Download Investigation 3: Plate Tectonics

Investigation 3: Plate Tectonics
Table of Contents
Folder 1: Plate Geography and Structure ................................................................................................... 18
Folder 2: Rates of Plate Movement ............................................................................................................ 19
Folder 3: Driving Forces .............................................................................................................................. 20
Folder 4: Plate Interactions ......................................................................................................................... 22
Folder 5: Mystery Tour................................................................................................................................ 24
Investigation Summary ............................................................................................................................... 26
CE3 Field Notebook - Module 3
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Folder 1: Plate Geography and Structure
Instructions
Step
1.
Click on the radio buttons next to “Inv 3: Plate Tectonics”. Open and read the
“Introduction” placemark balloon. Then close the 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 reexamine 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.
Complete
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 type makes up of oceanic crust?
Which type of plate is less dense?
Which type of plate is denser?
Are earthquakes or volcanoes associated with
plate boundaries?
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Notes and Questions
Folder 2: Rates of Plate Movement
Instructions
Step
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.
Complete
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)?
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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 you observations. Then close the balloon.
2.
Use your observations to answer the Interpretation questions.
Complete
Observations
What is convection?
What is the source of Earth’s heat?
How is heated material transported inside Earth?
What does the asthenosphere do?
CE3 Field Notebook - Module 3
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Notes and Questions
Interpretation
Would plates move if there was no radioactive decay in Earth’s core?
Claim:
Evidence:
Reasoning:
Would plates move if the asthenosphere was hard?
Claim:
Evidence:
Reasoning:
CE3 Field Notebook - Module 3
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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 saw in the animations. You will need these
notes for the Mystery Tour.
Complete
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:
Convergent Oceanic-Continental
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Convergent Oceanic-Oceanic
Convergent Continental-Continental
Divergent Oceanic-Oceanic
Divergent Continental-Continental
Transform
Notes and Questions
CE3 Field Notebook - Module 3
Page 23
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
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2
3
4
Notes and Questions
CE3 Field Notebook - Module 3
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Investigation Summary
Is Earth geologically active?
What aspects of Earth’s structure and dynamics cause this activity?
If you had to live near a plate boundary, which type of boundary would you want it to be? Why?
How long has it taken for scientists to reach their current understandings about plate tectonics? Do
you think there is still more to learn?
CE3 Field Notebook - Module 3
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