o c r document- bedford public schools（o c r文档-贝德福德公立学校）.docVIP

PLATE TECTONICS PURPOSE Plot key geologic events and correlate them to tectonic plate boundaries INTRODUCTION In the 1960s and 1970s it was becoming obvious that the map of Earths continents has been continuously changing over a large portion of geologic history. Continental land masses crashed into and moved away from each other for over 2.0 billion years. These movements can be inferred from present-day geologic features resulting from these collisions and breakups. Rocks and fossils found in western Africa are also found in eastern South America. And scratches left on rocks by moving glaciers suggest how continents have moved over the last 300 million years. The idea of drifting continents was first proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, who observed that the continents seem to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. Although the evidence suggested that Wegener was correct, he could not find a mechanism to explain how whole continents could move thousands of miles across the Earths surface. It is now believed that the continents move on pieces of the Earths crust called tectonic plates. The surface of the Earth seems to be divided into seven or eight major plates and maybe a dozen smaller ones. The best explanation for the mechanism is that heat escaping from the planets interior creates convection currents that move the plates into and away from each other. From a geological point of view, the most interesting places are the plate boundaries where the plates collide, separate, or slide past each other. Scientists infer the size, shape, and location of the plates by a process similar to the one you will undertake in this project. In this investigation you will plot the locations of recent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain ranges on a world map. These events are not evenly distributed over the Earth. You will be asked to look for patterns in the locations of these occurrences globally and discuss how they affect the planet and its inhabitants. Proce