Name:
Period:
Date:
Plate Tectonics
Google Earth Lab
This assignment asks you to complete the following in Google Earth:
● Search for places (i.e. “Azores, Portugal”) using the Search function.
● Use the Ruler function to measure, in MILES, the length of geological features
(i.e. the length of the Azores island chain from Vila Do Porto to Vila Do Corvo in
MILES).
● Copy and paste screenshots of Google Earth answers (i.e. screenshot of
measured length, in MILES, of Azores island chain) below each question into
your Google Doc. Your screenshots will serve as your answers.
You will also be responsible for answering additional questions below.
Instructions:
● Open Google Earth app on your iPad or laptop / desktop.
● “Search” for the location next to each number.
● Trace and provide the length in MILES for the following questions using the Ruler
function in Google Earth.
● Copy and paste Google Earth screenshots directly onto Google Doc provided in
assignment on myPueo.
● Once copied and pasted, reduce the size of each picture (no bigger than 2 in by 3 in
when looking at your screen with 100% zoom)
● Be sure to answer any additional questions posed throughout the assignment.
● USE FULL SENTENCES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
Plate Tectonics - Google Earth Lab
Azores, Portugal:
Measure the length of the Azores Island Chain from Vila Do Porto to Vila Do Corvo.
Paste picture here:
Pacific Ocean Basin:
Measure the width of the Pacific Ocean Basin by:
A. First measuring the distance from West Papua to Oahu. Paste screenshot of
Google Earth with distance from West Papua to Oahu below.
Paste picture here:
B. Then measuring the distance from Oahu to Panama. Paste screenshot of Google
Earth with distance from Oahu to Panama below.
Paste picture here:
C. Finally add up the distances between your first length (West Papua to Oahu) and
second length (Oahu to Panama) to get a total for the distance of the Pacific
Ocean basin.
Mid-Atlantic Ridge:
Measure the length of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between the coordinates 51°09'38"S
6°06'25"W and the country of Iceland. Copy and paste the coordinates into Google
Earth search.
Paste picture here:
Marianas Trench:
Measure the length of the Marianas Trench from Palau to Japan.
Paste picture here:
Hawaiian Island Chain (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the Emperor Seamounts):
Measure the length of the Hawaiian Island Chain from Mauna Kea to the subduction
zone between the Pacific and North American Tectonic Plates. You may measure all
the way up to the subduction zone (there are no longer any labeled islands or atolls at
this point from the Hawaiian Island Chain).
Paste picture here:
A. Describe what is happening at the subduction zone where the Pacific Plate
meets the North American Plate near the Aleutians.
B. In which general direction is the Pacific Plate (and therefore the Hawaii Island
Chain) moving?
C. Why is Hawaiʻi located in the middle of the Pacific Plate instead of along a
tectonic boundary? What is Hawaiʻi sitting on?
D. What is located northeast and east of the Main Hawaiian Islands, beginning
about 30 miles east of the shoreline? What is this evidence of?