President Cobb explains that he is giving you 1 hour to complete the task or your position will be terminated. You jump up and rush to your car, but you realize you are 45 minutes from work!!! Fortunately you have your laptop in the car and you can use the wireless Internet.
You take out your map and begin your study.
Click here to see all the earthquakes that have recently occurred. On the U.S.G.S. table you are given the latitude and longitude.
Place a star on the handy map at the exact latitude and longitude of each of the earthquakes that has occurred since April 25, 2002.
Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page, to a map that is entitled "Global Velocities". The blue lines in the map symbolize the boundries of the earth's plates. Take notice of the arrows that indicate the direction that the plates are moving.
Compare your map (with your stars) from Step 2 to this "Global Velocities" map.
Answer the following questions on the back of your map!
1) How are the two maps similar?
2) Do the earthquakes seem to correspond to the plates in any way?
3) Looking at "Global Velocities", find the Indo-Australian Plate (where Australia is found!). How is this plate moving in accordance with the Pacific Plate? What do you think is occurring were these plates are touching?
4) When two plates rub together against each other, what might occur? Why?
On the "Global Velocities" locate station KOKB in Hawaii and mark this location on your map! Using the edge of your paper, trace the size of the arrow and compare the paper with the scale on the bottom of "Global Velocities" to determine the speed at which KOKB is moving.
5) How fast is it moving in one year?
6) How far will it move in 10 years? 100 years? 1,000 years? 10,000 years? 100,000 years?
7) Determine the plate on which KOKB is located on. What plates are surrounding it?
8-10) Do the same activity for station PERT in Perth, Australia.
11) How would the movement of either station effect the climate that plants and animals located on the land mass would experience?
Add the active volcanoes to your map by clicking here
12) Do volcanoes have anything to do with plate boundaries?
