Lesson 1 Earth’s Moving Plates
Lesson 2 Plate Tectonic’s: A Unifying Theory
Lesson 3: Earthquakes
Lesson 4: Volcanoes
Lesson 5: How Plate Tectonics Affects California
100
Describe Wegener’s theory.
He proposed a theory to explain changes in Earth’s surface over a long time periods. He noticed how closely Africa and South America would fit together if the two continents were pushed against each other. He proposed a hyposthesis of continental drift: the idea that a past supercontinent split apart into pieces, which drifted over time to their present locations.He believed that Earth was once a landmass called Pangaea.
100
Describe the three main layers of Earth.
The crust is the thin layer of solid rock that makes up the outermost part of Earth. The mantle is the thick layer of solid and melted rock that lies beneath the crust. The core is the central part of Earth made of iron and nickel.
100
What is the focus of an earthquake?
The point below the surface of Earth where an earthquake begins.
100
What are the effects of volcano eruptions?
It builds landforms, forms new islands, englarges new islands, destruction, loss of life, change in climate
100
Where is the lowest point in North America?
Death Valley is the lowest in the US. MT. Whitney is the highest in CA.
200
What evidence supports the hypothesis of continental drift?
Evidence supporting the hypothesis of continental drift includes rock formations and fossil distribution.
200
Distinguish between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.
The lithosphere means Lithos means “stone” and is the rigid, outer part of Earth made up of rocks in the crust attached to the upper part of the mantle. The asthenosphere is the layer of semimolten rock that lies directly below in the lithosphere. Asthenos means “weak”.
200
What is the epicenter of an earthquake?
The point on the surface of Earth directly above the foucs.
200
What made CA’s landscape?
Plate tectonics
200
What is the highest mountain range in CA?
Sierra Nevada
300
Earth’s surface changes due to:
Moving plates
300
Describe the three ways plates move.
Divergent plate boundary move away from each other. Convergent boundary come together. Transform boundary slide past each other.
300
What is triangulation?
A way of using information from at least three seismography stations to find the location of the epicenter.
300
Where do many volcanoes exist?
Along plate boundaries
300
Most of CA lies on what plate?
North American Plate
400
What best describes a long, narrow, deep valley on the ocean floor?
Ocean Trench
400
What causes tectonic plates on Earth to move?
Convection currents move the plates.
400
What are faults?
Breaks or cracks in teh rocks of the lithsphere along which movements take place.
400
Why does subduction volcanoes to form?
When two oceanic plates move toward each other, one may be subducted. Heated rock in teh subducted plate melts into magma. Erupting lava and other materials pile up on the overriding plate to form marine volcanoes.
400
The ___ is an area of low land bordered by the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges.
Central Valley
500
Evidence from __- supports the theory of continental drift.
fossils
500
How are S waves different from P waves?
P waves are faster; they vibrate in a push-pull fashion in the same direction in which the wave is traveling, and they pass through solids, liquids, and gases. S waves are slower; they vibrate at a right angle to the direction in which the waves are traveling, and they pass only through solids.
500
What tells what people feel and observe when an earthquake occurs?
Mercalli scale
500
What three kinds of landforms are created by the eruptions of volcanoes?
Describe them. Cinder Cones: forms when the ejected debris piles up around the vent. These volcanoes are often small and steep. Shield Volcanoes: It is built over time by lava flow. Because the lava flows slowly over time, there are no major eruptions. Composite Volcanoes: Forms when volcanic rocks alternate with magma. These volcanoes cause the most damage.
500
A deep crack in Earth’s crust in CA is the:
San Andreas Fault
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