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Plate Tectonics
Destinations

Aerial View of the East African Rift Valley, A Divergent Plate Boundary, Ethopia (NASA) We have made a concerted effort to search the Web for relevant material, but no matter how hard we try there will always be more information available than we can possibly examine.

However, the following list contains links to many of the most interesting and informative Web sites related to topics explored in the chapter that we were able to locate. Check them out, but make sure you come back to do more investigating when you're done.

American Geophysical Union (AGU): For over 75 years, American Geophysical Union (AGU) researchers, teachers, and science administrators have dedicated themselves to advancing the understanding of the Earth and its environment in space and making the results available to the public.

Ask a Geologist (USGS): Have a geological question? Here is your chance to ask it.

Dynamic Earth Tutorial (USGS): An excellent online, interactive plate tectonics tutorial from the United States Geological Survey.

Earthforce: A great source for links to earthquake and plate tectonics related websites.

Global Earth History: The Global Earth History site uses a series of plate-tectonic reconstructions to show the broad patterns of Phanerozoic Earth history.

Hawaii Undersea Geo-Observatory (HUGO): The Hawaii Undersea Geo-Observatory (HUGO) is an automated submarine volcano observatory installed on the summit of the undersea Loihi seamount and connected to the shore via fiber optic cable.

Hot Spot Activity (Geosphere): An excellent interactive activity on hot spots from the University of Montana's Geosphere. With this activity learners study mantle convection and utilize image processing techniques to determine sizes of geologic formations of Hawaii and Yellowstone National Park from remote sensing data. (The site may be slow to connect, but its usually there.)

JOIDES Resolution Page: The JOIDES Resolution is the drillship of the Ocean Drilling Program.

Mantle Plumes: A great place to begin your study of mantle plumes which includes a discussion of mechanisms and links to recent articles related to the subject.

Map of Plate Boundaries (NEIC): Map of plate boundaries from the National Earthquake Information Center.

Marine Geology & Geophysics (NGDC): The Marine Geology & Geophysics Division of the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and the collocated World Data Center A for Marine Geology and Geophysics (WDC-A for MGG) compiles and maintains extensive databases in both coastal and open ocean areas.

Moving Plates Activity (Geosphere): An excellent interactive activity on calculating plate motion from the University of Montana's Geosphere. With this activity learners use numeric representations to identify the positions and perform absolute/relative plate motion calculations using Internet resources.

Nordic Volcanological Institute: This site contains the geology and tectonics of Iceland.

Ocean Drilling Program: The Ocean Drilling Program home page with links to related agencies and institutions.

Ocean Floor Ages Map: A great global map illustrating ocean floor ages from NOAA.

Ocean Floor Animations: Here is a good visualization of the Pacific hemisphere plate tectonic history along with other related animations.

Ocean Floor Datasets: Ocean floor data and images from Columbia University.

Paleomap: This Web site illustrates plate tectonics development of the ocean basins and continents, including projections for the future.

Plate Motion Calculator: An interactive plate motion calculator from the University of Tokyo.

Plate Motion Calculator (UNAVCO): This program is designed for the calculation of plate motion at any location on Earth. You can specify the tectonic plate or, with the AUTO option, let the program determine which plate the point is on. The program returns with the plate model velocity components (Evel, the east velocity, and Nvel, the north velocity) in mm/yr.

Plate Tectonics Activity (Geosphere): An excellent interactive activity on plate tectonics from the University of Montana's Geosphere. With this activity learners use current satellite images to determine sea floor spreading rates, identify relationships between earthquake epicenters and sites of active volcanism, and create a scale model of the Earth's layered structure. (The site may be slow to connect, but its usually there.)

Plate Tectonics Animations: Excellent animations of faults, plate subduction, earthquake wave propagation, and other processes from PBS' Savage Earth program.

Plate Tectonics Animations (USGS): Great plate tectonics animations from the United States Geological Survey—a must see!

Plate Tectonics Information (NEIS): National Earthquake Information Center (NEIS) plate tectonics information.

Plate Tectonics Information (USGS): United States Geologic Survey (USGS) information on plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading.

Plate Tectonics Links: This Central Michigan University site maintained by Dr. Mark Francek lists several good links to Web sites containing information relative to topics discussed in the chapter.

Plate Tectonics Links (Houghton Mifflin): Links to several plate tectonics sites, including class lecture notes, arranged by topic.

Plate Tectonics (NASA's Observatorium): A good tutorial on plate tectonics.

Plate Tectonics Tutorial (1 of 2): Plate tectonics tutorial from Texas A & M University.

Plate Tectonics Tutorial (2 of 2): Plate tectonics tutorial from Texas A & M University.

Plate Tectonics Tutorial (VolcanoWorld): An in-depth review of plate tectonics from VolcanoWorld.

Plate Tectonics (University of California, Berkeley): This University of California, Berkeley, Web site explains the history and science of tectonics and also contains animations showing the movement of plates.

Related Topics Index: Information on several topics related to plate tectonics from the University of North Dakota's VolcanoWorld site.

San Andreas Fault and the Bay Area: A virtual field trip along the San Andreas fault.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography: The Scripps Institution of Oceanography home page features numerous links to related oceanography Web sites.

Seafloor Spreading Calculator: This "Seafloor Spreading Rates Calculator" calculates the spreading rate at any point on mid-ocean ridges. The system is developed and maintained by K. Okino and K. Tamaki of Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo.

Tectonic Plate Motion (Space Geodesy): An excellent site that explains how NASA monitors plate motions.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI): Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a world leader in the field of oceanography, have been probing the mysteries of the oceans for more than 65 years.

World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics: The World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics promotes excellence in archiving, managing, and exchanging data obtained from measurements of the seafloor.

Photo/Figure Credits (In Order of Appearance)

Earth from Space (NASA) (Courtesy of NASA)
Aerial View of the Front of the Himalaya Mountains, A Convergent Plate Boundary, Northeast India (NASA) (Courtesy of NASA)
Tectonic Features Diagram (Prentice Hall)
World Topography (Courtesy of USGS)
Grand Teton National Park (Courtesy of the National Park Service)
Aerial View of the East African Rift Valley, A Divergent Plate Boundary, Ethopia (NASA) (Courtesy of NASA)
Erupting Volcano (Photo by E.J. Tarbuck)
Mountain Range (Corel) (Property of Kenneth Pinzke)