Download Plate Worksheet - Scarsdale Schools

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-Unit3 ........... .. Plate Boundaries --Name---------
Date
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This map shows earthquake epicenters over a period of six years.
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1. On the map above, write in the names of at least six continents and the three largest oceans.
2. Label at least six (6) tectonic plates.
3. Label the following plate features by writing their initials on the map:
Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), San Andreas Fault (SAF), Great Rift Valley (of Africa) (GRV),
Aleutian Island Arc (AlA), Himalayan Mountain Range (HMR) Andes Mountain Range (AMR),
Hawaiian Islands, New York State (NYS), Rocky Mountains (RMN), and The Appalachian
Mountains (AMN)
4. On the map, label each of the plate interface(boundaries) from step 2 as converging (C),
diverging (D) or transform (T). Place the appropriate letter next to each labeled plate
boundary.
A. What part of the United States has the most earthquakes?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Why? ____________________________________.
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The regions where the Earth's plates meet are belts of acti.ve geologic changes, including
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tectonic mountain building. Geologists recognize four types
of plate boundaries.
1. Rift boundaries occur where two plates are pulling apart as new crust is created. The mid-ocean
ridge$ and continental rift valleys, like the Dead Sea valley in the holy land, and the Great Rift Valley
of Africa, are examples of rift zones.The island nation of Iceland is now being pulled apart by rifting.
2. Subduction zones occur where plates collide and one plate (usually an oceanic plate) is diving
beneath another. In the oceans, subduction zones are usually found at the deep ocean
trenches. And, as one landmass collides with another, the collision can pile up great mountain
ranges .
The Himalayan Mountains are a prime example, where the Indian landmass is colliding with Asia.
3. At transform (or rotational) boundaries, one plate slides past another. The San Andreas Fault that
runs from Baja California northward past San Francisco is a wellknown example of a transform plate
boundary. The western edge of California slowly moving northward along the San Andreas
Fault
4. Inactive interfaces are places where there is little or no relative motion of the plates. Some geologists
Consider the Red Sea, between Africa and Saudi Arabia, to be a temporarily inactive plate boundary.
Actua l l y, most plate boundaries show
· a mixture of these relative motions of
separation, con v ergence and slippage.
This diagram shows a profile of a diverging
rift and a nearby converging subduction
zone. Where geologists can locate ancient
plate boundaries they often find associated
mineral deposits, like the copper ores of
Cyprus or emery deposits in Westchester.
Rifting and Subduction Zones
The series of maps below show our reconstruction of motions of Earth's plates for the past 225 million years.
This sequence also shows the birth of two of the world's largest oceans, the_________________ Ocean and the
_____________Ocean.
This map is a modem interpretation of the relative motions at Earth's plates.
Eurasian
Plate
Pacific
Plate
Earth's Major Crustal Plates
1. Label each of the lettered plate boundaries on the map above according to the relative motion that is
occurring there: Rift, Subduction, Transform or Inactive.
A. -----------------
B. -----------------
0. ----------------E.----------------2. Which type of plate boundary creates new crust?
3. What kind of crust is nearly always created at a rift zone? (Circle one.)
c. ___________
F. ----------------Continental or Oceanic
4. Which kind of plate boundary destroys part of the crust?
5. Which kind of crust is usually destroyed in subduction?
6. Which kind of boundary has many earthquakes,
but neither creates nor destroys the crust?
7. According to the map above, the Pacific Plate is moving toward the...
9. The idea that the Earth's surface is composed of a
number of rigid pieces that can slide apart, together
and past one another is known today as the theory of ---------------------------