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(The Awesome!!!!) Hanna and Kelly

We are 6th graders doing a science project together, so its not as professional. It was in 2009!!! We don't care because we did our best on this!!! :D

California's Major Geological Features

San Andrea's Fault, Soda Lake, Carrizo Plain, and the Wallace Creek are all some of California's geological features. All of these features were created by the movement of plate tectonics. The plates created these features when the plates slide,push,pull,drift apart, and collide. Volcanos form when one plate slides under another and creates a subduction. Mountain ranges form when two continental plates collide, mountain ranges are created as the colliding crust is compressed and pushed upwards.

The Cool Layers of the Earth

Did you know that there are lots of layers underneath us? Well, there are...... There are four main layers under our feet. The closest to our land is the crust. The next layer is the mantle, this is what the lithosphereic plates slide on. The temperture is about 1000 degrees celcius. Then is the core, this layer is 3700 degrees celcius. And the last layer is the inner core, this is the center of the Earth.This layer is heated up to more than 4000 degrees celcius. It's very very hot!!!! All of the layers have a substance in them that make up the layers. The crust has a rocky surface and is 30 km deep in the ground. The mantle is 2900 km under the crust. This layer is filled with plastic. Underneath the mantle is the core. The core is filled with liquid and is 5200 km. The last layer is the inner core. The inner core is made of solid Fe. The Earth might seen small rom the outside but the inside is way bigger than you think it might be.

Evidence of the Lithospheric Plate Movement

If you ever took the time to look at the shapes of the continents, you could see that the continents fit together like puzzle pieces. For example, if you looked at the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa, you would see that they fit together. Scientists have noticed this for a long period of time but never understood the theory of their significance until the 1960's. This explains the movements of the plates. These plates were moved by the convection currents pulling and pushing the lava (or magma). The plates move about 1 cm each year. It might not sound like a lot but after a looooooooong period of time, it can form a SUPER Continent or Pangea.

BOUNDRIES

Divergent Plate Movement: Seafloor Spreading-Seafloor spreding is the movement of two oceanic plates away from each other (at a divergent plate boundary), which results in the formation of a new oceanic crust (from magma that comes from within the Earth's mantle) along a mid-ocean ridge.

When two plates collide (at a convergent plate boundary), some crust is destroyed in the impact and the plates become smaller. The results differ, depending upon what types of plates are involved.
Oceanic Plate and Continental Plate - When a thin, dense oceanic plate collides with a relatively light, thick continental plate, the oceanic plate is forced under the continental plate; this phenomenon is called subduction.
Two Oceanic Plates - When two oceanic plates collide, one may be pushed under the other and magma from the mantle rises, forming volcanoes in the vicinity.

Two Continental Plates - When two continental plates collide, mountain ranges are created as the colliding crust is compressed and pushed upwards.

Volcanoes form when a plate is pushed under another plate, this is called a subduction.

Earthquakes happen when the plates pass each other and hit each other at the same time (transform boundaries)

THE ONE AND ONLY SUPER CONTINENT

    Pangea was the only super continent. Pangea was a land mass that included Africa, Asia, North America, South America, Europe, Antarctica, and Australia. This super continent was formed when the plates shifted together.  The super continent stopped the convection currents and started a mass extinction ice age. The Earth became a huge snow ball. After about a million years or so the super continent, Pangea, split apart and the ice age started to melt. And the continent started to drift apart again.

Plate Tectonics

   A long time ago, meteors crashed down on the planet. After a long period of time, the planet cooled down and water started forming. Then, plates formed to make geological features. Plate Tectonics are a theory of lithospheric plates. Which move on the plastic asthenosphere independently to collide, slide under, or move past each other. These move only 1 cm per year! Convergent boundaries happen when two plates collide together. This can sometimes form a subduction. Another kind of boundary is called the Divergent boundary. This can make volcanic islands. The active boundaries are called the Mid-Ocean Ridges. Which are formed by plate tectonics, are the longest mountain chain in the world. The Ring of Fire is one of the area that includes plate tectonics. One of them is located in island chains from New Guinea to New Zealand. Plate tectonics happen on the different layers of Earth too. The Layers are the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. All of these make up part of the Earth, the California's major geological features. These features include the San Andrea's Fault, Soda Lake, Carrizo Plain, and the Wallace Creek. The planet that we live on is very complicated and neat.