Lithospheric plates
NAME _____________________ HOUR ____
DIRECTIONS:
1. Label ALL fourteen plates with their correct names
2. DO NOT color the minor plates, only color the Major plates
3. Use a different color for each major plate (your choice of colors)
4. Answer the following questions when finished:
List the seven major plates
List the seven minor plates
1. On what plate is most of the United States?
2. What part of the United States is not on that plate?
3. On what plate is it?
4. What four plates surround the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
5. What two continents are located in the middle of a plate (not on the edge)?
6. Are most plate boundaries in oceans or continents? Why is that?
7. What major plate is the largest? (use Ms. Crownhart’s globe to determine, not the book!!!)
8. What minor plate is the smallest?
do earthquake and volcanoes have to do with plate
boundaries???? Anything?

Objective: To see how the Earth is broken up into tectonic plates and their relationship to
earthquakes
These are the 20 biggest earthquakes and 20 most active volcanoes on our planet. Use the numbers on
the BOTTOM of your plate map and the letters on the left side to plot them. Before you begin, predict
where most of our X’s and O’s will be on your map: ________________________________________.
Earthquake table = O
volcano table = X
Letter
Y
Y
V
U
U
T
S
Number
3
4
4.5
13
14
15
5
Letter
Y
V
Q
Q
M
Z
U
Number
3
5
2.5
6
8
12
11
S
17
P
11.5
Q
8
V
14
W
23.5
U
15
T
22.5
S
17
P
19.5
X
24
P
6
U
22.5
K
20
L
23.5
L
23
L
21
I
17
L
20
M
7.5
J
17
H
8
P
15
C
8
G
8.5
B
9.5
B
11.5
when you are finished plotting answer the following
questions…
1.Look at the E.Q’s (O’s). Are they found along
ALL coastlines of every continent? ______
why?_________________________________
_____________________________________
2. Why does California experience large
earthquakes? __________________________
3. Are E.Q. mostly located directly on top of or
next to (circle one answer) the plate boundaries?
4. Are Vol. mostly located directly on top of or
next to (circle one answer) the plate boundaries?
5. What is the volcanic island located in the
Pacific? ________________
6. What is the zone of volcanoes that surround
the pacific plate called? __________________
7. Why are there no volcanoes on the EAST side
of South America? ______________________
_____________________________________
Draw an oceanic-oceanic collision: include where
the volcano will occur. (hint: where subduction is)
Draw an oceanic-continental collision: include where
the volcano will occur.