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Lab 3: Plate Tectonics
GEOG 1113L – Introduction to Landforms Lab
Name: Adrian Mackins
I.
The Saga of Supercontinents
1.
What has driven the Earth’s advances and setbacks, explosions of life, and its extinction events?
The movement of continents
2.
What mid-20
th
century discovery solidified the theory of continental drift? Mid-ocean Ridges/ seafloor spreading
What is the significance of this feature? it is where the sea floor is made
3.
Another primary mechanism of plate tectonics is called subduction
, where oceanic crust slides under continental crust and begins to melt and mix with the mantle.
4.
Kenorland was one of the Earth’s first supercontinents that formed 2.7 to 2.5 billion
years ago and was not much bigger than _
Australia_ 5.
Which supercontinent existed at the same time as the Earth’s first animals? Pannotia Did they live on the land? No
6.
How many supercontinents were mentioned in the video? 8, Kenorland, Pangea, Nuna, Rodinia, Gondwana, Euramerica, Laurasia, and Pannotia
7.
What caused the two major extinctions of Pangaea?
It was probably caused by a series of massive volcanic eruptions from fissures in Pangea
8.
How fast are the continents moving? 2.5 centimeters a year
II.
Plate Boundaries
Open the PowerPoint “Lab 3 Part II_Plate Boundaries”. Read through the definitions and hints on the
first slide of the PowerPoint. Draw at least two convergent boundaries and two divergent boundaries on the map using the “Draw” tab in the second slide of the PowerPoint. Make your divergent boundaries green and your convergent boundaries red
. Draw arrows on each side of your boundaries to indicate which direction the plates are moving. Upload your completed PowerPoint activity along with your completed lab assignment document to the Lab 3 assignment submission folder on iCollege.
III.
The Tectonic Cycle
Use the diagram below to help you answer the question. 1.
In your own words, describe the lifecycle of Earth’s tectonic plates. Be sure to use the labels in the image to help you provide as much detail as possible. It seems like the plates formation starts at the core mantle boundary, also when the crust is formed. The crust is separated by the mid ocean ridge. As plates move away from the boundaries, they become apart of the Lithosphere. Over time, at convergent boundaries, plates collide, leading to subduction zones where one plate sinks beneath another, completing the cycle.
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IV.
Tectonic Scavenger Hunt
Visit the link below and explore the contents of This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics. You can begin by clicking “Preface” or “Historical Perspectives”, then click the arrows at the bottom of each page to advance forward or go back. You should visit each of the “Sidebar” pages and images as
well. Answer the questions below that go along with the reading. Link: https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html
1.
How many tectonic plates are there? (Hint: You’ll have to count!)
2.
Explain the difference between the previously accepted geological theory, “catastrophism” and the accepted theory of today, “uniformitarianism”. Catastrophism is the thought that a Biblical Flood played a major role in shaping the Earth's surface. Uniformitarian Principle holds the viewpoint if the geologic forces and processes gradual as well as catastrophic, acting on the Earth today are the same as those that have acted in the geologic past.
3.
What are two reasons Alfred Wegener was convinced of continental drift?
1.The remarkable fit of the coastlines of South America and Africa, which struck him as evidence that these continents were once joined.
2.He sought out many other lines of geologic and paleontologic evidence to support his theory, examining various aspects beyond just the fit of the coastlines.
4.
Where is the lithosphere thinnest? The lithosphere tends to be thinnest under the oceans and in
volcanically active continental areas, such as the Western United States
5.
What is the composition of continental and oceanic crust, and how do the two relate to each other in terms of density and thickness? Continental crust is composed of granitic rocks which are made up of relatively lightweight minerals such as quartz and feldspar. By contrast, oceanic crust is composed of basaltic rocks, which are much denser and heavier. Because continental rocks are much lighter, the crust under the continents is much thicker whereas the crust under the oceans is generally only about 5 km thick.
6.
What new data was Alfred Wegener unable to discover because of his untimely death? Had he not died in 1930, Wegener doubtless would have pounced upon the new Atlantic bathymetric data just acquired by the German research vessel
Meteor
in the late 1920s
7.
What did the Australian polar dinosaur fossils provide evidence of? Australian species, popularly called "polar" dinosaurs, seemed well adapted to cooler temperature conditions. They apparently had keen night vision and were warm-blooded, enabling them to forage for food during long winter nights, at freezing or sub-freezing temperatures.
8.
The ocean floor contains what magnetic mineral that can distort compass readings?
9.
What sort of data does this mineral (from question 8) provide when observed in a volcanic rock?
10.
Where do earthquakes concentrate the most? the circum-Pacific
Ring of Fire
11.
Because our 4.5-billion-year-old Earth is constantly cycling oceanic crust, how old is the oldest oceanic crust still on Earth’s surface today?
A.
Thousands of years old
B.
Billions of years old
C.
Millions of years old
D.
Hundreds of millions of years old
12.
Instead of sunlight, what source of energy does the deep ocean survive on near mid-ocean ridges? Geothermal energy
13.
How many trenches are a part of The Ring of Fire? I counted 15
14.
What caused the formation of the Himalayas and when
? The collision of India into Asia 50 million years ago caused the Indian and Eurasian Plates to crumple up along the collision zone. After the collision, the slow continuous convergence of these two plates over millions of years pushed up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to their present heights. Most of this growth occurred during the past 10 million years.
15.
What is a transform boundary and where do you find them? The zone between two plates sliding horizontally past one another is called a transform-fault boundary,
or simply a transform boundary. ). Most transform faults are found on the ocean floor.
16.
What and where is the fastest rate of plate movement? the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island, in
the South Pacific about 3,400 km west of Chile, has the fastest rate (more than 15 cm/yr).
17.
What are the three techniques used to study the earth’s surface and which one is best for measuring tectonic movement and why?
18.
What created the Hawaiian island chain? Hotspot theory
19.
What is the significance of Loihi?
20.
What two main sources provide heat within the earth? residual heat from its formation (primordial heat) and heat generated by the radioactive decay of elements in the Earth's mantle.
21.
In your own words, what is one piece of information you found interesting from the “Extraterrestrial plate tectonics?” section? The fact that the earth will lose so much heat
that its interior will stop convecting. Earthquake and volcanic activity coming to an end sounds like sifi.
22.
In your own words, what is one piece of information you found interesting from the “What went on before the break-up of Pangaea?” section? The break-up of Pangaea and movement of the individual continents to their present positions created the foundation for Wegener's continental
drift theory.
23.
In your own words, what is one piece of information you found interesting from the “Plate tectonics and people?” section?
I did not know that earthquakes are not randomly placed. I can understand volcanoes not being random but not earthquakes.
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