Lab 1: Plate Tectonics

Lab Structure

Recommended additional work Yes – complete Google Earth Tutorial before Lab 1
Required materials Pencil, pencil crayons, ruler, printed Plate Boundaries Map

Learning Objectives

After carefully reading this section, completing the exercises within it, and answering the questions at the end, you should be able to:

  • Explain the difference between oceanic and continental crust.
  • Describe the motion of plates at divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.
  • Characterize divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries by their associated geological features and processes.
  • Describe how mantle plumes and resulting hot spot volcanoes can be used to determine the direction of plate motion.
  • Understand the historical contributions of geoscientists who proposed the theory of plate tectonics.
Key Terms
  • Lithosphere
  • Continental crust
  • Oceanic crust
  • Mantle
  • Asthenosphere
  • Tectonic plate
  • Divergent
  • Convergent
  • Transform
  • Seismology
  • Volcanology
  • Bathymetry
  • Topography
  • Geochronology
  • Mantle plume
  • Hot spot

License

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A Practical Guide to Introductory Geology Copyright © 2020 by Siobhan McGoldrick is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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