GEOSC 10
Geology of the National Parks

Welcome to Module 2

Welcome to Module 2

Plate Tectonics I: Making Mountains & Earthquakes

Road sign: “Caution fault zone, watch for cracks in road” on the Big Island of Hawaii
A road sign cautioning about the fault zone and warning about cracks in the road on Hawaii's Big Island.

If they’d lower the taxes and get rid of the smog and clean up the traffic mess, I really believe I’d settle here until the next earthquake.”

— Groucho Marx, about Los Angeles, California

We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily. “So it is.” “And freezing.” “Is it?” “Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”

— A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

As you may recall in the beloved Christmas special about Rudolph, at a key point in the story, Yukon Cornelius hacks off a chunk of sea ice—frozen ocean water—so that he, Rudolph, and Hermey the dentist elf can drift away over the ocean and escape from the Abominable Snowman. If you've ever neglected to check the spaghetti sauce you were heating on the stove while watching Rudolph because you were just dying to know whether 'Bumbles bounce', you may have noticed that the stiff scum that forms on top can break into chunks and drift around on the liquid beneath—much like Yukon C's ice block.

In this module, and the next two, we'll explore the equivalent activity in the Earth, with the hard-frozen upper layer breaking into drifting chunks, melted lava leaking up in cracks to feed volcanoes (vaguely like the water in the crack that the Bumble fell into when trying to catch the heroes), collisions causing earthquakes when blocks run together ("Land, Ho"), and more. Hold onto your teeth, and let's get started for the land of misfit plate boundaries.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain how the Earth is layered, based on composition and physical behavior.
  • Understand that the Earth is heated inside, especially by radioactive decay, and that this energy drives the convection of soft rocks.
  • Discuss how convection can lead to the formation of new sea floor from volcanoes leaking up the pull-apart cracks.
  • Understand how rocks moving on convection cells can produce damaging earthquakes.
  • Explain how knowledge of earthquakes can be used to help people even if exact predictions are not yet possible and may never be.

What to do for Module 2?

You will have one week to complete Module 2. See the course calendar for specific due dates.

  • Take the RockOn #2 Quiz
  • Take the StudentsSpeak #3 Survey
  • Continue working on Exercise #1

Questions?

If you have any questions, send an email via Canvas, to ALL the Teachers and TAs. To do this, add each teacher individually in the “To” line of your email. By adding all the teachers, the TAs will be included. Failure to email ALL the teachers may result in a delayed or missed response. For detailed directions on how to do this, see How to send an email in GEOSC 10 in the Important Information module.

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