Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _______
Geosphere Stations
Station #1 – Layers of the Earth
1. Label the layers of the Earth with the tags.
2. Answer the following questions using the model, your notes, prior knowledge or the textbook:
Questions:
1. The crust and the upper mantle together make up a zone of rigid, brittle rock called the:
2. The part of mantle that has convection currents that cause plate movement is called the:
3. Name two metals found in the Outer Core:
4. What is the difference between the continental crust and oceanic crust?
5. The Inner Core is under so much pressure it does not move like a liquid; instead it is a:
Station 2: Seafloor Spreading
Use the model, your prior knowledge and notes to answer the following questions:
1. What is happening at the Mid Ocean Ridge?
2. What is happening at the subduction zone/trench slits?
3. If you were to sample and date the rocks starting at the Mid Ocean Ridge and moving toward Subduction
Zone on the right what change would you see in the age of the rocks?
4. In this model, what do the strips represent?
5. What causes the plates to be pushed apart?
6. How does seafloor spreading relate to the breakup of Pangaea?
Station 3: Mapping Plate Boundaries
Directions- use small balls of modeling clay to plot recent earthquakes and active volcanoes on a large map of
the Earth. Once all points have been plotted, compare your plotted points to a map of tectonic plate boundaries
to answer the Key Questions at the bottom of this page.
Clay Color Plotting Key:
Earthquakes: Yellow
Volcanoes: Red
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Recent Major Earthquakes
(>8.0 magnitude, past 100 yrs)
Location
Lat.
Long.
(deg)
(deg)
Sumatra
1N
92 E
Japan
38 N
142 E
Chile
36 S
73 W
Samoa
Peru
Tonga
Sumatra
Japan
Peru
Papua
New
Guinea
15 S
13 S
20 S
2N
41 N
17 S
3S
172 W
77 W
174 W
97 E
143 E
74 W
152 E
Active Volcanoes
#
1
2
3
Location
Guatemala
Indonesia
P. New
Guinea
4 Russia
5 Ecuador
6 Mexico
7 Italy
8 Fuji
9 Java
10 Iceland
Lat.
Long.
14 N
3N
3S
90 W
125 E
144 E
56 N
0
17 N
37 N
35 N
7S
64 N
160 E
78 W
73 W
15 E
138 E
108 E
20 W
Key Questions:
1. Which region of the world would you consider to be most geologically active? Why?
2. Look at a map of tectonic plate boundaries provided for you and compare it to the plotted earthquakes and
active volcanoes on your big map. What is the relationship between earthquakes, active volcanoes, and
plate boundaries?
3. Why is the Pacific Rim considered the “Ring of Fire”? What type of plate boundary is most common along
the Ring of Fire? (convergent, divergent, or transform)