Collaborative Exam 1 Outline

Week 1: Content: Origins of Earth, Ocean and Marine Exploration

SPO 3: Be able to explain how the seas originated during the early
geologic history of the earth.
1. How long ago did Earth's oceans form? 3.8 billion years ago.
2. What were the characteristics of Early Earth (3.8-4.6 Billion years

ago)? No oxygen in the atmosphere Frequent meteorite

impacts. No life on earth. Red sky due to the CO2 in the
atmosphere. Larger Moon Dark, even in the
daytime. Volcanoes were very common and active. One
Continent
3. Where did Earth's water come from?

The comet brought water to the earth.

4. Why did the surface water on early earth eventually turn to
liquid?
The surface water eventually turned to liquid because the surface on
earth was so hot, it constantly was having volcanic eruptions and being
hit m asteroids everyday. Therefore anything frozen on the surface was
melted almost immediately. Eventually there was enough liquid to form
our vast oceans.

5. What explains how the Solar System Formed

The solar system was formed by the a huge of cloud of gas and dust
in a space or star have a big bang in the universe.

Week 2 Content: Plate Tectonics

1. Why did many scientists initially reject the idea of
continental drift? Wegner's inability to provide substantial
evidence and an adequate explanation for how the continents
could plow through the ocean floor and the fact that he was a
geologist was why many scientists initially rejected the idea of
continental drift.
2. What data finally gave direct evidence of the Theory of plate
Tectonics?

- There was various evidence for the theory of plate

tectonics, but the theory was not widely accepted because

scientists were baffled at the idea that continents float like
glaciers. Plate tectonics was not accepted until many years later
when eventually direct evidence was confirmed through the use
of GPS technology, which is able to measure plate motion. It was
not possible to accurately measure divergence of plates on Earth
because you can only measure relative motion when you are on
Earth since everything is moving. It was possible with satellites
because it is in a fixed orbit like the Earth stationary orbit. The
researchers placed geodetic instruments on the individual plates
and used the GPS to measure the divergence of the American
plate and European plate over time to see that they are moving
apart about two centimeters a year.
3. What geologic feature do the Ocean Ridges parallel?

The geologic

feature that the Ocean Ridge parallel is the vast oceanic ridge
system that encircles the earth along the tectonic plate
boundaries. Additionally, beneath the ridges are volcanic
eruptions.
4. How is alternating magnetic polarity recorded in rocks at ocean

ridges?

The position of Earth's magnetic field changes over

geologic time. Currently, the north magnetic pole is located near

Earth's North Pole, a condition called normal polarity. Periods
when the north magnetic pole is located near Earth's South Pole
are called reversed polarity. When molten lava solidifies at midocean ridges, iron-containing minerals in the lava align
themselves with Earth's active magnetic field. These minerals
record the orientation of the magnetic field at the time they
solidified.
5. What evidence did geologists Frederick Vine and Drummond
Matthews use to support the idea of seafloor spreading?
When material from the mantle rises up through mid ocean ridges and
cools, it preserves a record of the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field.
VIne and Matthews noticed there was a symmetrical pattern of
magnetic stripes in either side of the mid ocean ridges. When the
basalts of the sea floor were dated, they were found to be the same
age at similar distances away from the reach at each side. This
suggested that the ocean floor was created at the mid ocean ridges,
then was split in half by later activity and pushed sideways.
1. What evidence was available at the time the Theory of Continental
Drift was proposed? (Links to an external site.)
The continents fit together like a puzzle. Although that was thought to
be a coincidence. The same animals and fossils were found on different
continents. This would mean that the continents were at some time
connected. Wegener created a graphic that showed the similarity
between South Africa and Western Africa's geology. Also the
widespread of glaciers provided evidence for continental drift. (The
mountain ranges on both South Africa and Africa when placed side by

side match perfectly and become a continuing mountain range. The

mountain ranges also shared the same age and structure. The main
fossil that was mention and found on both South America and Africa,
which was used as compelling evidence for the Theory of Continental
Drift, is the Mesosaurus. There were also matching shorelines on both
continents.)
7. What causes Tectonic Plates to move?
The high heat make rocks of mental moves that tectonic plate is
moved by earth's crust moves.
High temperatures and pressure from the earths core melts in the
mantle, forcing shifts in the plates. Temperature effects the convection
current, the closer mantle is to the earths core the hotter it is.
Convection currents moves cooler mantle rocks down and warm mantle
rocks rise up. The pattern in which these move creates a pocket of
circulation which is called a convection cell. The movement the mantle
material makes causes the lithosphere plates move.
Week 3 Content: The Ocean Floor
SPO 1: Explain the fundamental differences between continents and
ocean basins, and explain how ocean basins originate, develop and
are destroyed on the basis of plate tectonic models.
1. What causes ocean basins to get destroyed Sea floor spreading
helps explain the development of new sea floors by explaining
the process in which fractures caused by oceanic plates diverging,
allows basaltic magma to travel up threw the fractures cooling
and solidifying as it spreads across the ocean floor. However, the
process of sea floor spreading also relates to the destruction of

ocean basins by producing new oceanic crust. The older ( more

dense) oceanic basins are pushed further away and forced under
continental crust known as subduction zones. In these zones the
less dense younger plates flow over the older plates destroying
them in a way of creating something new.
2. What was Alfred Wegener's theory? Alfred Wegener proposed his
theory of continental drift at the beginning of the twentieth
century; he was ridiculed at the beginning of his proposal since
his concept seemed unbelievable at the time. He proposed that
the continents were once all connected but later drifted apart
resulting in continental drift. Scientist at the time did not support
the idea because he lacked evidence to prove his theory to be
true. The continents gradually drifted apart across the surface of
the Earth through geological time. If studied carefully the
continents on a map look like they can be connected just like a
jigsaw puzzle.
3. What evidence was available at the time the Theory of

Continental Drift was proposed? There were various pieces of

evidence at the time the theory of continental drift was proposed.
First were Glacial ages and other climate evidence, ancient
glaciation in modern tropical region, direction of glacial flow. Also
distribution of organisms, same land animals distributed in
different continents (e.g., South American and Africa). Including a
puzzle-like fit of continents, Edward Bullard fit continents a 2000m
water depth. Finally a matching sequences of rocks and mountain
chains include similar age, rock types, and structures.
4. Rocks in the Earth's crust are classified into what following

groups?

- Rocks are categorized into three distinct

types based on their method of formation. The three types

are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Early in Earth's
history, all rock was igneous, having formed from the cooling
of melt on the surface. An igneous rock is simply a rock that
has solidified from magma or lava upon
cooling. A sedimentary rock is one that is formed by the
accumulation of small to large sediment particles derived
from all three types of rock and in some cases organic
material, and undergoes compaction, cementation, or
evaporation from/precipitation from a saturated mineral
solution. A metamorphic rock is an igneous, sedimentary, or
another metamorphic rock that has either been squeezed by
incredible pressures deep underground and/or has been
exposed to very high temperatures, altering its structure,
mineral alignment, or chemical composition.
5.

What is the process of sea floor spreading?

Sea floor spreading is the process of both the creation and destruction
of the ocean basin. At the axis of the mid ocean ridge, new ocean floor
is created. This new ocean floor is pushed away from the axis and new
strips of ocean floor are replaced by the swelling of volcanic matter.
While new ocean floor is being created, it is also being destroyed.
Ocean floor is destroyed in deep ocean trenches where the plates
undergo subduction; which is when the edge of the plate moves
downward or sideways under another plate. The process of sea floor
spreading supports the idea of continental drift and the deformation of
Pangea. Scientists speculate that in 250 million years from now, the

continents will once again mash into each other, minus Antarctica and
Australia, and create Pangea Ultima.

Week 4: Content: Features of the Sea Floor

SPO 2: Know the physiographic subdivisions of the ocean basins
and how the characteristics of each are related to plate tectonic,
depositional and erosive processes

1. What evidence did geologists use to support the idea of seafloor

spreading?
The fathometer, or echo sounder, sends signals of sound, or a ping,
which bounces off of the sea floor and is transmitted from a ship on
the water. Depending on the elevation under the water, the ping takes
longer to return when there is a lower sea floor, and faster when the
seafloor is closer to the surface of water. This is because water is an
excellent transmitter of sound, and therefore this method is reliable
enough to support the idea of seafloor spreading; if the same
coordinate is tested via fathometer upon separate occasions and
measures a different result, the seafloor has spread and resulted in a
varying elevation than previously observed via the fathometer AKA
echo sounder (Trujillo & Thurman 76).

This method was inspired by WWI in which the echo sounder was used
to sense submarines. More recently, scholars have further confirmed
seafloor spreading using Satellites from space (Trujillo & Thurman 78).
Trujillo, Alan P. and Thurman, Harold V. Essentials of

Oceanography. 2014.

Pearson. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Print.

(Kerry Kurcz)
2. What are turbidity currents?
Turbidity currents are like underwater avalanches of muddy water, rocks,
and other debris that may be underwater(to make it easier to imagine,
it is similar to a flash flood on land). The currents can be initiate by
natural disasters such as an earthquake or a hurricane passing by,
however, it is not constrained to only that. As sea floor materials move
across the continental shelf into the head of a submarine canyon, the
mixture of debris and mud falls downslope due to the force of gravity.
The currents can get so strong that they can transport huge rocks down
submarine canyons. It also causes erosion over time.
3. What is marine Snow?
Marine snow is the constant falling of dead organic material from the
upper parts of water to the lower parts of the ocean. It is a source of
food for organisms living in aphotic (without light) areas of the ocean. Howard Ho
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-news/marine-snow-staple-deep
4. Where are the majority of ocean trenches located?
Ocean trenches are steep depressions in the deepest parts of the ocean

where old ocean crust from one tectonic plate is pushed beneath
another plate, raising mountains, causing earthquakes, and forming
volcanoes on the seafloor and on land.
5. Where are abyssal plains locations? How thick are they?
Abyssal plains are located in the seafloor 10,000 to 20,000 feet deep.
The thickness depends on where and what type of plain it is. The Sohm
Plain in North Atlantic has an area of 350,000 square miles. The largest
and most common plains are located in the Atlantic Ocean. Abyssal
plains can also accumulate sediment that can reach up to one kilometre
in thickness.
6.How do ocean basins form? Basins are formed in the ocean by
separation of tectonic plates at the spreading plate margins. An ocean
basin is an region below sea level. An ocean basin can be active in
which a lot of new structures are built, or inactive where the surface is
slow to change. Plate tectonics is the theory used to explain the
dynamics of the earth's surface resulting from the interaction of
overlying rigid plates with the underlying mantle. When plates spread
apart, it creates gaps where hot molten rock (magma) from the earth's
mantle rises up. When the magma slips through the gaps, it solidifies as
it cools creating a new layer of ocean crust.

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