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Course: American Museum of Natural History > Unit 4
Lesson 1: Plate TectonicsExploration Questions: Plate Tectonics
1. Describe the plate motions along the Himalayan Mountains. Do you think these mountains are getting larger, smaller, or staying the same? Explain your answer.
2. Given Earth’s history, do you think there will ever be another supercontinent like Pangea? Explain your answer.
3. Write a caption for this map.
4. Provide two kinds of evidence that support the theory of plate tectonics.
5. Explain how scientists are using seismic data to learn about the geologic activity and Earth’s interior under Yellowstone National Park. (Hint: Describe how the speed of seismic waves relates to temperature in the mantle.)
©USGS, © INEEL
Want to join the conversation?
- how the mountains formed different types ?(2 votes)
- It depends on the force on which plates converge together and cause uplift. Some mountains have been eroded over so they look rounder at the top than new mountains like the Himalayas. Some mountains are formed by by dormant volcanoes or extinct ones. If the lava was thick when it was active the mountain can become a dome or chubby mountain. It cooled quickly the volcano can be steep.(1 vote)
- how many types of volcanos erupt when there is an earthquake/earth plates moving?(2 votes)
- do earthquakes happen when volcano´s erupt(1 vote)
- Earthquakes and volcanoes are both caused and explained by plate tectonics, thus understanding plate tectonics allows us to better understand and protect against these natural disasters. In any case, it is important to understand the world, and we never know what new problems will emerge in the future (possibly even for our generation). Finally, knowledge for the sake of knowledge is never wasted; it is a noble thing, a natural thing, and is philosophically beneficial.(1 vote)
- what creates earths magnetic field(1 vote)
- Why do they both look the same but in different locations.(0 votes)
- Because some that are in different locations are different types of volcanoes(1 vote)