2022.

  • Creator: Sascha Brune and Derek Neuharth
  • Original version: 26.05.2024
  • This version: 27.11.2024
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: These animation Sascha Brune and Derek Neuharth is based on Neuharth et al. (2022) and available via the open-access s-ink.org repository.
  • Related reference: Neuharth, D., Brune, S., Wrona, T., Glerum, A., Braun, J., & Yuan, X. (2022). Evolution of Rift Systems and Their Fault Networks in Response to Surface Processes. Tectonics, 41(3), e2021TC007166. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021TC007166

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Geologic time scale (spiral)

The geologic time scale proportionally represented as a log-spiral featuring major events in Earth history, and the evolution of life.

The geologic time scale proportionally represented as a log-spiral featuring major events, and the evolution of life. Key events in Earth’s history marked on the diagram include major extinction events, global scale glaciations, the initiation of permanent atmospheric oxygen, the formation of the moon, and the formation of Earth’s magnetic field. The outer spiral arcs show components of the evolution of life on Earth.

This version is provided in fully accessible versions using the Scientific colour maps ‘batlow‘ and ‘glasgow‘ and, also, in the traditional International Commission on Stratigraphy colour scheme. Please note when using the latter colour scheme versions, you exclude some readers with colour-vision deficiencies.

  • Alternative colour schemes
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Dynamic Earth (animation)

Earth’s surface elevation and mantle density animated through space and time.

Earth’s surface elevation and mantle density animated through space and time. The Cenozoic (66 – 0 Ma) paleogeography and paleo mantle density anomalies are from Straume et al. (2024). The present day topography is from https://www.gebco.net, while the mantle density anomalies are converted from relative seismic shear wave velocities (SMEAN2; Jackson et al., 2017). The Scientific colour maps ‘oleron‘ and ‘vik‘ are used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Creator: Eivind O. Straume
  • This version: 20.02.2024
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: These animations by Eivind Straume based on Straume et al. (2024) are available via the open-access s-ink.org repository.
  • Related reference: Straume, E. O., Steinberger, B., Becker, T. W., & Faccenna, C. (2024). Impact of mantle convection and dynamic topography on the Cenozoic paleogeography of Central Eurasia and the West Siberian Seaway. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 630, 118615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118615

  • Variable content versions
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Oceanic plate age (poster)

Visually accessible global map for poster print of oceanic plate age designed for color-blind readers.

Visually accessible global maps of oceanic plate age designed for color-blind readers. Highlighted are subduction zones (wide black lines) and other plate boundaries (thin black lines). Ages of the oceanic crust range from 0 (depicted in light colours) to approximately 200 Million years (depicted in dark colours), illustrating the dynamic process of ongoing plate motion and recycling through ocean-plate tectonics. This comprehensive representation is based on global seafloor age data from Müller et al. (1997), visualised on a custom Interrupted Mollweide map projection developed by Crameri et al. (2020a), with a specific focus on the world’s oceans. The ‘batlow‘ Scientific color map ensures accurate data representation and inclusivity for all readers.

  • Creator: Fabio Crameri
  • This version: 19.11.2023
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Fabio Crameri using data from Müller et al. (1997) is available via the open-access s-ink.org repository.
  • Related references:
    Müller, R. D., et al. (1997). “Digital isochrons of the world’s ocean floor.” J. Geophys. Res. 102(B2): 3211-3214.
    Crameri, F., V. Magni, M. Domeier, G.E. Shephard, K. Chotalia, G. Cooper, C. Eakin, A.G. Grima, D. Gürer, A. Király, E. Mulyukova, K. Peters, B. Robert, and M. Thielmann (2020a), A transdisciplinary and community-driven database to unravel subduction zone initiation, Nature Communications, 11, 3750. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17522-9
  • Printable version in CMYK and vector format
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Paleotopography

Reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry between present day and 540 Million years ago as still images.

Reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry between present day and 540 Million years ago as still images. Shown is the Scotese & Wright (2018) paleo-digital elevation model (PaleoDEMS) based on tectonic plate reconstruction. The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Transparent background
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  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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