ESS 101 B Sp 22: Introduction To Geology And Societal Impacts Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Ro ck Cycle:
Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle
Due Apr 24 at 11:59pm Points 15 Questions 40
Available Apr 8 at 9am - Apr 24 at 11:59pm 17 days Time Limit None Allowed Attempts 2
Instructions
Use the quiz questions below to complete the answer sheet f or the Laboratory 2 (Plate Tectonics and the Rock
Cycle) exercise.
The Pre-lab Video serves as an introduction to the topics covered in this lab. Find the Pre-lab Video
here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5P_OQ_5gyg&feature=youtu.be) .
NOTE ABOUT IMAGES : You can find all of the figures embedded in this quiz in Files --> Lab Instructions--> Lab 2: Plate Tectonics & the
Rock Cycle. Figures in the Questions are in that folder and are labeled with the relevant question number. Figures in the Introduction are within
the folder Figures in Introduction.
Lab 2 PDF file.
You have two attempts for this quiz.
Some thought-provoking questions and discussion ideas to think about.
Bef ore you make your f irst attempt on Lab 2 this week watch the video (link embedded below) showing the tectonic plate and
paleogeographic evolution of Earth over the past 540 million years. Pay attention to where the continents (or segments of
continents) are located over geologic time and the tectonic boundaries (divergent, convergent and transf orm) and motion that
cause the change. Pay attention paleo -sea level and mountain building events that occur over time. Think about how the
paleogeographic changes (i.e., latitude location, altitude, continentality) will af f ect the climate (modern climate zone map
shown below the Plate Tectonic video) and paleoenvironment of a given location. For example 320 million years ago the
continental landmasses presently comprising India, southern South America, southern Af rica, Australia, and Antarctica were
situated over the south pole. Think about polar latitudes and climates today? At this time period (320 million years ago) Nor th
America and western Europe were located near the equator. Think about equatorial latitudes and climate today. Of course,
lif e f orms were very dif f erent way back in time, but the paleoclimate zones would be strongly controlled by tectonic plate
conf igurations.
Some questions to think about:
1. Why does Australia have such unique f aunal (animals) assemblages that have evolved over the past 150 million years.
2. Why do you think North America and Eurasia have similar grazing animals (deer f amily, ungulates) that have evolved
over the past 60 million years.
3. Af rica and South America have primates present on both continents. What does this tell you about the timing of when
a common primate ancestor lived on earth. Human evolved f rom the Af rican primate group at a later time.
1/34
, Attempt Time Score
KEPT Attempt 2 14 minutes 9.9 out of 15 *
LATEST Attempt 2 14 minutes 9.9 out of 15 *
Attempt 1 1,313 minutes 8.75 out of 15 *
* Some questions not yet graded
Score f or this attempt: 9.9 out of 15 *
Submitted Apr 24 at 7:56pm
This attempt took 14 minutes.
Question 1 0..2 pts
Cheating or plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated in ESS 101. This includes copying
answers f rom a f riend or classmate, copying answers verbatim f ound on the internet or
other literary sources, or copying any work that may answer the question being asked.
Make sure you always use your own words when answering the questions in the
homework and cite appropriate ref erences if you use them to help you answer the
question. Violations the academic code of conduct (https://www.washington.edu/cssc/for-
students/academic-misconduct/) will will be reported to the UW Academic Misconduct
representative f or investigative review.
I acknowledge that I have caref ully read and understand the above statement regarding the
consequences of cheating and plagiarism, and promise to complete my work in this class
2/34
, Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle: ESS 101 B Sp 22: Introduction To Geology And Societal Impacts
with honesty and integrity. Answer "True" below supporting your acknowledgement.
Correct! True
False
Learning Goals:
By completing this lab, students will become more f amiliar with:
The three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and
transf orm The dif f erent types of magma associated with each type of
plate boundary The plate tectonic map of the Circum-Pacif ic Basin
The relationship between plate tectonics, volcanoes, and earthquakes
The Hawaii-Emperor Seamount chain and using distance-time relationships of
the volcanic islands to describe historical tectonic movement
Plate Tectonics
Overview
Plate tectonics links together many aspects of geology. Plate tectonics describes how the
earth’s thin, outer lithosphere is broken into plates that slowly move over the
asthenosphere (Figure 2-1). These brittle rock plates have thicknesses of 10 to 100 km
and move over the ductile rock of the asthenosphere at rates of 1 to 10 cm/year. This is
about the same rate at which your f ingernails grow! The f orces that drive plate motion are
primarily ridge-push and slab-pull gravity f orces. See Incorporated Research Institutions
for Seismology video on the forces that drive plate tectonics (select animation tab).
(https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/what_are_the_forces_that_drive_plate_tectonics)
3/34
, Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle: ESS 101 B Sp 22: Introduction To Geology And Societal Impacts
Figure 2-1: Earth’s tectonic plates. The black lines indicate the boundaries between plates, and
the red arrows indicate the relative motions at plate boundaries 1.
Chemical and physical layers of the earth
Earth’s structure can be classif ied by chemical composition or by physical properties. The
chemical layers of the Earth are the crust, mantle, and core. The crust is mainly
composed of igneous rocks (that is, rocks that f ormed when hot magma cooled at earth’s
surf ace). Continental crust is made of felsic (silica-rich) rocks like granite, and oceanic
crust is made of mafic (silica-poor) rocks such as basalt. Below the crust is the mantle,
which is made of silicate minerals that are rich in iron and magnesium. Generally, rocks
that are silica-rich tend to have relatively lower iron-magnesium (Fe-Mg) content.
The physical layers of the outer earth are the lithosphere and the asthenosphere (Figure
2-2). Tectonic plates are pieces of the lithosphere, a layer of brittle rock. The plates slide
over the asthenosphere, a layer of ductile, mantle rock.
Figure 2-2: Cross-section of the outer solid Earth 2. The lithospheric plates slide over the
asthenosphere. Oceanic lithosphere forms at mid -ocean ridges (divergent margins) and
descends back into the asthenosphere in subduction zones (convergent margins).
4/34
Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle
Due Apr 24 at 11:59pm Points 15 Questions 40
Available Apr 8 at 9am - Apr 24 at 11:59pm 17 days Time Limit None Allowed Attempts 2
Instructions
Use the quiz questions below to complete the answer sheet f or the Laboratory 2 (Plate Tectonics and the Rock
Cycle) exercise.
The Pre-lab Video serves as an introduction to the topics covered in this lab. Find the Pre-lab Video
here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5P_OQ_5gyg&feature=youtu.be) .
NOTE ABOUT IMAGES : You can find all of the figures embedded in this quiz in Files --> Lab Instructions--> Lab 2: Plate Tectonics & the
Rock Cycle. Figures in the Questions are in that folder and are labeled with the relevant question number. Figures in the Introduction are within
the folder Figures in Introduction.
Lab 2 PDF file.
You have two attempts for this quiz.
Some thought-provoking questions and discussion ideas to think about.
Bef ore you make your f irst attempt on Lab 2 this week watch the video (link embedded below) showing the tectonic plate and
paleogeographic evolution of Earth over the past 540 million years. Pay attention to where the continents (or segments of
continents) are located over geologic time and the tectonic boundaries (divergent, convergent and transf orm) and motion that
cause the change. Pay attention paleo -sea level and mountain building events that occur over time. Think about how the
paleogeographic changes (i.e., latitude location, altitude, continentality) will af f ect the climate (modern climate zone map
shown below the Plate Tectonic video) and paleoenvironment of a given location. For example 320 million years ago the
continental landmasses presently comprising India, southern South America, southern Af rica, Australia, and Antarctica were
situated over the south pole. Think about polar latitudes and climates today? At this time period (320 million years ago) Nor th
America and western Europe were located near the equator. Think about equatorial latitudes and climate today. Of course,
lif e f orms were very dif f erent way back in time, but the paleoclimate zones would be strongly controlled by tectonic plate
conf igurations.
Some questions to think about:
1. Why does Australia have such unique f aunal (animals) assemblages that have evolved over the past 150 million years.
2. Why do you think North America and Eurasia have similar grazing animals (deer f amily, ungulates) that have evolved
over the past 60 million years.
3. Af rica and South America have primates present on both continents. What does this tell you about the timing of when
a common primate ancestor lived on earth. Human evolved f rom the Af rican primate group at a later time.
1/34
, Attempt Time Score
KEPT Attempt 2 14 minutes 9.9 out of 15 *
LATEST Attempt 2 14 minutes 9.9 out of 15 *
Attempt 1 1,313 minutes 8.75 out of 15 *
* Some questions not yet graded
Score f or this attempt: 9.9 out of 15 *
Submitted Apr 24 at 7:56pm
This attempt took 14 minutes.
Question 1 0..2 pts
Cheating or plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated in ESS 101. This includes copying
answers f rom a f riend or classmate, copying answers verbatim f ound on the internet or
other literary sources, or copying any work that may answer the question being asked.
Make sure you always use your own words when answering the questions in the
homework and cite appropriate ref erences if you use them to help you answer the
question. Violations the academic code of conduct (https://www.washington.edu/cssc/for-
students/academic-misconduct/) will will be reported to the UW Academic Misconduct
representative f or investigative review.
I acknowledge that I have caref ully read and understand the above statement regarding the
consequences of cheating and plagiarism, and promise to complete my work in this class
2/34
, Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle: ESS 101 B Sp 22: Introduction To Geology And Societal Impacts
with honesty and integrity. Answer "True" below supporting your acknowledgement.
Correct! True
False
Learning Goals:
By completing this lab, students will become more f amiliar with:
The three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and
transf orm The dif f erent types of magma associated with each type of
plate boundary The plate tectonic map of the Circum-Pacif ic Basin
The relationship between plate tectonics, volcanoes, and earthquakes
The Hawaii-Emperor Seamount chain and using distance-time relationships of
the volcanic islands to describe historical tectonic movement
Plate Tectonics
Overview
Plate tectonics links together many aspects of geology. Plate tectonics describes how the
earth’s thin, outer lithosphere is broken into plates that slowly move over the
asthenosphere (Figure 2-1). These brittle rock plates have thicknesses of 10 to 100 km
and move over the ductile rock of the asthenosphere at rates of 1 to 10 cm/year. This is
about the same rate at which your f ingernails grow! The f orces that drive plate motion are
primarily ridge-push and slab-pull gravity f orces. See Incorporated Research Institutions
for Seismology video on the forces that drive plate tectonics (select animation tab).
(https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/what_are_the_forces_that_drive_plate_tectonics)
3/34
, Laboratory 2 : Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle: ESS 101 B Sp 22: Introduction To Geology And Societal Impacts
Figure 2-1: Earth’s tectonic plates. The black lines indicate the boundaries between plates, and
the red arrows indicate the relative motions at plate boundaries 1.
Chemical and physical layers of the earth
Earth’s structure can be classif ied by chemical composition or by physical properties. The
chemical layers of the Earth are the crust, mantle, and core. The crust is mainly
composed of igneous rocks (that is, rocks that f ormed when hot magma cooled at earth’s
surf ace). Continental crust is made of felsic (silica-rich) rocks like granite, and oceanic
crust is made of mafic (silica-poor) rocks such as basalt. Below the crust is the mantle,
which is made of silicate minerals that are rich in iron and magnesium. Generally, rocks
that are silica-rich tend to have relatively lower iron-magnesium (Fe-Mg) content.
The physical layers of the outer earth are the lithosphere and the asthenosphere (Figure
2-2). Tectonic plates are pieces of the lithosphere, a layer of brittle rock. The plates slide
over the asthenosphere, a layer of ductile, mantle rock.
Figure 2-2: Cross-section of the outer solid Earth 2. The lithospheric plates slide over the
asthenosphere. Oceanic lithosphere forms at mid -ocean ridges (divergent margins) and
descends back into the asthenosphere in subduction zones (convergent margins).
4/34
