1. Layers of the Earth
Using a laser pointer, briefly highlight and describe the layers of the earth’s interior. Also highlight the fact that the earth has oceanic and continental crust.

2. CRUST/LITHOSPHERE _________ layer __________ on mantle
is cool and ________
between ______ km thick
__________ on mantle
Oceanic Crust: ________ thick
Continental Crust ~ ________ thick

3. Mantle/Athenosphere average thickness is about _________km
solid but ________
behaves like ________, flowing and circulating slowly without breaking

4. Core radius ~ ________ km half of the Earth’s diameter
metallic - made of _____ and ________
outer core - ________
inner core -________

5. Supercontinent Pangea – _______ Similar _____ and ______ _____ forests
_____ deposits
Discuss the theory of Pangea and show animation (click on link).
Tens of Millions of years ago!

6. Pangaea
___________ revived the early idea of _____________, contending that all of the present-day continents were connected,
side-by-side, as long ago as the Carboniferous (~300 Myr).
He called the supercontinental mass ___________,
Greek for ‘all lands’.

7. Today’s Continents
As soon as maps of the globe became available, people wondered about the arrangement of the continents and oceans. Hundreds of years later, valid explanations were constructed.

8. The crust and lithosphere are broken up into 25 ________
USGS

9. Movement of the Plates:
_________________
Evidence
How it works

10. Continental Drift: Fossil Evidence
Mesosaurus: _________________
Glossopteris: _______________________________________

11. Continental Drift: Rock Ages
Rock ages showed strong correlation across the ___________, as did mountain ranges of similar age.

12. Continental Drift: Geometry evidence
shape of the continents
eg. the shape of the west coast of _________ and the east coast of ______________ are remarkably similar and were perhaps once joined

13. More Evidence:Mantle Convection
Materials that can flow tend to lose _____________ by the convection process. This explains circulation in a pot of water that is being heated from below in the same way it describes the ________________ in the Earth’s mantle.

14. Where convection rises ________________ takes place.
Mantle Convection
Giant convection cells within the upper mantle drag the plates along laterally.
Where convection rises ________________ takes place.
Where the convection cells descend they drag crust down, causing ______________

15. How does it work? _________ – pieces of the lithosphere
Plates fit closely together along cracks called
_______________
Convection Currents  ______________
Explain that the lithosphere is broken into pieces called plates. The place where the pieces fit together are the boundaries. Using a laser pointer, explain the theory that plate movement is caused by convection currents in the mantle.

16. Here is another version of the Rock Cycle

17. Mechanisms of Plate Tectonics:

18. Mechanisms of Plate Tectonics:2
Ridge-Push 1
Mantle 3
drag
convective flow of mantle

19. Sea Floor Spreading
Hot material rose at the ______________, thus explaining the high heat flow and volcanic activity, and why the ocean floor is bulged up at the ridges.
The logical next step is that where continent and ocean meet, at the __________, ocean crust is being returned to the mantle at the same rate it is being generated at the ridges.

20. Types of Boundaries __________
Define each term. Have the students as a class mimic the movement of divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries using their hands. Use the hyperlinks as visuals while discussing each type of plate boundary.

21. To summarize……

22. C Sliding B Convergent A Divergent
plates are __________
new crust is created
______ is coming to the surface
plates are ___________
crust is returning to the __________
plates are __________ each other
crust is not ________ or __________

23. C Sliding B Convergent A Divergent
Plates move against each other
Stress builds up
Stress is released
____________
2 continental plates  __________________
Continental crust
 ___________
Oceanic crust  ___________________ C
Sliding B
Convergent A
Divergent
2 oceanic plates or
oceanic + continental
_________

24. DIVERGENCE: Sea Floor Spreading
Sea floor spreading, leads to _________________
*This hypothesis makes a number of testable predictions.*

25. * Taking magnetic stratigraphy back in time is paleomagnetism. *
Magnetic Reversals
Interestingly, the polarity of the magnetic field shifts every Myr. That means rocks formed over time will record either ‘_________’ magnetic orientation (like today), or ‘_________’. This leads to alternating bands of normal and reversed magnetism.
We are apparently headed into a polarity reversal, to be complete in ~3000 yr.
* Taking magnetic stratigraphy back in time is paleomagnetism. *

26. Paleomagnetism and Sea Floor Spreading
The _____________ as products of steady creation of ____ ocean crust over geologic time.

27. Oceanic Ridges

28. The ridge is a ___________ Plate Margin and divergence takes place by __________________.
From
New crust is added from upwelling __________ (molten rock) from the upper ___________.
Older crust is pushed laterally away from the ridge axis – so that the sea floor spreads away from the ridge axis.

29. CONVERGENCE: Oceanic Crust – Continental Crust
The __________ oceanic crust descends beneath lighter continental crust.
__________________ develop due to compressive forces and volcanics (e.g., the Andes of South America).
Magma material rises from descending slab and builds _____________ in
the rising
mountains.

30. CONVERGENCE: Oceanic Crust-Oceanic Crust
The ________, _________ crust normally descends beneath the younger crust.
______________ develop at the surface of the over-riding crust (forming Island Arcs) - e.g ___________

31. Continental Crust-Continental Crust
CONVERGENCE:
Continental Crust-Continental Crust
Neither plate __________ (both too light).
Compressive forces driving plates fold and thrust the continental margins forming an _______________________ belt (e.g., the Himalayan Mountains).

32. SLIDING: Slip-Strike Faults
Plate __________ along which the plates slip by each other. Termed: Slip-Strike Faults/Transform Faults
On either side of a fault plate motions are in __________ directions.

33. The Big Picture
Remind students to look for their assigned boundaries and write down information to describe them.