NEPTUNE Canada

Bathymetric features of the Juan de Fuca plate (Grade 11)

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Learning Objective(s)

Students must relate visual images of bathymetric features to actual locations along the Juan de Fuca plate.

Introduction

Revise students about plate boundaries and the three different types of boundaries. Introduce the vocabulary on the labels if not yet known or understood.

Materials

• unlabeled map of Juan de Fuca plate
• access to Internet for extension

Activity

• discuss as a group typical morphologies at each margin
• hand out unlabeled maps of the Juan de Fuca plate (direction of plate motion is indicated on the map)
• ask students to classify and label features and plate boundaries:
  • ridge
  • trench
  • submarine volcano
  • accretionary wedge
  • subduction zone
  • collision zone
  • transform fault
  • spreading plate boundary
  • seamount

Extension

Ask students to work in pairs to compare labeled maps with actual maps they could search out on the Internet.

Assessment

• Are labels correct?
• Are label positions correct?

Related Website

Wikipedia entry on the Juan de Fuca plate

Tags

tectonics, tectonic plate, tectonic boundaries, tectonic plates, seismology, volcanoes, volcanism