Questions - Plate Boundaries

1.What are the first 3 types of plate boundaries listed?
             Divergent, Convergent, and Transform boundaries.

2. What does the word divergent mean in regard to plate movement?  What forces the plates to move apart at divergent boundaries?
             To move apart. They are forced apart by magma pushing up form the mantle.
 
3. Give an example of a specific mid-ocean ridge where seafloor spreading and divergent boundaries occur.  What country sits directly on top of this ridge?  What are the red triangles that are shown on the map of this country?
            The Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland sits directly on top of it. The red triangles represent some of Iceland’s active     volcanoes.

4. What does the word convergent mean in regard to plate movement?
            Convergent means that the plates are moving towards each other.

5. Find the diagrams shown on the website for each of the following kinds of plate boundaries.  Label and post the three diagrams on your blog.

a.     Oceanic-continental convergence

b.     Oceanic-oceanic convergence

c.     Continental-continental convergence

6. When one plate gets pushed below another plate it is called subduction.  What geologic features form on Earth’s surface directly above the subduction zone in the case of:
            a. oceanic-continental convergence? deep sea trench or volcanic arc
            b. oceanic-oceanic convergence? deep sea trench or an island arc
            c. continental-continental convergence? very high mountains

7. What is a transform boundary?  What geological disturbance is caused along transform boundaries?  Where in North America is there an example of this type of plate boundary?
           A transform boundary is when crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide past each other. The San Andreas fault zone is an example of this in North America.

8. Using the Internet and a focused search, identify the type of plate interaction that caused the following features:
    a. Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Divergent
    b. Kuril Trench:  Convergent
    c. Philippine Islands: Convergent
    d. East African Rift Valley: Divergent
    e. Red Sea: Divergent
    f.Peru-Chile Trench: Divergent
    g. Aleutian Islands: Divergent

Geologic Timeline: Follow-up Questions

1. In order for multi-cellular life to take hold, the heavy bombardment had to stop, water had to form, the temperature had to cool, and the atmosphere had to allow for it.
2. I believe that the Proterozoic Era was the most important in terms of the development of the Earth because oxygen began filling the atmosphere and multi-cellular organisms formed, laying the ground work for human existence.
3. I believe that the presence of humans is very insignificant in context of the entire history of the Earth. Out of the estimated 4.5 billions years that Earth has been alive, humans have only been existent for a very short time, barely a blink of an eye in the whole scheme of things.

Geologic Timeline: Follow-up Questions