Lab 2 - Plate Tectonics

Objectives:

Explain and understand what the plate tectonics is.

Demonstrate and analyze Earth forces and plate boundaries.

Explain the characteristics of each plate boundaries (e.g., how many plates are involved in each plate boundary, the different types of interactions for every type of plate boundary, various types of rocks associated with each plate boundaries, etc.).

Given a map and required information, be able to draw a cross section of a plate boundary.

Measure and calculate rates of plate tectonic processes.

Exercise 1: Plate boundary

1A. Examine the cross section of a plate boundary in figures 2.1 and 2.2.

Figure 2.1- Plate boundary block diagram.

What type of plate boundary is this?

Describe the processes that led to the formation of volcanoes.
What type of rocks (Sedimentary, Igneous, or metamorphic) would you expect to find in the composite volcano shown in figure 2.1?

Figure 2.2- Plate boundary block diagram.

What type of plate boundary is this (Figure 2.2)?

Describe the processes that led to the formation of Middle Ocean Ridge (M.O.R).

What type of rocks would you expect to find in the oceanic ridge shown in figure 2.2?

1B. Examine the map of Earth’s plates and their plate boundary in figure 2.3.

Draw an idealized cross section through the plate margins that occur near a) west coast of South America; b) Japan; c) Mid-Atlantic ridge; d) the Himalaya Mountains.

(Hint: Find the type pf plates involved eg. continental vs oceanic and examine the arrows of the map below to figure out the plate movement direction. For example, in a) west coast of South America, the Nazca oceanic plate is being pushed against the South American continental plate. The result will be the subduction of the Nazca plate under the the South American continental plate and therefore formation of a volcano- see the corss section below).

Figure 2.3- Earth lithospheric plates and their boundaries.