ESC 1000 Video
Notes Name: _________________
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Colliding
Continents (Naked Science)
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We investigate the forces that drive this dynamic process – to discover what created the land we see today. And what the future holds for us, on the incredible voyage of our ever-changing continents. What we are observing at the moment is only a snap shot of the global cycle that the Earth has been undergoing for the last 4.5 billion years and will continue to undergo even if we are not around any more. We look into the future to see what the world map will look like in 250 million years time. |
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Video Notes:
Chapter 7: Plate Tectonics:
A Scientific Theory Unfolds
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Asthenosphere |
Island arc |
Plate tectonics |
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Continental drift theory |
Lithosphere |
Reverse polarity |
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Continental volcanic arc |
Magnetic time scale |
Ridge push |
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Convergent plate boundary |
Mantle plume |
Rift (rift
valley) |
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Curie Point |
Normal polarity |
Seafloor is spreading |
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Deep-ocean trench |
Ocean ridge system |
Slab pull |
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Divergent plate boundary |
Paleomagnetism |
slab suction |
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fossil magnetism |
Pangaea |
Subduction zone |
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Fracture |
Partial melting |
Transform fault boundary |
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Hot spot |
Plate |
Volcanic island arc |
Questions:
(1)
(2)
Most Significant Discovery (discoveries)
Purchase
and/or watch trailer:
http://www.rocketrights.tv/catalog/science-programs/earth-science/colliding-continents
Synopsis
Powerful forces deep below the
Earth’s surface are propelling the continents on a restless journey across the
face of the globe. They
will rip vast land masses apart and send them smashing into one another, to
reshape our world. Oceans will disappear, mountains
will crumble, and rise again. And where great cities once stood… there will be
little more than fossils.
This film investigates the forces
that drive this dynamic process – to discover what created the land we see
today? And what the future holds for us, on the incredible voyage of our
ever-changing continents.
We visit Prof. Sam Bowring at MIT
to explore how the first continents formed in early Earth. We also look at the
much debated issue of when water was first present on Earth. Analysing nature’s
time capsules – zircon, help us in our quest.
We travel to Iceland where new
rock is constantly being created as it sits on a ridge in the middle of the
Atlantic. This mid-Atlantic ridge stretches for over 11,000 miles from the
sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island to the Arctic Circle and divides the North American
plate from the Eurasian plate. We travel to a bridge between these two
continental plates and explore the forces that cause these huge land masses to
drift apart and collide together: plate tectonics.
Our next destination is the
Barberton region of South Africa, where we visit the world’s best preserved
ancient continent before learning how the continents are continually evolving.
We meet paleontologist Prof. Mark
McMenamin of Mount Holyoke College, who gathers evidence from the break-up of
the last supercontinent Pangaea which took place approximately 280 million
years ago. He shows us how the fossil record offers vital clues to the previous
layout of the continents.
Since the continents were born,
vast mountain ranges have straddled them as a result of plates colliding.
Professor Gerard Stampfli of Lausanne University in Switzerland studies the
processes that built the Alps. He explains why if you stand on the Matterhorn,
you’re actually standing in Africa!
We travel to the Grand Canyon to
find out how rock can build up in sediment and how water can erode rock,
carving out the awe-inspiring landscapes we see today. In the case of the Grand
Canyon, we learn how a stream started at 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains,
carved down to sea level, and as the Grand Canyon just happened to be in the
way, it got cut out.
What we are observing at the
moment is only a snap shot of the Earths global cycle that has been undergoing
for the last 4.5 billion years and will continue to undergo even if we are not
around any more. We look into the future to see what the world map will look
like in 250 million years time. Tune in to find out!