Download Locate the plate boundaries

Locate the plate boundaries
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to access a wide variety of scientific data on the internet.
2. Students will be able to apply the data to a project and have a hands-on
experience.
3. Students will be able to make inferences about possible location of plate
boundaries based upon seismic data obtained from various sources on the internet.
Concept:
Earth’s Oceans and continents are embedded in several large, flat plates that are
moving slowly (about 5 cm/year). These lithospheric plates rest on top of the solid, but
plastic, lower Mantle or Asthenospheer. The convection currents in the Asthenosphere,
due to the earth’s escaping heat, provide the driving force of plate movement. There are
three types of plate movement, convergence, divergence and transform. Convergence
occurs when two plates move towards each other. Divergence is the spreading apart of
plates and transform faults occur when two plates slide past each other.
Volcanoes and Earthquakes help define the boundaries between plates. Volcanoes form
mostly at converging and diverging plate boundaries where much magma is generated.
Earthquakes occur at all three types of boundaries. Because the plates are rigid, they tend
to stick together, even though they are constantly moving. When the strength of the rocks
at the plate boundary is exceeded, they move rapidly, “catching up” with the rest of the
plates. We feel this release of energy as an Earthquake.
Procedure:
1. Use the World Wide Web to locate five earthquakes that have occurred most
recently in five different places. Use at least five different sources.
2. Complete the data sheet provided by noting down the latitude, longitude,
magnitude of earthquake, the hypo central distance for at least three different
stations for each earthquake that occurred.
3. Make a note of URL address of the source used.
4. Plot the locations on the world map.
5. Use the information gathered to infer the location of plate boundaries. This is
where two large continental plates are touching each other.
Data Sheet:
Date of
occurrence
Station
Latitude
Longitude
Magnitude
Hypo central
distance
URL source;
Questions:
1. Name the plates Use your imaginational look at a globe and relief map of the
world and find features that might be associated with these boundaries. Label
them on the map.
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8.
2.
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11.
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13.
7.