Plate Tectonics Lab (3)
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Plate Tectonics Lab
Date of Lab: 9/13/2022
Time of Lab: 9:45am-11:15am
“We pledge our honor that we have neither received nor
provided unauthorized assistance during the completion of this
work.”
Emma Chenski:
Emma Chenski
Jenny Chung
:
Jenny Chung
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Analysis Questions (Part A)
Q1)
Q2)
Analysis Questions (Part B)
Q3)
a)
A convergent plate boundary is when two plate boundaries collide together; it also
destroys the crusts. An example of a convergent plate boundary would be the Himalayas
Mountains because the two boundaries collided together, forming the mountain range.
b)
A divergent plate boundary is when two plates move away from each other and create a
new oceanic crust. An example of this would be the rift valleys in Iceland.
Q4)
When looking at the graph with the location of volcanoes, the majority of the ‘x’s” are blue. This
is because a lot of the medium silica content volcanoes are on the coastal area of the land where
the continental and oceanic crust meets. The low silica content is more in the middle of the ocean
where the rocks are formed because of the oceanic crust only. Volcanic rocks with high silica
content are found in the middle of the continent where it is away from the coastal area and they
are formed due to continental crust, not oceanic crust. Low Si02 volcanic rocks are found more
commonly in the oceans (center of the Pacific Plate), medium Si02 volcanic rocks are found
more commonly throughout the whole map (surrounding the plate) and high Si02 volcanic rocks
are found on land (farthest away from the Pacific Plate.)
Q5)
Hawaii and Yellowstone are also known as “hot spots” because these areas are where there’s
intense heat and are located on the middle plates. Hot spots are when the mantle pushes up to the
surface bringing hot solid rocks which melt into magma/lava (Volcano World). The SiO2
contents are different between Hawaii and Yellowstone because they sit on 2 different plates.
Hawaii is on the oceanic plate which is also thin while Yellowstone is on a thick, continental
plate. It is hard for magma to penetrate through Yellowstone’s continental plate because it’s so
thick (LibreTexts).
“Hotspot Volcanoes - Hawaii and Yellowstone Lesson #9.”
Volcano World
, 10 Dec. 2018,
https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/hot-spot-volcanoes-hawaii-and-yellowstone-lesson-9.
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Libretexts. “2.7: Hotspots.”
Geosciences LibreTexts
, Libretexts, 26 July 2021,
https://geo.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Geology/Book%3A_An_Introduction_to_Geology_(Johns
on_Affolter_Inkenbrandt_and_Mosher)/02%3A_Plate_Tectonics/2.07%3A_Hotspots.
Analysis Questions (Part C)
Q6)
Continental Assembly 1 would produce the change in number of animal types for period Y
and Continental Assembly 3 would produce the change in number of animal types for period Z.
Continental assembly 1 has the most broken up continents, meaning it has the highest number of
animal types. Continental assembly 3 has no broken up continents, so it has the least number of
animal types.
As the continents drift apart, species diversity increases. Animals that used to only breed within
their own species became separated, forcing them to develop new adaptations or merge with
different species. When continents are merged together (or never broken up to begin with)
species must often compete with each other for resources. This decreases diversity because each
species is competing for survival, (some even experiencing extinction due to lack of resources.)
Q7)
In the precambrian era, the continents have not drifted apart. This means that there will be a
low number of species diversity because the animals are still interbreeding. Once we move into
the Cambrian era, the land masses drift apart, causing more species diversity, and an increased
number of animal types. Moving to the Ordovician era, some of the continents fuse back
together, causing the number of animal types to decrease. Species diversity would continue to
decrease into the Pennsylvanian era. In the permian era, more continental fusion causes diversity
to continue to decrease, reaching an all time low. Once we reach the Jurassic era, continental
separation causes the number of species to increase. In the Cenozoic era, the continents
experienced the highest degree of separation, increasing the number of animal types and
diversity to an all-time high.
Conclusion Questions
Q8)
Q9)
Continental drift does not play as important a role in the evolution and extinction of species
in the present day, as it did hundreds of millions of years ago. Today, climate change, loss of
habitat, lack of food, pollution and human predation are the more dominant factors in
determining the evolution and extinction of species. These factors affect species at a faster rate
(over a few hundred years) than continental drift (over thousands of years), which makes it the
more dominant factor.
Q10)
Plate tectonics shaped the events of the past, and it will continue to impact our future.
Since oceanography is the study of all the aspects of the ocean, it is critical to understand how
plate tectonics work, since the movement of tectonic plates occurs in the oceans. Plate tectonics
also affects the biodiversity of organisms living in/around the ocean, as well as their evolution.
Bonus Question
How were the Himalayan Mountains formed?
The Himalayan Mountains were formed after two continental-continental plates (Indian and
Eurasian) collided. Because of the collision, old plates were destroyed, folding land upwards,
creating the mountain range.
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