Plate Tectonics, Earthquake, and Volcanoes
What Does All Of This Have To Do With Biodiversity?
Write your answers to these questions on another sheet of paper
Look at the Geologic Time Scale on page D-1 (Appendix D)
1. Name the three Eras of time and the organisms that were typical of the Era.
Read pages 33 - 35
2. Draw and label a diagram of Earth’s interior.
3. What two types of crust are on the Earth?
4. What is the asthenosphere and why is it important?
5. What was Pangaea?
6. The Earth’s crust consists of roughly how many major plates?
7. How fast do the plates move?
Do you remember…..
8. What scientist first came up with the idea of “continental drift”? Why was his idea rejected
by other scientist?
9. What evidences do scientists use to substantiate the theory of continental drift?
Read pages 35 - 37
10. There are three types of plate boundaries.
a. Describe how each type of plate boundary moves.
b. What is subduction and how does it occur?
c. How are island arcs, such as near Japan, formed?
d. How were the Cascades in the Pacific Norwest formed?
e. How were the Himalayas formed?
f. How were our Appalachian Mountains formed?
g. Draw and label each type of boundary. Notice there are two types of convergent
boundaries. Be sure to draw and label each type.
On the world map
11. On your map label the following major plates: North American, South American, Pacific,
Eurasian, African, Antarctica,Indian- Australian, Juan de Fuca, Nazca, Cocos, and the Arabian
Plate. As you draw each plate boundary identify the type of boundary and indicate which
way it is moving. (Colored pencils are located on the table near the “Got Work?” box if you
would like to use them.)
12. Why does Iceland have“exceptional geothermal energy”?
13. How is the location of biomes related to the topography created by tectonic processes?
14. How as plate tectonics contributed to widespread extinctions?
Read pages 37-39
15. How are rocks and minerals different?
16. What is the difference in magma and lava?
17. How do igneous rocks form?
18. How do sedimentary rocks form?
19. How are scientist able to date fossils found in sedimentary rock?
20. How are metamorphic rocks formed?
Read pages 40 – 46
21. Add the “Ring of Fire” to your map in question #11. Use dots to represent the volcanoes.
22. What is an earthquake?
23. How does extracting steam for geothermal power cause earthquakes?
24. What strategies have engineers used to protect structures from earthquakes?
25. What is a volcano?
26. How are hotspots formed? What islands were formed by hotspots?
27. Which islands formed by the hotspots are the oldest, the islands further north or those
further south?
28. Name 3 effects of volcanic eruptions listed in the textbook.
29. Where is one of the world’s largest volcanoes located in the U.S.?
30. How does a landslide occur?
31. What is mass wasting
32. What is a tsunami and how are they triggered?
33. How do coral reefs and mangrove forest protect against the damage of tsunamis?
34. Describe two ways humans can worsen the impact of “natural hazards”.
To Summarize….
35. What does Plate Tectonic, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes how to do with biodiversity?
Read The Science Behind the Story…Have We Brought on a New Geologic Epoch? pages 44 -45
36. Write a paragraph expressing your opinion. Support your opinion with facts from the article
or from other articles you have read.