LAB 3: FORCES THAT CAUSE EARTH MOVEMENTS Key Question: Does the rock of the Earth’s mantle move?

LAB 3: FORCES THAT CAUSE EARTH MOVEMENTS

Key Question: Does the rock of the Earth’s mantle move?

Plasticity Today, you will see what happens to a material that has plasticity (the ability to

flow) when it is heated from below

Observations The corn syrup warmed & bubbled on the

bottom of the pan in the center.

The warmed corn syrup rose causing the cardboard to move apart very slowly.

This is a model of convection.

*CONVECTION CURRENT*

Convection Animation

CONVECTION:• When a substance moves because it is heated from below and cooled

from above.

Warm less dense material rises while cooler more dense material sinks.

Convection in the Mantle:

Mid-Ocean Ridge

Earth vs. Model

When comparing our model to the earth, what do the following parts of your model represent?

• The heat source (candle): Core

• The moving syrup: Mantle Convection

• The cardboard pieces: pieces of the Earth’s crust

Plate Tectonics

Sea Floor Spreading

Mid-Ocean Ridge

Iceland

LAB 3: FORCES THAT CAUSE EARTH MOVEMENTS

Key Question: Does the rock of the Earth’s mantle move?

Yes, the rock of the earth’s mantle is a solid but it has plasticity (or the

ability to flow)

The outermost layer of the Earth is the crust.

The Earth’s crust (lithosphere) is like a puzzle.

It is made up of a series of plates (Lithospheric plates) that move around the earth slowly due to convection in the mantle (more specifically the asthenosphere)

Plate Tectonics

Is the theory that the earth’s crust is broken into plates that

move and interact with each other

These plates interact with each other at

Plate boundaries (areas where plates meet)

There are 3 main types of plate boundaries:

•Divergent•Convergent •Transform

Plate Boundaries

animations along plate boundaries.

Plate Boundary Map - GEOLOGY.COM

Divergent Plate Boundaries Where lithospheric plates move away from each other and new crust is formed

Convergent Plate Boundaries Where lithospheric plates move toward each other and collide

Transform Boundaries Where lithospheric plates

slide/grind past each other side-by-side

LAB 4: Movement of the earth’s

lithospheric plates

Key Question: What happens where lithospheric plates meet?

Divergent Plate Boundaries

Where lithospheric plates move away from each other and new crust is formed

CAUSES SEA-FLOOR SPREADING

Convergent Plate Boundaries

Where lithospheric plates move toward each other and collide

3 Types

Ocean – Ocean Convergence

Ocean – continent Convergence

continent – continent Convergence

Continental CrustThicker, less dense lithospheric

plate

Vs.

Oceanic CrustThinner, more dense lithospheric

plate

• Ocean plate is subducted below continent.Subduction: The movement when one plate (oceanic crust)

dives below another plate

•A trench forms above the subduction zone in water• A volcanic mountain chain forms on land

Ocean – continent Convergence

• One Plate Subducts• Subduction: The movement when one plate (oceanic crust)

dives below another plate

•A trench forms above the subduction zone in water•A volcanic island arc forms on the plate that is not

subducted

Ocean – Ocean Convergence

Ring Of Fire

•No subduction because continents are less dense than the mantle

•Continents collide and fold up (crunch) to form mountains

continent – continent Convergence

Ocean – Continent Convergence

1. A. When an ocean plate converges with a

continental plate, what happens? (Which plate subducts?) Explain.

B. What is a subduction zone?

C. What feature is found on the earth directly above the subduction zone?

D. What feature forms on land? Explain.

Ocean – ocean Convergence

2.A. When two ocean plates collide, what happens?

B. What feature is found on the earth’s surface directly above the

subduction zone?

C. What feature forms on the ocean plate

that is not subducted? Explain.

Continent– Continent Convergence

3.A. When two continents collide, what happens?

B. What feature forms on the earth’s surface because of the collision?

C. Why don’t continents go down at the

subduction zones?

Transform Boundaries

Where lithospheric plates slide/grind past each other side-by-side

The San Andreas Fault is a

TRANSFORM Fault