Geology 140 - Environmental Geology
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Plate Tectonics

1. Structure of the Earth

Use the USGS Web site "What on Earth is Plate Tectonics" to answer these questions.

Define each of these terms:

core:

mantle:

crust:

aesthenosphere:

lithosphere:

tectonic plates:

2. Plate Boundaries

Use this chapter from the USGS online booklet, "The Dynamic Earth" to answer these questions.

Fill in the chart for the three kinds of plate boundary:

How do plates interact there?
Sketch it
Geologic features that form there

Divergent plate boundary:

 

 

 

 

    

Transform fault:

 

 

 

 

    

Convergent plate boundaries -

Subduction:

 

 

 

 

Continent-continent collision:

 

 

 

 

 

    

3. Hazards at Plate Boundaries

Use this chapter of "This Dynamic Earth" to answer these questions.

What kind of plate boundary is each hazard associated?

Earthquakes:

 

Volcanoes:

 

Tsunamis: