Discovering Plate Tectonics Lab
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School
Colorado State University, Fort Collins *
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Course
120
Subject
Geology
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
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Uploaded by ElderMonkey3796
GEOL 121
Name _______Jayse Wagner______
Lab Section _______01________
D
ISCOVERING
P
LATE
T
ECTONICS
Learning Objectives:
○
Summarize plate tectonics and demonstrate understanding of plate motions
○
Describe the features and processes found at different plate boundaries and
explain why they are found there
○
Developing geoscientific skills: analyzing/interpreting data; reading maps;
practicing quantitative skills; thinking in 3D
○
Understand that scientific inquiry is an ongoing/dynamic process; role of
evidence and technology in inquiry
Part 1: Expert analysis
(2pts.)
Geoscientists from different expertise areas will often collaborate to understand complex
problems. We are going to model this approach by having each of you become an expert on
one type of data. You will then share your understanding of that data with the rest of the group.
Instructions
:
Your TA will assign you one of the data sets listed below. Work with your expert group to
examine your dataset and answer the questions below.
Expert Groups (Circle Assigned Topic)
Seismology · Volcanology · Geochronology ·
Geography/Topography
1.
What is your data telling you? What do the symbols and colors mean?
The data tells us the elevation compared to the sea level including mountain ranges and the
ocean floor. The colors represent the elevation changes through land and sea.
2.
Compare your data to the Plate Boundary Map on the next page of this worksheet. Note any
differences or similarities.
Some of the lowest parts are on plate boundaries but they also are seen near all the high
elevation mountain ranges.
3.
How does your data act on or near plate boundaries? (Examples: narrow/straight/curved,
symmetric/asymmetric, deep/shallow, active/inactive, ridge/valley, etc)
Most deeper places are right on the boundaries while mountains are also in close proximity
to the boundaries.
Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
Part 2: Examining Known Plate Boundaries
You will now examine sets of maps that show four different boundary types: divergent,
transform, convergent with subduction, and convergent without subduction. Answer the
following questions for each boundary type.
A) Divergent Boundaries (2pts.)
There are two pages showing divergent boundaries. One shows the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, in
the center of the Atlantic Ocean. The other shows a comparison of mid-ocean ridges that are
spreading (creating new ocean crust) at different rates, to give you an idea of how different
divergent boundaries can appear.
1) Describe how each of the datasets (Seismology, Volcanology, Geochronology,
Geography/Topography) behaves at this plate boundary.
Seismology- Earthquakes happen right on top of the plate boundary and stay very close.
Volcanology- Volcanoes rarely happen on the divergent boundary and they are spread all
around the line unlike earthquakes
Geochronology- The seafloor is very young near the boundary line because divergent
causes the old sea floor to be pushed away.
Geography/tophography- There are some mountain ranges and rises in the sea floor due to
divergence making the new sea floor rise.
2) What are some distinguishing features at this type of plate boundary? What features
could you use to distinguish this boundary type from the others? They have consistent
earthquakes and a new sea floor that continues to build up from divergence.
B) Transform Boundaries (2pts.)
There is one page showing a transform boundary along the western side of North America.
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Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
1) Describe how each of the datasets (Seismology, Volcanology, Geochronology,
Geography/Topography) behaves at this plate boundary.
Seismology- The earthquakes are common and intense but don’t seem to follow the
boundary closely.
Volcanology- The volcanoes are also common but seem to follow the boundary line closer
than the earthquakes.
Geochronology- There is very new sea floor all along the boundary due to the transform
taking the old floor away from the boundary.
Geography/Topography- There is a mountain range along the boundary but the sea floor has
a consistent elevation.
2) What are some distinguishing features at this type of plate boundary? What features
could you use to distinguish this boundary type from the others?
There was a large amount of nearby volcanoes and a lot of seismic activity as well as a new
sea floor.
C) Convergent Boundary with Subduction (2pts.)
There are two pages showing convergent boundaries with subduction: one near Fiji in the
southwestern Pacific Ocean, and one along the west coast of South America.
1) Describe how each of the datasets (Seismology, Volcanology, Geochronology,
Geography/Topography) behaves at this plate boundary.
Seismology- They have many earthquakes that group up near the boundary lines.
3
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Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
Volcanology- They follow the boundary lines pretty well unlike some other boundaries.
Geochronology- The older sea floor is closer to the boundary lines but the further away you
get the younger it is.
Geography/topography- They have skinny mountain ranges that follow the line close and
have deeper parts of the ocean on and around the boundaries.
2) What are some distinguishing features at this type of plate boundary? What features
could you use to distinguish this boundary type from the others?
The ocean ridges are common with convergent lines as well as common earthquakes. I
would mainly use the ocean ridges to distinguish the boundaries.
D) Convergent Boundary without Subduction (2pts.)
There is one pages showing a convergent boundary where subduction is not taking place in
the Himalayan Mountains where India is colliding with Eurasia.
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Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
1) Describe how each of the datasets (Seismology, Volcanology, Geochronology,
Geography/Topography) behaves at this plate boundary.
Seismology- The earthquakes are scattered with little to no correlation with the lines.
Volcanology- There are very few volcanoes in total and only a couple that align with the
plate boundary.
Geochronology- The sea floor is middle-aged and doesn’t correspond to the boundary.
Geography/topography- This boundary has large and wide mountain range on this
boundary.
2) What are some distinguishing features at this type of plate boundary? What features
could you use to distinguish this boundary type from the others?
The big and wide mountain ranges are definitely a good feature but the scattered
earthquakes are what I would use to distinguish this from other boundaries.
Check in with your TA before proceeding to Part 3.
Part 3: Unknown Boundaries
Now that you have developed a mental model of what each of the datasets does at different
plate boundary types, your challenge is to use the data to identify some unknown boundaries.
A) Unknown Boundary 1 (2pts.)
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Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
1) What type of boundary is there in this map?
Divergent
2) How do you know? What is your evidence?
The earthquakes follow the plate line and most of them are shallow. There is also a visible
ridge which is made of new seafloor.
B) Unknown Boundary 2 (2pts.)
1) What type of boundary is there in this map?
Convergent with subduction
2) How do you know? What is your evidence?
They have trenches that follow the line and it has deeper earthquakes that follow the line.
They also have volcanoes that follow the line
C) Unknown Boundary 3 (2pts.)
1) What type of boundary is there in this map?
6
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Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
Divergent
2) How do you know? What is your evidence?
The volcanoes that have accumulated on the island right around the boundary, there is also
a new seafloor surrounding it with ridges. The earthquakes also follow the line very closely
leading me to believe that it is a transform.
D) Unknown Boundary 4 (2pts.)
1) What types of boundaries is there in this map (there is more than one type)?
Transform and Convergent subduction and divergent
2) How do you know? What is your evidence?
They have shallow earthquakes on the line with new crust surrounding the line. There is also
a oceanic ridge that follows the line.
Part 4: Reflection
(2pts.)
1)
What are three things that you learned from this lab?
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Discovering Plate Tectonics
GEOL 121
I was unaware that there could be that many different plates interacting with each other. I
learned about the different types of plates that are around us. I also learned how to
identify the different plates based on their traits.
2) What questions do you still have about identifying plate boundaries?
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