7.10.B:  describe how plate tectonics causes ocean basin formation, earthquakes, mountain building, and volcanic eruptions, including supervolcanoes and hot spot

Describe

HOW PLATE TECTONICS CAUSES OCEAN BASIN FORMATION, EARTHQUAKES, MOUNTAIN BUILDING, AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, INCLUDING SUPERVOLCANOES AND HOT SPOTS

Including, but not limited to:

• Plate tectonics

  • Types of plates:

    • Continental plates – less dense plate

    • Oceanic plates – more dense plate

• Ocean basin formation

  • Divergent boundary – plate boundary where the plates separate

  • Seafloor spreading 

• Earthquakes

  • Transform boundary – plates slide past each other in different directions

• Mountain building

  • Convergent boundary – plate boundary where plates are colliding

  • Continental / continental boundary

• Volcanic eruptions

  • Convergent boundary – plate boundary where plates are colliding

  • Continental / oceanic boundary (subduction zone)

  • Supervolcanoes 

    • A volcanic center that has had an eruption of a magnitude of 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index A caldera forms

    • Ex: Valles Caldera in New Mexico and Long Valley in eastern California

  • Hotspots 

    • Tons of boiling magma pushes toward the surface in one spot.

    • Rising high pressure magma finds an opening, and it explodes to the surface.

    • Ex: Hawaii