GEO-1010 Homework3 Chpt 10
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School
College of Southern Maryland *
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Course
1010L
Subject
Geology
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
2
Uploaded by ChefNeutron19676
Instructions
Part 1
1.
List some of the evidence used by Wegener to support his idea of moving continents.
Some of the evidence that Wegener used to support his idea of moving continents included the
shapes of the continents fitting together, similar terrestrial fossils were found in South America,
Africa, Australia, and India.
2.
What was the primary technical weakness with Wegener’s continental drift theory?
The primary technical weakness of Wegener’s continental drift theory was that he lacked any
convincing mechanism that explained the movement of the continents.
3.
In the context of isostasy, what would prevent an area of continental crust from becoming
part of an ocean?
The continental crust cannot become a part of the ocean because it is not as heavy as the oceanic
crust, which means it cannot sink into the mantle to become part of the ocean.
4.
Why is there less sediment in the ocean ridge areas than in other parts of the sea floor?
The ocean ridge areas have less sediment than other areas of the sea floor because they are
younger than the other areas which means less time for sediments to accumulate.
Part 2
When it comes to the theory of plate tectonics in Maryland, the store is fairly boring, but maybe
we can have a little fun finding out why.
For this activity we are going to try to figure out Maryland's relationship to its tectonic plate. To
do this you will need a map of the worlds plates such as the one found at:
https://geology.com/plate-tectonics.shtml
Using the map (and the information in the website as needed), answer the following questions:
1.
Keeping in mind that there is a distance distortion (things look bigger) on this type of
map the farther north or south you go, make a statement about the relative size of the
plate Maryland is on.
The size of the plate Maryland is located which is the North American Plate is rather large.
Based on the size it would be in the top three for the largest tectonic plates.
2.
Where on the plate is Maryland? This is important because most sudden, short time, and
violent geological events take place at plate boundaries, while more central regions
experience slower, long term, and sedate events.
Maryland is located more centrally on the plate. This could be the reason why maryland
does not regularly experience violent earthquakes.
3.
Where would you go from Maryland to reach the nearest plate boundary? Where would
you go to reach the farthest plate boundary?
To reach the nearest plate boundary from Maryland you would go South to the Caribbean
plate and to reach the farthest plate boundary you would go west the Pacific plate
boundary
4.
Since a lot of geology depends on the movement due to the forces at the plate boundaries,
lets look at the one that is significant to Maryland. Which boundary do you think has the
most impact on Maryland? Why?
The boundary I think has the most impact on Maryland is between the Caribbean and
North American plate because they are the close together.
5.
What is the name of the Earths outermost structure and what geological layers does it
consist of?
The name of the earth's outermost layer is the lithosphere. The lithosphere is made up of
the crust and a small portion of the upper mantle.
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