ISP Exam 1

Iceland (hotspot on a mid-ocean ridge)

Iceland sits spanning the Mid-Atlantic Ridge tectonic plate boundary which separates the Eurasian and the North American plates. The ridge, an underwater mountain chain, extends about 16,000 km along the north-south axis of the Atlantic Ocean.

Japan (Subduction zone)

Japan's stretch of the Ring of Fire is where the North American, Pacific, Eurasian and Philippine plates come together. Northern Japan is largely on top of the western tip of the North American plate. Southern Japan sits mostly above the Eurasian plate. The Japan Trench, a subduction zone, is where the Pacific plate beneath the Pacific Ocean dives underneath North American plate beneath Japan. This violent movement, called thrust faulting, forced the North American plate upward in this latest quake.

California, esp San Francisco Bay Area (transform boundary)

Many transform boundaries are found on the sea floor, where they connect segments of diverging mid-ocean ridges. California's San Andreas fault is a transform boundary. The San Andreas fault zone is a transform boundary between two tectonic plates, the North America plate and the Pacific plate The surface expression of the San Andreas transform fault zone is a right-lateral strike-slip fault.

Mid-Ocean Ridges (divergent boundaries)

A mid-ocean ridge an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.

plate tectonics

A theory stating that the earth's surface is broken into plates that move.

2008 Wenchuan Earthquake

tectonic setting: collision between Indian and Eurasian along the Longmenshan thrust fault Occurred in mountainous central region in China Consequences: numerous aftershocks in following days, months, and years, whole villages and towns destroyed, along with schools killing many

1980 and 2004 Eruptions of Mt. St. Helens

tectonic setting: subduction of Juan de Fucce plate stratovolcano in Cascade range consequences: most active volcano in U.S. and most likely to erupt in the future, peaceful throughout 20th century until 1980, most destructive eruption in U.S. history, shut down air traffic over Northwest

Cascadia (subduction zone)

(Pacific Northwest) is a subduction zone where the Juan de Fuca plate subducts beneath North America. Because it is a subduction zone you would expect to have large thrust earthquakes that might cause tsunamis and coastal subsidence, and arc volcanoes.

1700 Cascadia Earthquake

tectonic setting: Cascadia megathrust subduction zone, Juan de Fuca plate subducts under North American plates, Pacific Northwest Scientists able to date based on treee stumps Able to date exact time because it caused a Tsunami in Japan

1906 San Francisco Earthquake

tectonic setting: San Andreas fault ranks as one of the most sig earthquakes of all time large, horizontal displacements, great rupture length led to formation of elastic rebound theory consequences: spawned fire across San Francisco

2011 Tohoku Earthquake

tectonic setting: between Pacific and Northern American plates consequences: nuclear meltdown, radioactive contamination magnitude 9.0

Hawaii (hotspot track)

volcanic hotspot, chain of volcanoes, pacific plate moves over stationary Hawaiian hot spot