Earthquakes occur every day on Earth. Many of them are too small to be felt by humans, but all of them can tell us something about our planet. Active volcanoes can do the same. Active volcanoes often form at plate boundaries. The movement of plates on Earth causes forces that build energy in rocks. The release of this energy can produce vibrations in Earth (earthquakes).

Can tectonically active areas be predicted by plotting locations of earthquake epicenters and volcanic eruptions?

Think about where earthquakes and volcanoes have occurred in the past. Make a Hypothesis about whether the locations of earthquake epicenters and active volcanoes can be used to predict tectonically active areas.

     Goals

• Plot earthquake epicenters and the locations of volcanic eruptions obtained from the Glencoe Science Web Site.

• Predict tectonically active locations based on a plot of the locations of earthquake epicenters and active volcanoes.

Data Sources

• Weblinks
• View Student Data

1. Make a data table like the one shown below.
2. Collect data for earthquake epicenters and volcanic eruptions for at least the past two weeks. Your data should include the longitude and latitude for each location. For help, refer to the data sources given on the opposite page.
3. Plot the locations of earthquake epicenters and volcanic eruptions on a map of the world. Use an overlay of tissue paper or plastic.

     Do

 
1. Make sure your teacher approves your plan and your data table before you proceed.
2. After you have collected and plotted the locations of earthquake epicenters and volcanic eruptions from at least the past two weeks, it's time to predict tectonically active areas on Earth.
3. Using your data, predict what areas of the world are tectonically active.
4. Compare and contrast the areas that you predicted to be tectonically active with the plate boundary map shown in Figure 11-10.