Volcano Journey:
Welcome! Welcome to another episode of Amazing Science! Our Inquiry topic today is on Volcanoes! This Inquiry is going to be all about volcanoes and the effects they have on the surrounding area. Leading this Inquiry are the questions "How ready is British Columbia for a volcanic eruption on the North American Plate? What would the effects be?"
Long, long ago... OK, 200 to 300 millions of years in the past, the land on earth was one big continent called Pangaea. Over time, the one big continent broke about into many pieces (plate tectonics and continental drift, but that's a project for another time), forming the seven continents we know today. Really? We have to name them for you? Fine. They are Australia, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Europe, North America, and South America.
Scientists today separate earth into many plates to study them, and it's because of these plates that cause earthquakes and tsunamis as they move around (really slowly though). Convergent boundaries are formed when plates push into each other or one over the other, divergent boundaries are formed when plates move apart from each other, and transform boundaries are formed when plates slide past each other. The movement of the plates may (most of the time) cause natural disasters. There are dozens of plates on earth, but only seven main large plates. These include the North American Plate, South American Plate, African Plate, Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate (which is actually the Indian Plate and the Australian Plate together), and the Antarctic Plate.
Volcanoes are formed near convergent boundaries most of the time, but some are formed near divergent boundaries. Volcanoes can be underwater as well as on land because convergent boundaries and divergent boundaries exist in the ocean, too. When convergent boundaries are formed, the pressure caused by the plates allow the gas and magma beneath the earth's surface to erupt with HUGE force, thus creating explosive volcanoes (more on that later). Volcanoes near divergent boundaries are created when the plates slide apart, allowing the magma to flow freely out of the ground, thus creating "oozing" volcanoes (also more on that later).
Why are we telling you all this? To make you BORED? To make you say "Get ON with it!"?
WRONG!! This information we're giving you is so you'll understand what we tell you later about volcanoes. You need to at least know something before we show you the advanced stuff!
Now are you ready for the adventure? Let's explore volcanoes!
Long, long ago... OK, 200 to 300 millions of years in the past, the land on earth was one big continent called Pangaea. Over time, the one big continent broke about into many pieces (plate tectonics and continental drift, but that's a project for another time), forming the seven continents we know today. Really? We have to name them for you? Fine. They are Australia, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Europe, North America, and South America.
Scientists today separate earth into many plates to study them, and it's because of these plates that cause earthquakes and tsunamis as they move around (really slowly though). Convergent boundaries are formed when plates push into each other or one over the other, divergent boundaries are formed when plates move apart from each other, and transform boundaries are formed when plates slide past each other. The movement of the plates may (most of the time) cause natural disasters. There are dozens of plates on earth, but only seven main large plates. These include the North American Plate, South American Plate, African Plate, Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate (which is actually the Indian Plate and the Australian Plate together), and the Antarctic Plate.
Volcanoes are formed near convergent boundaries most of the time, but some are formed near divergent boundaries. Volcanoes can be underwater as well as on land because convergent boundaries and divergent boundaries exist in the ocean, too. When convergent boundaries are formed, the pressure caused by the plates allow the gas and magma beneath the earth's surface to erupt with HUGE force, thus creating explosive volcanoes (more on that later). Volcanoes near divergent boundaries are created when the plates slide apart, allowing the magma to flow freely out of the ground, thus creating "oozing" volcanoes (also more on that later).
Why are we telling you all this? To make you BORED? To make you say "Get ON with it!"?
WRONG!! This information we're giving you is so you'll understand what we tell you later about volcanoes. You need to at least know something before we show you the advanced stuff!
Now are you ready for the adventure? Let's explore volcanoes!