Download Plate Tectonics Google Earth Assignment Folder 1: Plate Geography

Plate Tectonics Google Earth Assignment
Folder 1: Plate Geography and Structure
Instructions:
Step:
Complete
1. Click on the radio buttons next to “Inv 3: Plate Tectonics”.
Open and read the “Introduction” placemark balloon.
2. Expand “Folder 1: Plate Geography and Structure”. Open
and read the “Description” placemark balloon. Then
close the balloon and examine the Plate Geography
overlay. Record your observations.
3. Expand the “Gallery” folder in the “Layers” panel at the
bottom left of your screen. Scroll down and click on the
“Earthquakes” and “Volcanoes” layers. Then re-examine
the Plate Geography overlay. You will need to zoom in a
bit to see the earthquakes and volcanoes appear.
Record your observations. Then turn off the two layers.
Observations:
How many tectonic plates are there?
How thick are “continental” plates?
How thick are “oceanic” plates?
What layers make up the plates?
Can a single plate include both
oceanic and continental areas?
What type of rock makes up
continental crust?
What type of rock makes up oceanic
crust?
Which type of plate is less dense?
Which type of plate is denser?
Are earthquakes and volcanoes
associated with plate boundaries?
Notes and Questions:
Folder 2: Rates of Plate Movement
Instructions:
Step:
Complete
1. Expand “Folder 2: Rates of Plate Movement” and open the
“Description” placemark balloon. Read the information and record
any observations you can. Then close the balloon.
2. Examine the location of the GPS monument in Mission Viejo, CA
(SBCC). Notice how close it is to the San Andreas Fault Zone.
Open the “Real Time GPS Data” placemark and click to open the
web link. Select “SBCC – Mission Viejo, CA” from the drop down list
and click the “Graph the Station” button to open the data page.
3. Click “Plot Graph” to see the graph of North to South movement of
the monument over the past 5 years. Then click “Analyze” to see
the slope of the line. The slope represents the average velocity of
movement in that direction over the past 5 years. Record this
observation.
4. Click “Plot Graph” to see the graph of East to West movement.
Record the slope of that line in your observations. Hint: a negative
number indicates movement in the opposite direction (West to East).
5. Follow the same procedure to find the average rate of vertical
movement of the monument. Record your observation.
6. Use your observations to answer the Interpretation question. Be
sure to use complete sentences.
Observations:
What is a GPS monument?
How fast is the GPS monument moving
from North to South (mm/yr)?
How fast is the GPS monument moving
from East to West (mm/yr)?
Which direction is the monument moving:
northeast, northwest, southeast, or
southwest?
How fast is the GPS monument moving
vertically (mm/yr)?
Is the monument sinking or being lifted
up?
Notes and Questions:
Folder 3: Driving Forces
Instructions:
Step:
1. Expand “Folder 3: Driving Forces” and click on the radio button.
Open the “Description” placemark balloon and read the information.
Click on the link to see the animation on line and record your
observations. Then close the balloon.
2. Use your observations to answer the Interpretation questions.
Observations:
What is convection?
What is the source of Earth’s heat?
How is heated material transported inside
of the Earth?
What does the asthenosphere do?
Interpretation Questions:
1. Would plates move if there was no radioactive decay in Earth’s core?
Claim:
Evidence:
Reasoning:
3. Would plates move if the asthenosphere was hard?
Claim:
Evidence:
Reasoning:
Complete
Folder 4: Plate Interactions
Instructions:
Step:
1. Expand “Folder 4: Plate Interactions” and click on the radio button.
Open the “Description” placemark balloon and read the information.
Explore the interactive diagram. Record your observations.
2. Watch the animations on each type of plate boundary. Take careful
notes in the space provided. Be sure to record what types of plates
are interacting, whether there are volcanoes, whether there are
earthquakes and how deep they are, and other features you see in
the animations. You may need these for the Mystery Tour.
Observations:
What does convergent mean?
What does divergent mean?
What does transform mean?
What is subduction?
What is a subduction zone?
What are fold or thrust-belt mountains?
What is a rift valley?
Characteristics of Plate Boundaries: (draw diagrams if necessary)
Convergent Oceanic-Continental
Convergent Oceanic-Oceanic
Complete
Convergent Continental-Continental
Divergent Oceanic-Oceanic
Divergent Continental-Continental
Transform
Additional Notes and Questions:
Folder 5: Mystery Tour
Instructions:
Step:
Complete
1. Expand “Folder 5: Mystery Tour” and click on the radio button.
Open the “Description” placemark balloon and read the information.
2. Turn on the “Volcanoes” and “Earthquakes” layers in the “Gallery”
section of your Layers panel.
3. Expand the “Mystery Tour” folder and double-click on the “Stop 1”
folder. Explore the area within the light blue rectangle. The orange
line shows the approximate location of the plate boundary.
4. Record any observations you think are important in deciding what
type of boundary this is. Refer to your notes from “Plate
Interactions” to help you decide. Defend your interpretations.
5. Hints:
a. To find earthquake depth, click on the earthquake icon.
b. To view plate labels, zoom out.
c. To see an elevation profile of the ocean floor, make a line across
the area. Click the “Altitude” tab under properties and scroll
down to “clamped to sea floor”. Click OK. Then right-click on
your line in your Places panel and click “Show Elevation Profile”.
d. Be advised that not all countries report geologic activity. Be sure
to keep this in mind when making your interpretations.
6. Consider everything you have learned in this Investigation to answer
the Investigation Summary questions.
Observations:
Mystery Tour
Stop:
Observations:
Interpretations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Notes and Questions:
Investigation Summary:
1. Is Earth geologically active? Explain your answer.
2. What aspects of Earth’s structure and dynamics may cause this activity?
3. If you had to live near a plate boundary, which type of boundary would you want
it to be? Why?
4. How long has it taken for scientists to reach their current understandings about
plate tectonics? Do you think there is still more to learn? Explain your answer.