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Abstract The Ring of Fire is a region of volcanic and earthquake activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. In this project you can explore the connection between plate tectonics and volcanic activity by mapping historical data.Objective The goal of this project is to map volcanic activity and relate it to the positions of the Earth's tectonic plates. Introduction Today it is widely accepted that the Earth's crust consists of a series of huge plates that slowly move. The low parts of the plates are beneath the world's oceans, and the high parts of the plates are landmasses. New plate material is generated at deep sea ocean ridges in a process called sea-floor spreading. Material from plates is also recycled at trenches, where dense, oceanic crust dives back (subducts) underneath an adjacent plate towards the upper mantle. Figure 1 (below) shows a map of the major tectonic plates. The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized geology in the 1960s. Before this, geology had been a descriptive science. Mechanisms for large-scale processes such as the formation of mountain ranges were put down to vague "earth forces." Plate tectonics changed that. A series of scientific papers by Harry Hess, Robert Dietz, Fred Vine, Drummond Matthews, and others brought together a growing body of evidence that massive pieces of the earth's surface were constantly on the move. Subduction of one plate beneath another could provide the massive force to produce uplift of mountain ranges. Fifty years earlier, in 1912, Alfred Wegener had proposed his theory of continental drift, and was widely ridiculed. Wegener, like others before him, had noticed that the continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean had complementary shapes, suggesting that they might have originated much earlier from the same landmass. He had also noted similarities in rock formations on opposite sides of the ocean, and similarities in both living and fossil animals. Wegener did not have a good explanation for how vast chunks of the earth's surface could move relative to one another, and the community of geologists was not ready to accept his ideas (McPhee, 1981–1998; WGBH, 1998).
Today we still do not know the mechanism for the motion of the plates, although it is thought that convection of heat from the earth's interior is somehow involved. The evidence that clinched the case for plate tectonics came from detailed mapping studies of paleomagnetism. Rocks containing magnetic material reveal the history of when and where they were formed. As the molten rock cooled, the magnetic particles aligned themselves with the earth's magnetic field at that time. Although the positions of the earth's magnetic poles have changed over the billions years of earth's history, geologists have been able to recreate the time line of those changes. Armed with that information, geologists have been able to map the dates of origin of the oceanic crust, and to confirm that sea-floor spreading at suboceanic ridges and subduction at trenches is a constant process. How are volcanoes related to tectonic plates? The following paragraph from Annals of the Former World by John McPhee, summarizes the connection quite well: A seismologist discovered that deep earthquakes under a trench had occurred on a plane that was inclined forty-five degrees into the earth. As ocean floors reach trenches and move on down into the depths to be consumed, the average angle is something like that. Take a knife and cut into an orange at forty-five degrees. To cut straight down would be to produce a straight incision in the orange. If the blade is tilted forty-five degrees, the incision becomes an arc on the surface of the orange. If the knife blade melts inside, little volcanoes will come up through the pores of the skin, and together they will form arcs, island arcs—Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, the New Hebrides, the Lesser Antilles, the Kurils, the Aleutians (McPhee, 1981–1998, 121) The goal of this project is to collect volcanic activity data and map it. If the plate tectonics theory of volcanic activity is true, then the great majority of volcanic activity should occur at or near boundaries between tectonic plates. What do you think you'll find? Terms, Concepts, and Questions to Start Background Research To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:
Questions
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Materials and Equipment To do this experiment you will need the following materials and equipment:
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Geoscientist Just as a doctor uses tools and techniques, like X-rays and stethoscopes, to look inside the human body, geoscientists explore deep inside a much bigger patient—planet Earth. Geoscientists seek to better understand our planet, and to discover natural resources, like water, minerals, and petroleum oil, which are used in everything from shoes, fabrics, roads, roofs, and lotions to fertilizers, food packaging, ink, and CD’s. The work of geoscientists affects everyone and everything. |
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