Name ______________________
Diving Deeper into Plate Tectonics Web Activity
Site One: http://www.montereyinstitute.org/noaa/ (here is the main site you should refer to when
learning about the different topics. Click on the videos for each topic listed below and use the tutorials
to answer the questions.
Lesson One: Plate Tectonics
Play the video under the “lesson tab” and answer the following:
1) How many earthquakes and eruptions occur a year?
2) What is the theory of plate tectonics?
3) What layer of the earth is the thickest? __________ thinnest?_______
4) What layers of the earth make up the lithosphere?
5) What is the name of the plate boundary we are on?
6) What type of plate boundary forms rift valleys?
7) Is land created or destroyed at divergent boundaries?
8) What geologic feature is associated with convergent boundaries?
9) Is crust created or destroyed at transform boundaries?
On the right side of the screen under “Explore” click on “Drilling for Core Samples”
Read the introduction and drill ten core samples to try to locate the plate boundary in the simulation.
10) How are the plates moving relative to one another?
11) What type of plate boundary is this?
Lesson Two: Mid Ocean Ridge
Play the video under the “lesson tab” and answer the following:
12) How long is the mid ocean ridge?
13) Is crust created or destroyed at mid ocean ridges?
14) As you travel further away from the center of the rift zone, do rock ages get older or younger?
Play the video under the “Global Impact tab” and answer the following:
15) What percent of the earth’s surface is oceanic crust?
16) Explain how ridge activity affects sea level?
17) Where do scientists believe life may have begun?
On the right side of the screen under “Explore” click on “Mid Ocean Ridge Activity” and answer the
following:
Try to label the continents, ridges, and age of crust. Initial here that you completed these tasks ____
18) Where is the youngest ocean floor located?_________oldest ocean floor located?__________
19) There are rocks on every continent that are 3 to 4 billion years old, why are there no oceanic
rocks older than 200 million years old?
20) Critical thinking: what do scientists think will happen to our appearance of oceans and continents
if the mid ocean ridge stays as active as it is today?
Lesson Fifteen: Seamounts
Play the video under the “lesson tab” and answer the following:
21) How are undersea volcanoes classified by?
22) Put the following in order by height (1 being the tallest)
____ volcanic island _____ hills/knolls ____ seamount
23) What do seamounts mark the location of?
24) How does the topography of sea mounts affect path of currents?
25) Why are seamounts areas of such high productivity?
26) What impact on algae production do seamounts have?
Play the video under the “Global Impact tab” and answer the following:
27) How many seamounts are there in there world?
28) How many seamounts have been explored so far?
29) How are humans affecting sea mount marine life?
Lesson five: Chemosynthesis and Hydrothermal Vent Life
Play the video under the “lesson tab” and answer the following:
30) How are the organisms “powered” in the deep sea?
31) What is chemosynthesis?
32) Why are vent waters deadly to most marine animals?
33) What are the two most abundant animals found on hydrothermal vents?
34) What are tubeworms dependent on for food?
35) What is the “red” of the tubeworms?
36) What is the fastest growing invertebrate on earth?
Play the video under the “Global Impact tab” and answer the following:
37) What do scientists hope to learn from the bacteria found on the hydrothermal vents?
On the right side of the screen under “Explore” click on “Hydrothermal Vent Food Web” and answer the
following: Read through the introduction and complete the food web. Initial here that you completed the
food web correctly ______.
Answer the following:
38) What are your two primary producers?
39) What are your seven primary consumers?
40) What are your four first order carnivores?
41) What are your 3 top carnivores?
42) Critical thinking: In your own words, why do scientists think chemosynthesis is more likely to
support life on distant worlds than photosynthesis?
Site Two: http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/extreme2004/geology/hydrothermalvents/
43) What land feature do scientists compare hydrothermal vents to?
44) When were hydrothermal vents first discovered?
45) Which oceans have vents been found in?
46) How do hydrothermal vents form?
47) How hot is the water that “gushes” out of the vents into the water?
48) Why doesn’t the water that rises boil?
*Use the interactive yellow buttons on the vent diagram to answer the following questions.
49) Summarize the 5 steps that produce a hydrothermal vent.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
50) What is the difference between a black and a white smoker?
Go to the tab “High-tech Tools” at the top of the page and choose “Depths of Discovery.”
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Virtual Expedition.” Click and drag to
explore the ocean floor with the virtual Alvin. Click on different organisms to answer the
following questions.
51) What is the smartest invertebrate in the world?
52) What is the most common fish found at hydrothermal vents?
53) What group of organisms do scientists think looks like a flower?
54) Why would we not want to eat the deep-sea clam?
Go to the tab “Creature Features” at the top of the page and choose “Pompeii Worm.” Explore
the 3-D image of the Pompeii Worm to answer the following questions.
55) Where are the gills located on the Pompeii Worm and what color are they?
56) What does the worm eat?
57) What is the “hair” on the back of the worm made up of?
Go to the tab “Creature Features” at the top of the page and choose “Tubeworm.
58) Watch the video of “A Smoking Tubeworm.” What is the “smoke” released from the worm?
59) Scroll down to “Vents Sprout Weird Worms!” and click for a closer look. What is the brownish
mass found inside the worm?