Download Plate Boundaries Lab

Plate Boundaries Lab
Name:_________________________
Directions: the following websites to help you answer the following questions.
Background: There are three types of plate boundaries on our globe:
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Divergent boundaries -- where new crust is generated as the plates pull away
from each other.
Convergent boundaries -- where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under
another.
Transform boundaries -- where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the
plates slide horizontally past each other.
Tectonic plates move on average 2.5cm a year, that is 25km (15 miles) in one million
years!
Lab Investigation:
Station 1: http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/65/105565-004-82898B2F.gif
1. Looking at the Tectonic Plate map, identify the largest plate on the earths surface.
What type of crust is it? What kind of plate boundary surrounds most of this plate?
Station 2:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/South_American_Plate_mapfr.png
2. Locate the South American plate and find the Andes mountain range. Why are there
mountains on the western side of the continent and not the eastern side, explain.
Station 3 http://www.age-of-thesage.org/tectonic_plates/tectonic_plates_boundaries.gif
3. Identify a plate boundary that is currently creating new crust for the earth. Locate a
boundary that is currently destroying earth’s crust.
A.
B.
Station 4: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Australian_Plate_mapfr.png
4. To what general direction is the Australian plate moving? Which plate will
disappear first, the Australian or Pacific plate, why?
Station 5: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Plates_tect2_en.svg
5. Locate the Cocos and Caribbean plate. What type of boundary occurs here?
Hypothesize what will eventually happen to the island landmasses around this area.
Station 6: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Plates_tect2_en.svg
6. You have just been hired to build new nuclear reactor sites around the world and
safety is your number one concern. Using your knowledge of plate tectonics assess
whether the following building sites would be suitable for building a new reactor. If a
site is unsuitable please justify why.
A. Auckland, New Zealand:
B. Tokyo, Japan:
C. Denver, Colorado USA:
D. Panama City, Panama: