Tectonic plates vdone california academy of sciences. The earth is composed of layers of different composition and physical properties, principally the solid central core, the fluid peripheral core, the viscous mantle, and the solid. The basic idea behind plate tectonics is that there are eight major plates on the surface of the earth. Before an earthquake during an earthquake after an earthquake for more information on earthquake preparedness. Many people in the united states think of california when they think of faults. Plate tectonics and earthquakes lesson plan with video.
Earthquake epicenters occur mostly along tectonic plate boundaries, and especially on the pacific ring of fire. Using the tectonic outline map, create a cover page with drawing of volcanoes and hazards. Here are a few nice usgs maps that might be useful. The earths plates jostle about in fits and starts that are punctuated with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Plate tectonics and the distribution of earthquakes sample. Earthquakes parts of the earth are always moving, usually so slowly that we do not feel anything. At some point, this stress can cause the rock to break or move. Download file watch the above youtube about our earth and try to give me 5 pieces of information about the structure of our planet and the processes that go on inside it. Learn what you can do to prepare for an earthquake before, during, and after. Earthquakes caused by humans always occur close to the site where an activity is being carried out. Try to place some named examples as accurately as you can. A fault is a weak point within a tectonic plate where. Studies of earlier seismological records show that the largest recorded event in the region consists of a mw8.
Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so. Types of earthquakes and faults most earthquakes in the world occur along the boundaries of the tectonic plates as described above and are called interplate earthquakes e. Earths major earthquakes occur mainly in belts coinciding with the margins of tectonic plates. Plate tectonics is the theory that explains how large pieces of the earths outermost layer, called tectonic plates, move and change shape. Tectonic plates are constantly moving slowly, but sometimes friction between them causes them lock together and become unable to move. Earthquake earthquakes are sudden, violent shaking of the earths crust. A number of earthquakes also occur within the plate itself but away from the plate boundaries e. Part or all of this report is presented in portable document format pdf. Before an earthquake during an earthquake after an earthquake for more information on earthquake. The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust lithosphere is broken into. They move atop the underlying mantle, a really thick layer of hot flowing rock. Powerpoint click to download the ms powerpoint file 146 mbytes pdf click to view or download the presentation in pdf 5 mbytes ht ml cl ick to view the presentation in html format. However, this is a cover page and i want you to be creative and imaginative. Earthquakes may cause liquefaction, landslides, fire, and tsunami which would lead to far higher level of damage and losses.
The epicentre of an earthquake is the point on the surface of earth directly above the epicentre. Thats because areas with a lot of faults have a lot of earthquakes. An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the earth resulting from a sudden release of. Earthquake magnitude earthquake severity richter magnitude earthquake effects less than 3. Photos, videos, and podcasts selected lists of earthquake damage, faults, and effects photos, videos, and podcasts.
Explain, with reference to examples that you have studied, how the theory of plate tectonics helps to explain the distribution of earthquakes around the world 2012 q1 b. The longer the plates remain stuck, the more strain builds and the. Tectonic summaries of magnitude 7 and greater earthquakes. Seismic and tectonic correspondence of major earthquake. Discuss with students that earthquakes are the result of tectonic movement and that one way the scientists know where tectonic plate boundaries are is from earthquake location data. The size of the earthquake is called its magnitude. Video transcript plate tectonics volcanos with liz liz cottrell. Large earthquakes have occurred in the region in recent past, such as the mw7. I copied the maps onto transparencies and created a lab where students ultimately overlaid the transparencies to compare and contrast the locations of earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate boundaries. Earthquakes arent predictable, so the best practice is to always be prepared. When we say constantly moving, were talking centimeters each year. Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain.
It is made up of thick, interconnecting pieces called tectonic plates that fit together like a puzzle. Volcanic eruptions can release huge amounts of energy that can be felt as earthquakes. The plate tectonics mapping activity allows students to. Symbols white arrows show plate motion direction volcanoes generalized hot spot arrow direction of plate motion great earthquakes since 1900. Tectonic processes and hazards overview tectonic hazards earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and secondary hazards such as tsunamis represent a significant risk in some parts of the world. You will recall from a previous chapter that there are three. Department of geology, university of ghana, accra, ghana.
Plate tectonics information and facts national geographic. There is an editable word powerpoint excel version and a pdf version of each file. Its like when youre teacher loses their marbles because youve asked them the same question 7 times in a row. It is possible to identify the following features from the map. Learning earthquake tip 1 earthquake design and construction. The plate boundaries are made up of many faults, and most. The january 2006 volcanictectonic earthquake swarm at.
Tectonic earthquakes occur at plate tectonic boundaries. A plate tectonic puzzle introduction the earths crust is not a solid shell. We know that tectonic forces stress and strain deform or bend the rocks of the. The guide contains links to totle introduction to plate tectonics and earthquakes teaching resources and a table of contents of teaching resources on this topic. Im standing here in the geology, gems, and minerals hall in front of the earthquakes and eruptions exhibit. This has long been apparent from early catalogs of felt earthquakes and is even more readily discernible in modern seismicity maps, which show instrumentally determined epicentres. Plate tectonics describes the distribution and motion of the plates. Search the comcat earthquake catalog, and choose kml for the output format. One consequence of this convection is the fragmentation of the lithosphere into tectonic plates, and the slow movement of these plates relative to each other. In reality, there are faults all over north america, not just in.
Earthquake summary posters for significant earthquakes. Record your data and calculate the distance of the earthquakes from each city. The movement of earth s crust resulting from the release of built up potential energy between two stuck tectonic plates. All earthquakes are located using the nad27 datum, and depths.
Educational publications selected publications about earthquakes in plain language. Human activities such as mining, dam reservoirs, and nuclear explosions can trigger minor earthquakes. The length of the wiggle depends on the size of the fault, and the size of the wiggle depends on the amount of slip. Introduction to plate tectonics and earthquakes documents. Plate tectonics and the distribution of earthquakes sample answer plate tectonics and the distribution of earthquakes sample answer q. Im liz cottrell, director of the global volcanism program at the national museum of natural history.
Global plate tectonic movement an earthquake also known as a quake, tremor or temblor is the shaking of the surface of the earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the earth s lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes and tectonic plates name date geology city time between p and s waves distance of earthquake from city time x 1500km sydney san francisco mumbai latitude longitude magnitude location59. This guide is an outline of the plate tectonic and earthquake seismology powerpoint presentations. This module is focused on assessing only earthquake shaking hazard and risk. Learn more about the causes and effects of earthquakes in this article. Faults and associated folds in the united states that are believed to be sources of m6 earthquakes during the quaternary the past 1,600,000 years. They are caused when the earths tectonic plates move, rub, collide, or break apart. The movement results in pressure changes where the rock around the magma has experienced stress. Most earthquakes happen when parts of the earth move quickly. The assessment of earthquake risk constitutes the first step to support decisions and actions to reduce potential losses. The plate boundaries are made up of many faults, and most of the earthquakes around the world occur on these faults.
Preliminary earthquake hazard map of afghanistan usgs. Earthquakes 101 earthquakes can leave behind incredible. Faulting faults in a plate are usually parallel to each other. The tectonic plates are always moving slowly 212 cmyear.
The science behind earthquakes what is an earthquake. The movement of earths crust resulting from the release of built up potential energy between two stuck tectonic plates. The structure of the earth, plate tectonics and landforms. A volcano tectonic earthquake is an earthquake caused by the movement of magma beneath the surface of the earth. A pdf guide to plate tectonics and earthquakes is also available. Aftershocks are the shocks that people feel for hours or even days after an earthquake. The rest of the plates carry on moving, which leads to. Locations of earthquakes and volcanoes show the plate boundaries and ocean floor features. They run up and down the plate in an area called a fault zone.
Plate tectonics summary the earth is made up of 3 main layers core, mantle, crust on the surface of the earth are tectonic plates that slowly move around the globe plates are made of crust and upper mantle lithosphere there are 2 types of plate there are 3 types of plate boundaries volcanoes and earthquakes are closely. The most important earthquake belt is the circumpacific belt. Tectonic earthquake s are explained by the socalled elastic rebound theory, formulated by the american geologist harry fielding reid after the san andreas fault ruptured in 1906, generating the great san francisco earthquake. The routine earthquake processing at avo includes automatically creating individual data files for each earthquake, timing arrivals with an inhouse picking program, and locating the earthquakes with hypoellipse lahr, 1999 using a regional velocity model searcy, 2003. The theory of plate tectonics grew out of earlier hypotheses and observations collected during exploration of the rocks of the ocean floor.
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