Topics

↪ Inside/structure of the Earth

↪ Plate Boundaries and Plate Tectonics
↪ LEDCs AND MEDCs
↪ Earthquakes
↪ Volcanoes

Inside the Earth

Structure of the Earth
There are 4 layers beneath the surface of the Earth…
➸ The hottest part of the Earth’s layers is the inner core. It is a solid
made from Iron and Nickel.
➸ Around the inner core is the Outer core which is made from liquid. It’s
very hot and is made from iron and nickel.
➸ The mantle comprises semi-molten rock and is the Earth's thickest
layer. This is the part that the tectonic plates float on.
➸ The crust is the part we live on. It’s the thinnest layer and is made up
of broken slabs called tectonic plates.

YOU NEED TO KNOW!

➽ The centre of the Earth is called the core.
➽ The outer layer of the Earth is called the crust.
➽ The mantle takes up to 80% of the inside/volume of the Earth.
➽ The core is mostly made of metals.
➽ Parts of the mantle have a temperature of 3000 degrees.
➽ Temperature increases as you move inwards into the Earth.

Plate Tectonics and Plate Boundaries

What are Tectonic plates?
The giant pieces of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. They are made up
of the oceanic and continental crust.
Oceanic Plates - These make up the ocean floor.
Continental Plates - These make up the continents.

Difference:
Continental Crust:
25-100km thick
Less Dense
Older
Oceanic Crust:
5-10km thick
More Dense
Younger

How do Tectonic Plates move

A convection current is the movement of the Earth’s mantle caused by the
core's heat.
Heat rises and falls in the mantle creating the current that is generated by
radioactive decay in the core.
These convection currents are one of the theories as to how tectonic
Plates move.

Pangeae
From about 300-200 million years ago, the continent we now know as
North America was contiguous with Africa, South America, and Europe.
They all existed as a single continent called Pangea.
Due to the plate tectonics moving, the continents were broken apart.
You can tell by:
✰ The continents can fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
✰The soil on each end of the continents is alike in some kind.
✰Fossils from similar plants and animals found on different continents
✰Similar age and type of rock layers in different continents

Plate boundaries
Plate boundaries are where two or more tectonic plates. It’s an area where
a lot of seismic activity takes place.

Types of plate boundaries

There are 3 types of plate boundaries and they are:
✰ Divergent (Constructive)
✰ Convergent (Destruction)
✰ Transform (subduction)

Divergent boundaries - Constructive

Convergent boundaries - Destructive

Transform plate boundaries

LEDCs AND MEDCs
LEDCs
This means less developed countries

Indicators of LEDCs
➔ Low literacy levels
➔ Poor living standards/conditions
➔ Poor health services
➔ No securities of lives and properties
➔ Poor infrastructure
➔ Degradation of technology

MEDCs
This means more economically developed countries

Indicators of MEDCs
➔ High literacy rates/levels
➔ High living standards
➔ Quality health services
➔ Securities of lives and properties
➔ High-quality structure
➔ Advancement in technology

Earthquakes
Earthquakes are sudden violent shaking, mostly causing destruction
because of the movements within the Earth’s crust.

— Earthquakes are vibrations caused by earth movements at plate margins

and at major fault lines (cracks in the earth’s surface).
— They can occur at all major plate margins but the most severe
earthquakes are normally found at Conservative and Destructive margins.

Conservative margins
At different speeds, the two plates—oceanic and continental—are passing
one another side by side. Pressure between the plates increases with
extreme tension. When the plates slip and move, there is a quick release of
energy that causes earthquakes. There aren't any volcanic eruptions here.

Destructive margins
Oceanic and continental plates move towards each other. The heavier,
dense oceanic plate is forced under lighter continental plates, a process
called subduction. Friction causes the melting of the oceanic plate and
triggers earthquakes. Magma rises up through cracks and erupts onto the
surface as a volcanic eruption. Earthquakes and volcanoes both happen on
this boundary.

Why do earthquakes happen

➳ The two plate margins cannot move past each other easily.
➳ The two plates lock together. Friction causes pressure to build up.
➳ Suddenly, the pressure is released and the plates jolt into a new
position.
➳ This causes SEISMIC WAVES. The vibrations cause earthquakes.

Anatomy of Earthquakes
✰ FAULT- A fracture in the rocks that make up the Earth’s crust.
✰ EPICENTRE - The point of the Earth’s surface directly above the focus.
✰ FOCUS - The points within the Earth where an earthquake rupture
happens,
✰ PLATES - These are massive rocks that make up the outer layer of the
Earth’s surface and whose movement along faults triggers earthquakes.
✰ SEISMIC WAVES - Waves that transmit the energy released by
earthquakes.
— The focus is the point at which rocks move. Seismic waves start at the
focus. The epicentre is directly above the focus.

How are earthquakes measured?

The Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake of a
tremor(how powerful it is) using an instrument called a seismometer.
The Richter scale is measured on a scale from 1-10. It is a logarithmic
scale which means that a size 6 is 10 times more powerful than a size 5
and 100 times more powerful than a size 4.
On the Richter scale, magnitude is expressed in whole numbers and decimal
fractions. Although the Richter scale has no upper limit, the largest
earthquake ever recorded was in 1960 in Chile, it measured 9.5 on the
Richter scale.

Volcanoess
Volcanoes are openings, or vents where lava, tephra (small rocks), and
steam erupt onto the Earth's surface. Volcanic eruptions can last days,
months, or even years.
Parts of a volcano
➔Magma chamber - the reservoir of magma located deep inside a volcano
➔Crater - the bowl-shaped opening at the top of a volcano
➔Vent - the channel through the volcano that allows magma within the
volcano to reach the surface
➔Secondary cone - an alternative route that magma may take to reach the
surface of the crater is blocked
➔Layers of ash and lava- build up with each eruption and the volcano
grows in size
➔Lava flow - the name for magma ( molten rock) once it has reached the
surface
➔Eruption cloud - A mixture of ash, gas, rocks, and steam
Types of Volcanoes

Active dormant and extinct volcanoes

Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a broad volcano with gentle slopes and is shaped
somewhat like a warrior's shield lying flat on the Earth.
Hawaii is an example of a place where volcanoes extrude huge quantities
of basaltic lava that gradually build a wide mountain with a shield-like
profile. Their lava flows are generally very hot and very fluid, contributing
to long flows. The largest lava
shield on Earth, Mauna Loa,
rises over 9,000 m from the
ocean floor, is 120 km in
diameter and forms part of the
largest Island of Hawaii.
Strato volcano
These are tall cone-shaped (conical) mountains composed of lava flows and
other ejecta in alternate layers, the strata that give rise to the name.
Strato volcanoes are also known as composite volcanoes. Classic examples
include Mt. Fuji in Japan, Mount Mayon in
the Philippines, and Mount Vesuvius and
Stromboli in Italy.

E go shock you they'll ask you to label it (pls

be adding pictures)

EXPLANATION BETWEEN SHEILD AND STRATO

MOUNTAINS (Exam Question)
Possible answers:
➔Shield volcanoes form at constructive boundaries whereas composite
form at destructive boundaries.
Shield volcano eruptions are less explosive than composite volcanoes.
Composite volcanoes cause more damage to life and property than shield
volcanoes.
Examples of shield volcano is Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Mt. Pinatubo in the
Philippines is a composite volcano.

➔ Shield volcanoes are volcanoes at constructive plate boundaries such as

Queen Mary’s Peak. But composite volcano like Mt Pinatubo is at a
destructive plate boundary. Mt Pinatubo is in the Pacific ring of fire. This
is a place where lots of volcanoes are located.

➔ Shield volcanoes are broad and composite volcanoes are steep. For
example Mt Pinatubo and Queen Mary’s Peak.
Why do people live near volcanoes?
At first, it may seem odd that people would want to live next door to a
volcano. After all, volcanoes have a nasty habit of exploding and killing
people! Yet, throughout history, people have deliberately chosen to risk all
the hazards and live near them, even on the slopes of active volcanoes that
have recently erupted.

— They chose to live close to volcanoes because they felt that the
advantages outweighed the disadvantages. Most volcanoes are perfectly
safe for long periods in between eruptions, and those that do erupt more
frequently are usually thought of, by the people who live there, as being
predictable.

— Today, about 500 million people live on or close to volcanoes. We even

have major cities close to active volcanoes.
There are several key reasons why people choose to live near these
so-called ‘hazard zones’, let's look at each one…

Reason for living near volcanoes

✰ Volcanic soil is extremely nutrient-rich and is the perfect soil for
growing crops such as in Hawaii.

✰ Granite is formed through volcanic eruptions, it is a very durable

building material and is also very valuable.

✰ Geothermal heat is used to generate electricity in some countries, it a

very cheap and environmentally friendly way to create energy. This is quite
common in countries such as Canada where the temperature can change
quite drastically between Summer and Winter.
✰ Diamonds and precious metals are sometimes brought to the surface of
the Earth in a rare type of magma.

✰ Volcanic locations are often major tourist attractions for some areas
and they generate money and jobs for the people living near them such as
those living near Mount Vesuvius in Italy.

✰ Geothermal spas are located near to volcanoes. The water is cooled

down and pumped into lagoons where people bathe in the warm
nutrient-rich waters. Tourists from all over the world come to visit these
sorts of resorts.

How to write your case study

Introduction – Where is your eruption?
Paragraph 1 – What caused the eruption?
Paragraph 2 – What were the effects on people?
Paragraph 3 – What were the effects on the environment?
Conclusion – Bring your answer to a close.

DONNNNEEEEEE!!!!! 👏