Raising The Rockies

Locating Plate Boundaries Since earthquakes usually occur at the boundaries of crustal plates, it makes sense to plot the locations of major earthquakes on a world map. Earth’s crust is comprised of a series of rigid crustal plates that move over the asthenosphere. This is the source of magma for volcanos.

Locating Plate Boundaries Volcanoes usually occur at a boundary where two plates move apart, or at a boundary where on plate is pushed under another plate. Even though volcanoes sometimes occur at places not close to plate boundaries, plotting the locations of the world’s active volcanoes can still provide valuable insights for mapping out the edges of crustal plates.

Pangaea A single supercontinent that formed in the late Paleozoic Era. Some of the strongest evidence for the theory of plate tectonics emerges from the end of the Paleozoic Era. Geologists think Earth’s land masses formed a single gigantic continent called Pangaea at that time.

Theories of Change In the early 1900's Alfred Wegener introduced the continental drift theory. It stated that a super continent called Pangaea (meaning "all lands" in Greek) began to break up about 225-200 million years ago, eventually fragmenting into the continents as we know them today.

Volcanoes A volcano is a spot that releases magma & heat There 3 types of volcanoes: Subduction zone Hot spot Rift zone

Building the Rocky Mountains In the late Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, sediments created a vast network of deltas, swamps, and forests that became home to a variety of different dinosaurs. By the late Cretaceous Period, another round of plate collisions on the west coast caused another period of compression. The net effect was that the inland sea was uplifted and drained; the existing mountains were pushed up even higher; and the main ranges, front ranges, and foothills were formed. During the Jurassic Period Pangaea continued to break up and fragments continued to drift west. The tectonic plate carrying these islands was subducted under the westward advances of the North American Plate. Geologists suspect that the margins of western Alberta must have been a land of earthquakes and volcanoes at that time.

Assignment Read Section 2.4 2.4 Questions Pg. 360 #1-6