Week 10: Layers of Earth, Convection Cells, and Plate Tectonics

  1. This week in lab we deepened our understanding of convection cells and used that to create different plate boundaries. We began by reviewing that primary waves cannot go through solid objects and Earth’s layers consist of the crust, mantle, and core. We then shared our videos and discussed convection. This led into our activity where we created different plate boundaries using whipped cream, graham crackers, and rice cakes. First, we created a divergent boundary where two plates are pulled apart. Then, we created a transform boundary where two plates slide past each other. Lastly, we created convergent boundaries where one plate dove under the other and where two plates collided. I have pictures below of our work for each. This was a fun, helpful activity that I would use in my future classroom to help visualize these processes. 

  1. How does the movement of tectonic plates impact Earth over millions of years? 

  2. Discussion Notes:

Oct 30 Discussion

Earthquake Questions 

  • What causes earthquakes to have different levels of power?

    • Amount of tension; how long the plates have been trying to slide past each other. 

  • Will there ever be a big enough Earthquake that it shakes the whole world

    • Yes, north of 9 is usually felt globally 

  • What happens underwater as earthquakes happen?

    • Tsunami 

    • Plates shift under water, impacting the waves 

  • Waves 

    • Primary wave; first wave (biggest). 

    • Secondary waves (s waves) will go through the solid core, felt globally. 

    • Ripples feel less the farther away you are. 

  • Could an earthquake really cause the world to fall in on itself like some movies depict?

    • No

  • Do earthquakes occur in predictable areas? Why do some happen in areas that are off the normal pathway?

    • Yes

    • Ancient fault lines or humanity; when we fract/shove into the Earth (for oil) 

  • Do earthquakes get more frequent with the rise of global warming

    • No correlation between increased earthquake activity and global warming

Volcanoes/Plate Tectonics Questions 

  • Is there a volcano powerful enough that it could destroy our continent/parts of the Earth

    • Yes, yellowstone; when this happens it will destroy life 

    • Historically under Oregon, now Wyoming 

    • Bad lands; ash 

  • Does lava that flows in the oceans affect aquatic life?

    • Yes, off the coast of Hawaii there is a microenvironment of high temperature water ecosystem 

    • Whatever is there is boiled/massively impacted 

  • How does volcano ash preserve things underneath it? 

    • Buries stuff and preserves it. 

  • Why/how do volcanoes erupt and become inactive?

    • Plate movement, magma fills up 

    • Inactive: pipeline of melted magma underneath it shuts off 

  • Do volcanoes occur in predictable areas? Why do some happen in areas that are off the normal pathway?

    • Yes

    • Off the pathway: change of materials 

  • How do we know when a volcano is going to erupt again?

    • Don’t know, they do watch them when they become active 

Plate Tectonics 

  • The continents are not drifting, they are connected to ocean material 

  • Convergent: converge, come together 

  • Divergent: break apart, filled  with magma

  • Transform: slide 

Quiz

  • What is occurring at the mid-Atlantic Ridge? Plates are diverging 

  • What happens to the age of the ocean basin (bottom) as you move from the middle of the Atlantic toward the African coastline? It gets older (middle; born that day) 

  • Which observation about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge region provides the best evidence that the seafloor has been spreading for millions of years? The seafloor bedrock is younger near the ridge and older farther away 

  • Ocean sea floors spread at a consistent rate over time? False 

  • Sea floor spreading is measured using what scale? mm/year

Learned/Exam Content

  • Geologic Time 

  • Focks and Rock Cycle

  • Geodes

  • Law of Superposition

  • Sand

  • Fossils 

  • Erosion/Weathering 

  • Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Hot stops

  • Layers of the Earth, Convection Cells, Plate Tectonics 

  1. In Chapter 10, I deepened my understanding of the layers of the Earth, convection cells, and plate tectonics. I learned the Earth is made of four layers: the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. The crust is made up of plates and is much thinner than the other layers. Whereas the mantle is the thickest and largest layer of the Earth. I found it interesting that the flow of the liquid in the outer core creates Earth’s magnetic field, but the inner layer is solid and waves therefore are refracted or bent by the core during events such as earthquakes. However, I am still struggling to fully understand the inner and outer core and plan to read more into it. I then learned more about Pangea and continental drift. Pangea occurred around 250 million years ago when all of Earth’s landmass were united in a single supercontinent, then the continents moved apart. Wegener explained this movement as continental drift, as he noticed the continents appeared to once fit together and found the same fossils in different continents. Continental drift has now been expanded to include plate tectonics to explain how Earth’s plates move. Building on this, plate tectonics explains how Earth’s crust is divided into plates that float on the molten mantle and are slowly moved, about 3 to 5 centimeters per year, by convection currents that cycle heat from the interior to the surface. Overall, I found the visuals and clear explanations throughout this chapter helpful in strengthening my understanding. 

  2. I have no questions, comments, or concerns at this time. 

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