Understanding Plate Tectonics: Mechanisms and Earth’s Landforms

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. This lab covers the mechanisms of plate tectonics and the resulting landforms and events we see and feel on Earth’s surface. At the end of this lab you should be able to: 1) Explain the theory of plate tectonics in your own words 2) Summarize the reasons for different plate boundary interactions and describe the resulting surface landforms and events. 3) Evaluate where on Earth’s surface we have plate boundaries and describe the processes happening at these boundaries. 4) Use current landforms on Earth’s surface to classify former plate boundaries. You should start by watching three videos on iCollege: Wegener and Continental Drift, Sea Floor Spreading Proof, and Plate Tectonics. The work your way through these questions, referring back to the videos as needed. Part 1: Plate Tectonics 1) In the above diagram, arrows denote the direction of movement of the crust and mantle, with numbers and letters above each boundary between plates. Name each numbered plate boundary, and what types of plates are involved. (15 pts) Name of the numbered plate boundary what types of plates are involved 1 Convergent Plate Boundary Oceanic plate under another oceanic plate 2 Divergent plate boundary Ocean divergence 3 Convergent plate boundary Oceanic plate under continental 4 Divergent plate boundary Continent divergence 5 Convergent plate boundary Continental

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 2) Name the lettered bathymetric (sea-floor) features in the figure above that are created by plate tectonics (2 pts) A: Trench B: Ridge 3) Describe in your own words the following plate boundaries. Where on Earth would you expect to find an example of each boundary? (6 pts) Convergent: Two plates moving towards each other and colliding. Himalayan mountains. Divergent: Two plates moving away from each other because of molten rock erupting. Great Rift Valley. Transform: Two plates slide past each other. San Andreas Fault. 4) Name two ways oceanic crust differs from continental crust? (2 pts) Oceanic is thinner and denser. 5) Thinking back to your igneous rock labs, what two elements might account for these differences? (2 pts) Oceanic is composed of iron and magnesium. Continental is mostly silica and aluminum.

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 6) Look at the above image and answer the following questions (hint: Ma means Mega- annum, or millions of years) a. Where is the oldest oceanic crust in the Atlantic? (1 pt) Continental margins in Abyssal plains__________________________________ b. Where is the youngest oceanic crust in the Atlantic? (1 pt) _Near Mid-Atlantic Ridge______________________________ c. Explain why this variation in the age of the oceanic crust exists across the Atlantic Ocean. (2 pts) As the newer crust forms, the older crust moves outward d. The feature in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Given your responses to the above questions, is this a convergent, divergent, or transform boundary? (1 pt) A divergent boundary because two oceanic plates moving away.

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Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name …………………….

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. Earthquakes distribution

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 8) Using the above maps of volcanos and earthquakes, answer the following questions: a. Which of the following has high concentrations of volcanos? Mark all that apply. (4 pts) ___ Eastern Atlantic Ocean _x__ Eastern Pacific Ocean ___ Hawaii ___ Western Atlantic Ocean __x_ Western Pacific Ocean ___ Iceland b. One of the oceans in the world is referred to as the “Ring of Fire” – which might it be and why? (4 pts) Pacific, because most active volcanoes are bordering the plate. c. Given your responses to the above questions, is a convergent, divergent, or transform boundary represented in locations that have volcanic activity and high concentrations of earthquakes? (2 pts) Pacific because of seismic activity.

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Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. Part 2: Plate Tectonics and Landforms

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 12)Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains formed during the closure of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway, a shallow sea between North America and an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. What kind of boundary is this? (2 pts) Convergent boundary between Pacific Ocean plate and continental plate of North America.

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 13) Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea The Jordan Valley in the Levant is composed of the Sea of Galilee, which flows into the Jordan River, and eventually into the super salty Dead Sea. This valley is at the boundary of the African and Arabian plates. The valley is composed of sediments that have eroded into the space between the two plates, and the valley is so deep that the Dead Sea is below sea level! What kind of boundary is this? (2 pts) Divergent boundary between African continental plate and the Arabian continental plate.

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Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 14) The Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains in central Russia are some of the oldest mountains in the world. They are near no plate boundaries, no earthquake activity, and essentially in the middle of the Eurasian plate. Hypothesize how they formed, keep in mind from the Hawaii example in the lecture that plate movement can change over time. (4 pts) Convergent boundary of two ancient continental plates being part of Asia and part of Europe.

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 15) Lake Superior Lake Superior is an exceptionally deep lake north of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. While the other Great Lakes are much shallower and are hypothesized to be formed from retreating glaciers at the end of the ice age, scientists suspect something different for Lake Superior. It should be noted that ages of the rocks in Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula (both

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. colored orange and green on the East side of the map) have mirrored ages in their rocks, getting older further away from each other. Hypothesize how Lake Superior formed (4 pts) Lake Superior was formed by rifting. The divergence of two continental crusts. 16) Mid Ocean Ridge You know that Mid Ocean Ridges are created from Divergent boundaries. However, you may have noticed that they only form straight lines for a while and are quite jagged. This is the result of trying to split apart curved surfaces. This implies another kind of fault is also at play here. If the crust is spreading away from each of the green lines, which other fault type/boundary is present here? (1 pt) The other fault at play here is thew transform fault. When plates slide past each other.

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Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. 17) Iceland

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. The island of Iceland in the North Atlantic is formed from a hot spot/mantle plume just the same as Hawaii. However, we don’t see an island chain, only a singular large island. Why might this be? (4 pt) Iceland is one continent where there is mid-Atlantic ridge above the continental region. It is a divergent/mid-oceanic ridge so there are no chains of volcanic islands.

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. Part 3: Seismic Explorer Go to the following website to complete the final activity: https://seismic-explorer.concord.org/ Click “Map Type” and choose “Relief”. Click “Data Type” and have both “Plate Boundaries” and “Earthquakes” enabled Hit “Start” in the lower left. This will show major earthquakes over time. Answer the following questions: 1. What patterns in the locations of earthquakes do you observe? (1 pt) All on boundaries 2. Red dots are shallow earthquakes while blue dots are deeper. What areas of the world have blue dots? What plate boundaries are these? (2 pts) Only on converging boundaries Click “Draw Cross Section” in the lower right. Draw a cross section with it covering part of western South America with both red and blue dots, going from red (P1) to blue (P2). Then click “Open 3D View” in the lower right. 3. Describe the relationship (trend) between depth of earthquakes and distance from plate boundary. (1 pt) Inline to boundary they are from Close the 3D view and cancel cross section drawing. In “Data Type” enable “Plate Movement” and “Plate Names” and disable “Earthquakes”. Each “i” if clicked on will show the speed of movement and boundary name (e.g., “COC-NAZ”). 4. Click around these “i”’s. Which plate boundary in the Pacific Ocean is moving the fastest? (2 pts) PAC-NAZ 5. Even this fast plate above doesn’t have uniform speed or direction across all its boundaries. Hypothesize why below. Keep in mind all plates are moving independently of each other and all speeds are relative to the opposing plate. (2 pts) Stress points aren’t evenly distributed.

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Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. Part 4: Summary Fill in the below chart to summarize your understanding of characteristics at different plate boundaries. (10 pts) TYPE DESCRIBE MOVEMENT CRUST Created? Destroyed? Neither? EARTHQUAKES? Shallow? and/or Deep? TYPE OF VOLCANISM? Rifting? Volcanos? WHERE IN WORLD? (EXAMPLES) Divergent Split Created Shallow Rifting Mid-Atlantic ridge Convergent (Subduction) Under/Over Destroyed Deep Volcanoes Pacific Northwest

Lab 7 – Plate tectonics GEOL 1121 Name ……………………. Transform Slide past Neither Shallow None San Andrea Fault

Lab 7 -PlateTectonics_activity

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