Map of plate boundaries, selected earthquakes, and GPS velocities relative to NAM08 reference frame (fixed to the stable cratonic interior of North America), produced using UNAVCO's GPS Velocity Viewer.
Plate Tectonics
Assignments For This Topic...
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The reading assignments are in the required textbooks listed on the main course syllabus (https://croninprojects.org/Vince/Course/PhysGeol/Geo1405-Spring2021.html.
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Read
:
the study questions for this section, listed at
https://croninprojects.org/Vince/Course/PhysGeol/Geo1405-Tectonics-Q.html
and keep them in mind as you read the following assignments. Most, if not all, of the answers will be in the reading assignments for this topic.
-
Scan
:
Tarbuck and others,
Earth
eText, chapter 2 — the whole chimichanga. A reminder about how to get to the eText is provided
HERE
Don't neglect to view all of the AV stuff:
videos, animations, tutorials, concept checkers. Do these things in light of the study questions, so that you pick-up some information and know where to look for more information as you work to find the answers to those questions and understand the associated content.
-
View
the videos
Comments on tectonics, part 1
at
https://youtu.be/9RhUB2lvPVQ
and
Comments on tectonics, part 2
at
https://youtu.be/40hlD4gVT4c
My videos reference other videos you should look at, namely...
-
OPTIONAL but Recommended:
Take advantage of any of the following videos:
- Complete the lab assignment as described below
Important Notes
- A video conference will begin at the starting time each week for the lab section in which you are a registered student. You can ask questions related to the lab assignments during the weekly video conference. Each weekly conference will be accessible via a Microsoft Teams channel associated with your lab section. You can learn how to access your Microsoft 365 subscription as a Baylor student via https://www.baylor.edu/its/index.php?id=871490.
- The completed laboratory activities assigned below must be submitted via the Canvas
learning management system (LMS) before 11:59 PM Central Time on the day after the day on which your laboratory section is scheduled to meet (e.g., due before Wednesday night at 11:59 PM for a lab scheduled on Tuesday). Instructions for submitting your lab work are provided HERE.
- The end-of-lab quiz must be completed via the Canvas LMS before 11:59 PM Central Time two days after the day on which your laboratory section is scheduled to meet (e.g., due before Thursday night at 11:59 PM for a lab scheduled on Tuesday).
Lab Assignment to be largely or entirely completed before your weekly lab meeting
- View the pronunciation guide for geoscience terms used in the relelvant chapter of the AGI/NAGT Lab Manual at Pronouncing Terms from the Plate Tectonics Chapter.
- View the video introducing the material in Chapter 2 of the AGI/NAGT Lab Manual at https://goo.gl/NrcXgB.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Section Introduction and all of its subsections, Pages 29-33.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Section Where Are Plates Going? Subsections Motion, but Relative to What? and Instantaneous Versus Finite Displacements and Velocities, Pages 35-36.
- View: the IRIS video on Plate Boundaries & Tectonic Plates https://youtu.be/Xzpk9110Lyw
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Activity 2.1, Plate Motion from Different Frames of Reference, p. 47-48, and submit it to the Tectonics assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE. You don't need to scan the cut-out map pieces of Figure A2.1.3 as you prepare your answer for submission.
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Activity 2.2, Plate Motion and the San Andreas Fault, p. 49-50, and submit it to the Tectonics assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Sections GPS — Global Positioning System, Using GPS to Study Lithospheric Plate Motion, and What Do Hotspots Tell Us About Plate Motion? and all of their subsections, Pages 36-40.
- View: the IRIS video on hotspot volcanism: https://youtu.be/AhSaE0omw9o
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Activity 2.4, Hotspots and Plate Motions, p. 53-54, and submit it to the Tectonics assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
- Scan: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Section Exploring Basic Properties of Earth Materials and all of its subsections, Pages 41-43.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Section Earth's Magnetism and Paleomagnetism and all of its subsections, Pages 44-46.
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Activity 2.6, Paleomagnetic Stripes and Seafloor Spreading, p. 57-58, and submit it to the Tectonics assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
- View: the IRIS video on Earthquakes and Tectonics of Western South America: https://youtu.be/j1rcpx-QZqA
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 2, Activity 2.8, Using Earthquakes to Identify Plate Boundaries, p. 61-62,
and submit it to the Tectonics assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
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Complete the assigned work in Mastering Geology
Complete the Dyamic Study Module called
Plate Tectonics
and HW-ch02 by going to
Mastering Geology
through the
Canvas
Learning Management System (LMS). A reminder about how to get to the Mastering Geology assignments is provided
HERE
Summary of Assigned Lab Activities for This Week: Activities 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, and 2.8
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