Voyage Through Time a Plate Tectonics Flipbook

Name______Period ______

Voyage through Time – A Plate Tectonics Flipbook

You will be divided into groups and groups of Land Masses below. Some groups with get the same groupings. Each group is given a set of cardstock map sheets with Frames 1 to 20. These frames are reconstructed maps of the landmasses that existed on Earth at a specific time. The interval between successive frames is 10 million years (mya = millions of years ago). Frame 20 depicts landmasses as they are today. The maps are a view (projection) of the entire Earth, showing the outline of the continents, onto a flat surface.

Procedures Part I:

1. Beginning with frame 20 and working back-wards, your group is responsible for coloring two land masses on all 20 frames the assigned color.

Groups: Land Masses Color 1) North & South America with Africa North & South America Yellow 2) Australia with Antarctica Australia Tan 3) India with Europe & Asia India Orange 4) India with Africa Africa Green 5) Africa with Europe & Asia Europe & Asia Red 6) Europe & Asia with Antarctica Antarctica Blue 7) North & South America with Greenland Greenland Purple 8) Greenland with Europe & Asia

2. After you are done coloring, cut out each of the twenty frames and place them in order with # 1 on top and #20 last. Staple your booklet in the upper left corner.

3. Label your book with the assigned group number. (Some groups have the same number). Flip through your book a few times and trade with other groups. Make sure you look at all 8 different books.

4. Answer the Following Questions: A) What event began to occur about 190 million years ago?

B) During your coloring of the frames, in which frame did you locate the first appearance of the following landmasses: (Just list the number)

North America = Europe = Australia =

India = Antarctica =

1 C) In which frame did you locate the final breakup of Pangea? Why did you choose that frame and not another?

D) Sometimes when two plates collide, the landmasses (continents) within the plates are pushed together and a mountain range can form. Using a world map, identify TWO locations where mountain ranges exist and where you hypothesize plate collisions between continents or parts of continents have occurred. Use your flipbooks to confirm your hypothesis by stating the frame or frames that support your hypothesis. (Note that not all present-day mountain ranges were formed by continental collision events or by plate convergence that occurred during the last 190 million years.)

E) If mountain ranges can form where plates are colliding, what would you hypothesize might occur where plates are separating? Apply your hypothesis to identify TWO locations on a world map where plates might be separating (both oceanic and continental lithospheric plate divergence zones can be identified on the map and in the flip books). Tell which frames in the flipbooks will help you identify previous plate separations.

2 Procedures Part II: Measure and Plot the opening of the Atlantic Ocean through time

You will each individually be given another set of frames with only even numbers 8 through 20.

1. Select two locations on opposite sides of the Atlantic on Frame 20. Suggested points in the north Atlantic are: the northeastern US on the east coast of North America and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) on the west coast of Europe. Suggested points for the south Atlantic are the easternmost point along the east coast of South America (eastern Brazil) and the prominent indentation along the west coast of Africa near Nigeria. Measure the distance between the two points you choose using the kilometer scale provided below F12.

3 2. Plot the distance between the two points, showing the opening of the Atlantic through time, on the graph below. It will be easiest to work backwards (beginning with Frame 20) through time. You should be able to recognize a separation between your two points back to about 80 to 120 million years ago. (For frames 2, 4, and 6, the distance should be 0 km).

3. After you are done graphing, calculate the approximate average speed (in km/million years) for the opening of the Atlantic inferred from your graph. Don’t forget Units!!! Speed = Distance / Time (Distance divided by Time)