Gabrielle Johnson Geography Thursday 16th February 2012

1. The theory of continental drift was proposed in 1915 by Alfred Wegner. It stated that the continents of the world was once joined and had slowly drifted apart over time. By looking at the World Map of today, a jigsaw fit of the continents can be seen. There are both biological and geological evidence to support this. The biological evidence includes the finding of coal deposits in the North Pole which is commonly associated with tropical climates. Also, fossils of the same prehistoric species were distributed in Western Africa, South Africa, Antarctica, India and Central Africa. Fossil plants such as the Glossopteris, is now found throughout India, South America, Southern Africa, Austraiia and Antarctica. In South America and South Africa the first marine reptile called the Mesosaurus, was found. This would not have been if there was not continental drift as there is no explainable way that the fossils could have made its way across large masses of water. Also, geological evidence includes the climate of the present world. The evidence states that much of the world should be under ice, from examinations done of sediment rock. The only explanation would be the movement of the poles taking place along with continental drift.

2. The tectonic cycle is said to be a geology concept that all rocks are related to each other and can be transformed from one to the other. It describes the transitions of movement of large portions of the Earths crust among the three main rock types. These are; sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rock. These portions are called plates. It is believed to move in a circular motion, the cycle is called convective flow. The heat source within the mantle is caused by the moving around of Earths tectonic plates. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock and also into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock. The rock cycle never ends as the plates are continuously moving. The rocks are continuously recycled as the destruction of one rock, forms the other. When magma or molten rock, reaches the surface often through a volcanic eruption, it can solidify into extrusive igneous rock. However, when it solidifies beneath the surface it results in intrusive igneous rock. Then, erosion can remove the overlying rock if they remain exposed. When it undergoes weathering and erosion, the debris produced is transported and deposited on a sea floor as sediment. If

they are loose, it becomes sedimentary rock. As the rocks are buried, layers of sediment, rock, heat and pressure all increase. The movement of the tectonic plates can also increase the temperature and pressure. When these are high enough, the original sedimentary rock recrystallizes and forms metamorphic rock. If temperatures get higher, the rock melts and forms magma again. This is how the cycle continues, by recycling the rocks.

3. The intensity of an earthquake refers to the amount of damage done by the earthquake to the surface and to humans. It relates to observations of effects on the crust and not to the actual ground motion or amplitudes of the waves. Two factors affecting this are the time of day and the duration of the shake. The time of day can play a major role on influencing the intensity of an earthquake because it affects the reaction of the people suffering the shake. Evacuation plans can be more effectively carried out when an earthquake takes place during daylight as opposed to during the night. Also, the reaction of individuals can either not take place or be delayed as many can be asleep and unaware of the earthquake. This means that people wont be able to protect themselves the best way in which they can, potentially causing more damage. The duration of the shake can affect the earthquakes intensity because it is the time allowed for damage to be done. If an earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude lasts for 10 minutes, much more damage can be done from an earthquake of the same magnitude lasting for 1 minute. A 7.0 earthquake can cause serious damage over large areas, but if its duration is less than a minute there is a chance that very little or no damage at all can be done by the earthquake. 4. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System is responsible for providing warnings to every country around the Pacific Ocean about tsunamis that can cause damage far away from their source. They are automatically paged when a tsunami happens. They rely on a network of seismic stations which are ground sensors or pressure systems. These sensors monitor the depth of the water and there are 6 in the Pacific Ocean. However, there are none in the Indian Ocean. When they get alerts of these tsunamis, they read the data from the seismogram and a bulletin is sent out which informs countries around the entire Pacific Ocean of killer tsunamis. They also inform them of its magnitude and intensity. These tsunamis are generated by earthquakes and they can spread across the Pacific Ocean in less than 24 hours. This can cause widespread destruction along shorelines which can be located up to thousands of miles from the source.