Earthquakes, volcanoes and plates This lesson, we’ll see what the Earth’s plates are – and their link with earthquakes and volcanoes.

This map shows the main earthquake and volcano sites. Can you see a pattern?

The pattern From the map you can see that: Earthquakes and volcanoes don’t just happen anywhere. They tend to occur along lines. They often occur together. They occur in the ocean as well as on land.

Explaining the pattern The pattern puzzled scientists for years. Then they found the explanation. The Earth’s surface is cracked into pieces like an eggshell. The pieces are continually moving. This movement causes earthquakes and volcanoes along the cracks. The cracked pieces are called plates.

This map shows the main plates and their names. Some plates carry continents and ocean, others just ocean. They move slowly in different directions.

1. Earthquakes and volcanoes tend to form a pattern. Explain why. 2. Name: a. the plate you live on b. a plate moving away from yours c. a plate that is moving north d. a plate that just carries ocean e. the plate off the west coast of South America f. the plate that’s circled by the Ring of Fire. 3. There are no active volcanoes in the UK. Suggest why. 4. Do you think a map of the Earth will look different 100 million years from now? Explain your answer.

5. A challenge! A move of 1º south equals 440km. Suppose our plate starts moving south at 5cm a year. About how long will it take Pontypool to reach the equator? (Pontypool is about 55ºN.) 6. If there are no active volcanoes in the UK, then surely there can be no earthquakes. If that is the case, can you guess how this happened?this