Tectonic Hazards

Question 1

Are tectonic hazards a type of natural hazard?

Answer 1

Yes

Question 2

What is a natural hazard?

Answer 2

A naturally occurring event that has the potential to affect people’s lives or property

Question 3

Name a couple examples of natural hazards?

Answer 3

Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions

Question 4

The earths surface is separated into…

Answer 4

Tectonic plates

Question 5

Describe the 4 layers and the structure of the earth and what they are made out of

Answer 5

• Inner core - solid nickel and iron
• Outer core - liquid
• Mantle - semi-molten rock that moves very quickly
• Crust- very thin, divided into tectonic slabs

Question 6

What are the two types of crust?

Answer 6

• Continental

* Oceanic

Question 7

What type of crust is thick and less dense?

Answer 7

Continental

Question 8

What crust is thin and more dense?

Answer 8

Oceanic crust

Question 9

The plates are moving because…

Answer 9

The rock in the mantle underneath them is moving

Question 10

The places where the plates meet are called the ____ or _____

Answer 10

Boundaries or plate margins

Question 11

What are the 3 types of plate margin?

Answer 11

• Destructive
• Constructive
• Conservative

Question 12

The area where continental plates collide is called a …

Answer 12

Collision zone

Question 13

Destructive margins are where two plates are… explain

Answer 13

Moving towards eachother.

Where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the denser oceanic plate is forced down into the mantle and destroyed.

Question 14

What’s an example of a destructive margin?

Answer 14

Pacific plate is being forced under the Eurasian plate along the east coast of Japan.

Question 15

Constructive margins are where two plates are… explain

Answer 15

Moving away from eachother.

Magma (molten rock) rises from the mantle to fill the gap and cools, creating new crust.

Question 16

What’s an example of a constructive margin?

Answer 16

The Eurasian plate and the North American Plate are moving apart at the mid-Atlantic ridge

Question 17

Constructive margins are where two plates are….. explain

Answer 17

Moving sideways past eachother.

or are moving in the same direction but at different speeds. Crust isn’t created or destroyed.

Question 18

What’s an example of a conservative margin?

Answer 18

The Pacific plate is moving past the North American plate on the west coast of the USA

Question 19

What’s a fault?

Answer 19

A fracture in the earths crust that shows signs of movement

Question 20

What’s the subduction zone?

Answer 20

Area of destructive plate boundary. The plate does under another.

Question 21

Do earthquakes occur at all three plate margins?

Answer 21

Yes

Question 22

How is an earthquake caused at a destructive margin?

Answer 22

Pressure builds up when one plate gets stuck as it’s moving down past the other into the mantle

Question 23

How is an earthquake caused at a constructive margin?

Answer 23

Pressure builds up along the cracks within the plates as they move away from eachother

Question 24

How is an earthquake caused at a conservative margin?

Answer 24

Pressure builds up when plates that are grinding past eachother get stuck

Question 25

What are shock waves?

Answer 25

Vibrations that cause an earthquake

Question 26

What is the focus?

Answer 26

The point in the earth where the earthquake starts

Question 27

What is the epicentre?

Answer 27

The point on the earths surface straight above the focus

Question 28

Near the epicentre the shock waves are…

Answer 28

Stronger and cause more damage

Question 29

The amount of energy released by an earthquake (its magnitude) is measured using…

Answer 29

The Richter scale

Question 30

Are volcanoes found at all three types of plate margin?

Answer 30

No, only destructive and constructive plate margins