Reference no: EM133206447 , Length: Word count: 3 Pages

Question 1: Applying the Scientific Method--Theory of Plate Tectonics!

Directions: Read the passage below and answer the question that follows.

In the early 1900s, Alfred Wegener made some startling realizations. He noticed that the shape of the continents looked like puzzle pieces that could fit together. He saw that fern and reptile fossils were found on continents separated by vast oceans. He notices that certain mountains across the oceans looked the same. He also found that certain areas in the tropics contained glacial deposits. He wondered whether it was possible that the continents actually once were connected.

Wegener called his idea Continental Drift, but it lacked the mechanism for the actual "drifting" of the continents. In World War II, a great deal of seafloor studying took place, courtesy of sonar that was used to search for submarines. What they found was that the seafloor was actually quite rugged. Magnetic studies revealed that there were mirror-image magnetic zones or stripes in the rocks that parallel the newly found ocean ridge. They also found deep trenches along some continental margins. It appeared a mechanism may have been found! At this point, the theory of plate tectonics was proposed: the crust of the earth is composed of rigid plates that interact with one another at their boundaries, as they float on a semi-molten asthenosphere.

To explore the validity of this theory, scientists checked the age of ocean rock and the thickness of ocean floor sediment. With distance from the mid-ocean ridges, sediment thickness and age of the rocks should increase, they said. The subsequent testing revealed that this, in fact, was completely accurate. With further testing, scientists were even able to calculate how fast these plates move. The results were supportive, and the paradigm theory of Plate Tectonics was globally accepted.

Use the table below to identify each of the five steps of the scientific method being described in the passage above:

Scientific Method Step (enter the step's name in the parentheses)

Which part of the passage corresponds to the step?

Step 1 ( )

Step 2 ( )

Step 3 ( )

Step 4 ( )

Step 5 ( )

Question 2: Pick one rock (a specific igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary) and describe a complete journey it would foreseeably undergo through the rock cycle. Your journey will start with that rock, run it through the cycle, and return it to its initial step. Be sure to use solid, relevant vocabulary for rocks and the rock cycle in context, describe the processes and mechanisms involved in and between the steps clearly, and be sure to describe the features involved or created along each step. Your description should also include the minerals in the rock because what happens to the rock through the cycle's steps depends on what minerals it contains.

Question 3: [Choose either the earthquakes or the volcanoes option] Visit the "Special Earthquakes, Earthquake Sequences, and Fault Zones" page of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. Explore the site to find one earthquake that is particularly interesting to you. List which earthquake you picked and describe it. In your answer, be sure to use key, relevant vocabulary we learned in class. The successful answer will explain where and when the earthquake occurred, where the earthquake occurred geologically (e.g., along particular plate boundaries, faults, zones of existing weakness, intraplate, etc.), what the intensity was, what the magnitude was, what damage was caused by the earthquake, how many people were affected, a technical description of the earthquake, and anything additionally interesting or important that we may have learned from studying the earthquake or its seismic signature. ~~OR~~ Go online to the USGS and visit their Volcano Hazard Program page. Read through the news on the front page and do a deep dive and summary of one of the news briefs ON A VOLCANO that is of interest to you. You can also explore the map to check out a particular volcano that might be of interest. Most of the volcanoes have their own page that discusses volcanic activity and volcano preparedness. Have fun with this question!

Question 4: You bring Alfred Wegener and some of his critics forward in time to meet with you for one hour, so that you can help him prove his theory. This is very convenient, since you've just recently completed the module on plate tectonics in this very course! Write an essay that uses facts, sarcasm, humor, etc. to help him convince his peers. The successful argument will identify the key elements of Wegener's theory, as well as include the critic's arguments. The successful defense will thoroughly describe numerous (3 or more) lines of evidence that clearly illustrate and support the theory and that demonstrate the interconnections and linkages between the governing theories of Continental Drift, Seafloor Spreading, and Plate Tectonics. Be careful not to overly-focus on Continental Drift...Wegener had that theory covered. It's your job to support him with the newer empirical evidence (about seafloor spreading).

Question 5: Pick 5 geographic examples of each of the plate boundaries we learned about in class (i.e., one example for each: transform, divergent, ocean-ocean convergent, ocean-continent convergent, and continent-continent convergent) and describe what is happening at each location in detail-tell the tectonic story of the settings. The successful response will include discussion of the types of plates involved; the geological processes at play at the boundary; what is physically happening to the plates in each case and whether it is destructive, constructive, or neutral; geologic features formed (earthquakes and type, volcanoes with good detail, mountain types, faults, folds, etc.); and types of rocks formed at each.