Download Mantle Plume Quiz: ANSWER KEY

Rosa Argiero
GEO 201
Title: The Galapagos Islands
Grade: 6th
NGSS
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have
changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is
on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as
slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or
microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes,
volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic
events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and deposition by the
movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local
geographic features, where appropriate.]
Objectives:
1. Students will model the formation of an island that forms above a hotspot.
2. Students will define the terms hot spot, mantle plume, seamount, and tectonic plate.
3. Students will explain how surfaces of the Earth change over time from tectonic
movement.
Engage:
The teacher will begin by showing the students pictures of islands. The students will be asked
to write down observations for each picture in their notebooks.
The Galapagos Islands:
http://www.cntraveller.com/guides/south-america/ecuador/galapagos-islands/where-to-stay
http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/travelers-10-islands-world/
Marquesas Islands:
http://www.pleasetakemeto.com/tahiti-and-french-polynesia/marquesas-islands/photos-gallery
Hawaiian Islands:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hawaje-NoRedLine.jpg
http://www.topdreamer.com/lets-go-to-hawaii-the-magical-tropical-islands/
The teacher will ask the students the following questions:
What do these islands all have in common?
How are islands different than continents?
How are islands formed?
Do all islands form the same way?
The teacher will call on volunteers to share their thoughts.
Explore:
1. The teacher will read, “Island: A Story of the Galapagos” by Jason Chin to the students.
After reading the story, the teacher will ask the students the following questions:
How do the Galapagos Islands form?
Why do the islands shrink and sink below the ocean?
2. “Mantle Plume” in a beaker: The teacher will make a model to demonstrate a mantle plume
in front of the class. The teacher will use a 600 ml beaker and fill it three quarters full of thick,
viscous syrup (such as Golden Syrup) that was in the freezer for the previous hour, so that it is
extra thick. Next, the teacher will place a cookie or biscuit that is hard and broken in half on
top of the syrup. The teacher will place the beaker of syrup on a tripod that is over a Bunsen
burner.
The teacher will ask the students to make predictions of what will happen to the syrup and
biscuit. The students will be asked to observe the side view of the beaker to see the syrup rise
similar to a mantle plume. As the syrup cools it become paler in color and a “plume” of warm
syrup will rise to the surface. The two pieces of the biscuits will separate, representing a
divergent plate boundary. The teacher will ask the following questions:
What is happening to the syrup as it is heated up?
Why is the syrup rising to the top of the beaker?
How does this resemble the formation of the islands in the Galapagos Island story?
3. Student will be divided into pairs and given a Galapagos Island to investigate on the
following website:
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/GalapagosWWW/GalapagosMap.html
Students will use the webpage to find out facts about their island. A fill-in-the- blank worksheet
will be provided for the students to write their answers.
Galapagos Islands that students will investigate on the website:
Volcan Ecuador
Espanola
Wolf and Darwin Islands
Santa Fe
Pinta
Floreana
Genovesa
Cerro Azul
Marchena
Sierra Negra
Santiago
Rabida
Santa Cruz
Valcan Darwin
San Cristobal
Fernandina
Explain:
1. The students will use the information on their Galapagos Island worksheet to create a poster
of their island to present to the class. Students will use the posters they have created to
explain the information they have found about their island.
2. The teacher will project Google Earth, viewing the Galapagos Islands, in front of the class.
The teacher will ask the students to explain their answers to the following questions:
In what direction do you think the islands are moving? How can you tell?
What are they moving away from?
What happens to the islands as they move away from the location they were formed?
Elaborate:
1. The teacher will project the Galapagos Islands on Google Earth. The students will be asked
to observe the ocean features around the islands. The teacher will ask the following questions:
What do you notice about the ocean floor?
What could those ridges and bumps represent?
2. The teacher will show the following video clip to the class. It explains how mantle plumes
form islands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhSaE0omw9o
After watching the video clip, the students will work in pairs to draw a model of how mantle
plumes form islands. The students will be asked to mark where the mantle plume comes from
and the direction it moves. They will also be asked to mark the direction the volcanic islands
move.
3. Students will be asked to think about the following statement, Iceland formed by a mantle
plume. How can this be? The teacher will then show a short video clip of how Iceland formed
and the hot springs on the island.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZdeavURhk8
The students will be asked to discussion the following question with their partner:
How is there a mantle plume below Iceland?
Evaluate:
1. To assess the student’s knowledge of what they have learned, they will be given a five
question quiz.
2. Lastly, students will be given the following diagram. They will be asked to label where a
magma plume originates, its’ direction of movement, and the formation of an island.
http://staff.dunlapcusd.net/dms/Teachers/tnoonen/platetectonics.htm
Scientific Background:
The Galapagos Islands are located off the coast of Ecuador and consist of 15 large
islands and 100 smaller islands. The islands vary in shape, size, and vegetation. The Galapagos
Islands are a product of a mantle plume, which are defined as a column of hot rock deep within
the Earth. The islands are unique in that they sit on the earth’s crust over a volcanic hot spot,
which is an area where heated rock rises from deep within the earth. As the rock reaches the
surface it melts because of decompression. Only about 20 percent of the plume melts into
magma that gets trapped in magma chambers. Volcanic eruptions occur occasionally, which
release the magma. The upward motion of the mantle plumes push the lithosphere upwards.
The volcanoes grow until their peaks emerge from the sea and become islands. Due to the
motion of the plates, the crust slowly moves over the hot spot. This causes the island to move
away from the hot spot and then it sinks. When the island is no longer on top of the hot spot,
the volcano stops erupting. The island cools and the island shrinks. However, new islands
continue to form over the hot spot and repeat the same pattern.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vlocation3.html
The Galapagos, Iceland, and Azores islands are all found near plate boundaries. For
example, Iceland formed over a mid ocean ridge. The Hawaian, Marquesas, and Society Islands
are all found between plates. All six island chains formed form mantle plumes.
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/archive/1995/95_04_14.html
In the map above, the think dashed lined shows the ridge that formed by the Hawaiian
hot spot over the last 80 million years. The arrows represent the direction and rate of motion
the plates are moving relative to the hot spots. The dots represent the location of the youngest
island of hot spot island chains. A= Marquesas B= Society G = Galapagos J = Iceland N = Azores
The islands that move off of the hotspot and eventually sink below the water’s surface
are called seamounts. Scientists have found many seamounts east of the Galapagos that are
believed to have once been islands. The oldest seamount is estimated to be about nine million
years old. However, research has found that islands have been growing and dying on the
Galapagos hot spot for approximately ninety million years.
References:
"A Brief Introduction to the Geology of the Galapagos Islands." Galapagos Geology on the Web.
Ed. W H. White. Department of Geological Sciences at Cornell University, 23 Jan. 2001. Web. 18
Nov. 2013. <http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/Galapagos.html>.
Chin, Jason. Island A Story of the Galapagos. New York: Roaring Book Press, 2012. 1-30. Print.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. USGS scienc for a changing world, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Dec.
2013. <http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/>.
McGeary, David, Charles C. Plummer, and Diane H. Carlson. Earth Revealed. Fifth ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2004. 110-29. Physical Geology. Print.
The mantle plume demonstration was found at
http://www.earthlearningidea.com/PDF/86_Mantle_plume.pdf
Names: __________________________
__________________________
Galapagos Island Investigation
Please work with your partner to explore the website and investigate your given island to
answer the following questions. Note: You may not be able to find the answers to all of
these questions. Do your best at answering most.
Go to http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/GalapagosWWW/GalapagosMap.html
Click on your island name, and then answer the questions.
1. What are the surface features of the island?
2. Is this island considered old or young? Is an age estimated for this island?
3. Are there any volcanoes on this island? Have they ever been active? Are they
currently active?
4. What type of rock is found on this island?
5. What type of vegetation or animals live on this island?
6. List three other interesting facts about this island.
Name: ____________________
Mantle Plume Quiz
Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability based on the material you
explored and learned today.
1. Where to mantle plumes rise from?
________________________
2. As the mantle plume rises towards the surface, is it a solid, liquid, or gas? ________
3. Name one island that was formed by mantle plumes.
________________________
4. What is a hotspot? ______________________________________________________
5. What causes islands to move away from hotspots? ____________________________
Mantle Plume Quiz: ANSWER KEY
Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability based on the material you
explored and learned today.
1. From what location does a mantle plumes rise from?
(core-mantle boundary)
2. As the mantle plume rises towards the surface, is it a solid, liquid, or gas? (solid)
3. Name one island that was formed by mantle plumes.
(Galapagos Islands- Rabida)
4. What is a hotspot? (a volcanic center, where a mantle plume travels to)
5. What causes islands to move away from hotspots?
(tectonic plate motion)