Investigation 5: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Mountains

PDF versionPDF version

To learn more about the nature of earthquakes, visit the following web sites:

Savage Earth, Restless Planet: Earthquakes, PBS
This web site accompanies the PBS Series Savage Earth and includes background information on the connection between faults, earthquakes, and seismic waves.

Virtual Courseware: Earthquake, Virtual Courseware
This site contains deatailed pictures of earthquake damage. There are also activies such as travel time and epicenter to use along with a demonstration.


To learn more about earthquake and plate movement, visit the following web sites:

Earthquakes, Faults, Plate Tectonics, Earth Structure, USGS
Read answers to some commonly asked questions about earthquakes, faults, and plate tectonics. In some cases, the answers include links for further information.

Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics, USGS Earthquakes Hazards Program
This article aims to explain why earthquakes happen along plate boundaries, and often in the same area as volcanoes or mountain ranges.

Plate Tectonics, the Cause of Earthquakes, Nevada Seismological Laboratory
Review a technical explanation with images of different types of faults, spreading centers, or collision zones in connection to earthquakes.


To learn more about the nature of volcanoes, visit the following web sites:

Savage Earth, Mountains of Fire, PBS
This web site accompanies another portion of the documentary, Savage Earth, with general information about different types of volcanoes, the location of volcanoes, and different types of volcanic eruptions.

Volcanic Gases, USGS Volcano Hazards Fact Sheet
Discusses why volcanic gases are important to study, how geologists study volcanic gases, and what they have learned.


To learn more about volcanoes and plate movement, visit the following web sites:

Location of Volcanoes, NASA Classroom of the Future
Find out more about how and why volcanoes form along plate boundaries or above hot spots. Note the links to other related pages about plate tectonics and heat flow or looking inside the Earth.


To learn more about the association of earthquakes and volcanoes, visit the following web sites:

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Plate Tectonics, USGS
Map showing earthquakes and volcanoes in relation to plate movements.

Reply to Ask-An-Earth-Scientist, University of Hawaii
What is the relationship between volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate-tectonics? Find out what a geologist from the University of Hawaii said in response to this question.



Mountain Building, Okanagan University College
Information, including diagrams, about the evolution of mountains.


Information to complete part 8 of the investigation: Earthquakes

Near Real-Time Current World Earthquakes Data, United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
Find data on earthquakes that happen today all over the world.

Largest Earthquakes in the US, USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
There are two lists on this page: the top 15 earthquakes in the United States and the top 15 earthquakes in the contiguous United States. The reason being that eleven of the fifteen happened either in Alaska or Hawaii.

Unusual Events of March-April 1868, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Learn about the largest earthquake ever to hit the Hawaiian Islands.

Information About Past and Historical Earthquakes, USGS
This site contains chronicles of historic earthquakes that significantly changed the way scientists viewed the earth and earthquakes. Each event is unique in how it helped us better understand our world.

Historic Earthquakes, About.com
This page offers a centralized list of the worst earthquakes both in the US and around the world.


Information to complete part 8 of the investigation: Volcanoes

Volcanic Eruptions and Activity, USGS
This site lists links to historical volcanic eruptions.

Deadliest Volcanic Eruptions Since 1500 A.D., USGS
View social and scientific information on Deadly volcanic eruptions.

20th Century Volcanic Eruptions and Their Impact, USGS
View social and scientific information on volcanic eruptions that have happend since 1900.

Current Volcanic Activity, USGS
View links to current volcanic activity around the world.

Dynamic Planet Cover image
It's About Time/AGI

 

AGIF Logo
AGI's professional development programs for teachers are supported by generous contributions from corporate contributors of the American Geosciences Institute Foundation and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation.