Volcanoes and Earthquakes Exam #2

A
Volcanoes form mostly around bodies of water because of convergent plate boundaries. Plate boundaries around land have a thicker continental crust, and it is harder for lava to break through it. The Ring of Fire is a ring of volcanoes that have formed due to the Pacific plate moving around. The boarders of the pacific plate line up directly with volcanic activity. In Iceland, there are multiple volcanoes due to a plate boundary. When plates move closer, land is pushed up, and cracks in the earth fill with molten lava, creating volcanoes. Volcanoes can also form at divergent boundaries. Such volcanoes result in seafloor spreading or the creation of islands. [1]
[1]
Earthquakes occur at all plate boundaries. Any time plates rub against each other or pull apart, vibrations are given off in the form of an earthquake. There is a large plate boundary in California, and as illustrated by this map, there are a lot of earthquakes. Each dot represents an earthquake that has been recorded in the last month. [2]

B
Magma can be basaltic, andesitic, or rhyolitic. Basalt is found in ocean crusts, so basaltic magma comes from oceanic boundaries. "Basalts erupt non-explosively, indicating a low gas content and therefore low water content." [3] Rhyolotic magma is found mostly on continents, resulting from a high pressure in the ground. The magma explodes its way out very violently at convergent continental boundaries. Andesitic magma is found in areas above subduction zones. Andesitic magma is formed from basaltic magma.
C
Volcanoes change the geosphere by creating new land when magma hardens. They also change the climate by spewing out CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Volcanoes impact the biosphere by killing plants and animals. Entire cities have been wiped out by volcanoes. The hydrosphere is also impacted by volcanoes throwing out magma into the water. [4]


[1] http://www.platetectonics.com/book/index.asp, Plate Tectonics, March 25, 1970, Thomas, Lewis
[2] http://www.ncedc.org/oldeqs/hist.html, Historical Earthquake Maps for California/Nevada, November 16, 2003, Rgents of California
[3] http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/volcan&magma.htm, Volcanoes, Magma, and Volcanic Eruptions, September 30, 2007, Nelson, Stephen A.
[4] http://passthrough.fw-notify.net/static/727660/downloader.js, Volcanoes and the Earth System, BAESI, November 17, 2007

Plate Tectonics -- Exam #1

A
Plate tectonics cause seafloor spreading, mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain ranges. Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent boundaries. Seafloor spreading is when two plates move apart and lava flows up to fill the gap. Iceland is on a divergent boundary.[1] [1]
Mid-ocean ridges, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur when two oceanic plates collide and produce mountains. The total length of the underwater mountain range is about 60,000km.[2] these mountains may form island chains. [1]
B

Rocks in Earth's core become heated by the core, and lose density. The rocks rise and cool off and fall again. This creates a circular motion in Earth's mantle, thus creating currents through the magma and pushing plates.[1]


C
Plate tectonics are believed to have caused continental drift.[3] Scientists think that the continents move about one yard per century. "These plates move relative to one another above a hotter, deeper, more mobile zone at average rates as great as a few inches per year." [3] Island chains are formed by underwater volcanoes that erupt multiple times and form islands. The debris from the volcano builds up into a large volcano that pierces the sea level. (See image titled "Oceanic-oceanic convergence") Transform boundaries create geological differences by sliding past each other(California is an example). Such boundaries form faults such as the San Andreas.
Hawii was formed by a hot spot that stayed in one stationary spot, forming volcanoes. The tectonic plate beneath Hawaii moved Northwest, resulting in many volcanoes being formed in a chain. [4] These volcanoes erupted multiple times to form the Hawaiian islands.
California might eventually break apart due to a change in tectonic plates. The plates have been moving at a rate of about 5cm per year, and scientists predict that the western side of California will separate all together. The plate boundary lies on the San Andreas fault. As I said before, this is a Transform boundary, so we don't see the 5cm difference. Eventually this boundary may become divergent, creating a much wider fault.
[1] http://www.platetectonics.com/book/page_5.asp, Plate Boundaries, November 23, 2009, Thomas, Lewis
[2] http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Mi-Oc/Mid-Ocean-Ridges.html, Mid-Ocean Ridges, 2009, Gilman, Larry & Lerner, K.
[3] http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001765.html, Continental Drift and Plate-Tectonics Theory, 2007, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii#Geography_and_environment, Hawaii, 2009, Wikipedia

Night Sky Observations

I was absent during the times of the observations.
However, I have observed a meteor shower. I saw multiple diffent conselations including orion. I saw small white lines flashing all over the sky. The moon appeared bigger and changed color. I have also observed a red moon. I have also watched the moon get lighter and darker in certain places.

5 Changes

The 5 changes I noted were:
Weeds were pulled
There was a trail
Signs were painted
Expanded
Signs were clean

School Uses
Feild trips
Study environment
Test environment
Serene place to study/read
Discover different species
a

Community Uses
Serene gazing
Birdwatching
Study of invasive species
Community service time
Biking

NASA website

I read an article on Gamma Ray astronomy, And I passed the quiz with 100%. I also read an article on Gamma Ray Bursts, but there was no quiz. The article Dark Energy also had no quiz. The last article I read was on Gamma Detectors, and I got 100% on the quiz.

MyNASA

I visited the NASA site, and I created an account. I added an image to my profile, and spent some timelearning about gamma radiation and other galaxies. I followed a link to the hubble site, where I viewed multiple images of the Helix Nebula. I researched the technology of a radiation beam as well. http://mynasa.nasa.gov/portal/site/mynasa/index.jsp

Project

I am on time with my project. We still need to visit the recycling center, but our progress with battery recycling is going well. We need to sort batteries and drop them off. We will postpone our visit until all the batteries have been collected.