Plate Tectonics
What are the plates?
Pieces of the lithosphere (crust and upper part of mantle) that are broken into separate sections.
What is an earthquake?
Vibrations in the ground that result from movement along faults, or breaks in Earth's lithosphere
What is a volcano?
Weak spot in Earth's crust where molten material, or magma, comes to the surface
What kind of boundary mountain created the tallest and most varied mountain belts?
Convergent Boundary Mountains
What kind of mountain is formed by large regions of Earth being slowly forced upward instead of due to plate boundaries?
Uplifted mountains
What is plate tectonics?
Theory that explains the formation, movement and subduction of Earth's plates.
What is the difference between elastic strain and plastic strain?
Elastic strain is not permanent, after the stress is removed the rock goes back to its original shape. Plastic strain is permanent and usually occurs when rocks are weak or hot.
What forms volcanic belts?
Fractures caused by diverging or converging plates that allow magma to reach the surface along boundaries of Earth's plates.
The Himalayas are an example of a continental-continental convergence. Why do these types of convergences create such tall mountains?
Due to low density of continental plates, they cannot subduct when they converge, instead they become folded, faulted, and thickened. The crust is broken into slabs and pushed on top of each other and over time the crust can be doubled, making very large mountains.
What is the relationship between a batholith and a dome mountain?
Dome mountains can be formed when an uplift pushes a batholith toward the surface.
What happens at a divergent boundary?
Two plates move apart from each other exposing magma that will push up due to pressure differences and will form more crust/rock pushing the plates further apart.
What are the three types of stress that can occur in the crust?
Compression, Tension, and Shear
What are the two types of lava that are produced by quiet eruptions?
Pahoehoe and aa
What are Divergent-Boundary Mountains responsible for building?
Ocean ridges
How can I stay safe during an earthquake?
Get under a doorway or outside if there are no tall buildings or trees.
What is a transform boundary?
When two plates slide side by side next to each other.
How does a normal fault form?
When forces pull rock apart along a divergent plate boundary
What is the difference between a dormant volcano and an extinct volcano?
Dormant volcanoes are not active but may become active, and extinct volcanoes are unlikely to erupt again.
How are peaks, valleys, and canyons formed on a plateau?
Erosion
Where would I find a divergent boundary typically?
In the oceans.
What kind of boundary forms subduction zones and creates volcanoes?
Convergent boundaries
Explain triangulation.
Using at least three different seismometers can help determine the distance seismic waves traveled, giving a pin point location of the epicenter.
When you think of a typical volcano, as the mountain shaped thing with a hole up top, is that an example of a landform created from lava and ash, or one created from magma?
One created from lava and ash. The landforms created by magma don't look like volcanoes in the typical sense.
What are the Grand Tetons in Wyoming an example of?
Fault-Block Mountains
What kind of boundary is between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate?
Transform boundary