ANTONIO, ANTON DARREL D.

BSED SC 2-1 EARTH SCIENCE

MODULE 3: Critical Thinking

1. How does evidence that sea-floor rocks farther from a ridge are older than rocks closer
to the ridge supprot the idea of sea-floor spreading?

We define sea-floor spreading as the process in which the ocean’s new lithosphere or
seafloor is formed due to the rising of magma at the mid-ocean ridges. When the ocean floor
moves away from the ridge, the rising magma cools and solidifies to form a new rock that
replaces the ocean floor. As the ocean floor spreads apart at the mid-ocean ridge, magma rises
to fill the rift and then cools to form new rock. This process is repeated for millions of years.

2. Explain how sea-floor spreading provides explanation for how continents may move over
Earth’s surface.

In the late 1950s, a geologist named Harry Hess

proposed a new hypothesis that the valley at the
center of the ridge of an ocean was a crack or rift in
the crust of the Earth. This led to the discovery of
sea-floor spreading. After many years, various
evidence of the continental drift theory and sea-floor
spreading led to the development of a theory
called plate tectonics. Plate tectonics theory,
explains why and how continents move and this is a
study of the formation of features in the Earth’s crust.
Sea-floor spreading causes the ocean floor moves
away from the ridge and this process is repeated for
millions of years. With that being said, we can now understand that sea-floor spreading is one of
the factors why continents move over since the plate tectonics theory (the study of how
continents move) was derived. 

3. How do convergent boundaries add material to Earth’s surface?

Oceanic crust is frequently forced down into the mantle at convergent plate boundaries,
where it begins to melt. Magma rises through and into the other plate, solidifying into
granite, the rock that forms the continents. As a result of convergent boundaries, continental
crust is formed while oceanic crust is destroyed. Plates moving toward each other and
colliding to form ocean trenches, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and island arcs. In
subduction, deep trenches appear at these boundaries, caused by the oceanic plate
bending downward into the Earth.
 4. Explain how the outward transfer of heat energy from the inside the Earth drives the
movement of tectonic plates.

Magma is molten rock found beneath the crust, in the mantle. The hot magma flows in
convection currents due to tremendous heat and pressure within the earth. These currents
cause the tectonic plates that make up the earth's crust to move.

QUICK LAB EXPERIMENT 4: Tectonic Plate Boundaries

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What types of boundaries are you modeling in steps 5 and 7?

In step number 5, the type of boundary that has been created is a convergent boundary;
step 7 is a transform fault boundary.

2. How do you think the processes modeled in this activity might affect the appearance of
the Earth’s surface?

These processes that have been seen in the experiment can greatly affect the
appearance or the features of our earth’s surface as this enactment in real occurrence.
Here are the effects with regard to the features of the earth’s surface:
 A zone of shallow earthquakes along the edge of the continent that gets deeper
under the continent; an ocean trench right off the coast of the continent; a line of
volcanic eruptions a few hundred miles inland from the shore; and the destruction of the
oceanic lithosphere. A zone of progressively deeper earthquakes, and a chain of
volcanic islands. Moreso, intense folding and faulting; a broad folded mountain range;
shortening and thickening of the plates within the collision zone can also happen which
will contribute to the appearance of the earth’s surface.
Lastly, a rift valley is sometimes occupied by long linear lakes or a shallow arm of
the ocean; numerous normal faults bounding a central rift valley; shallow earthquake
activity along the normal faults. Volcanic activity sometimes occurs within the rift.
 

MODULE 4: Critical Thinking

1. In earthquakes that cause the most damage, at what depth would movement along a
fault most likely occur?

90% of all earthquakes have depths of 100 km or less. Earthquakes are classified into three
types based on the depth of their focal point:

Shallow focus - Foci are less than 70 km depth. Most destructive earthquakes. 
Intermediate focus - Foci are between 70 and 300 km depth. 
Deep focus - Foci are greater than 300 km. 

2. If a seismorgraph measures P waves but no S waves from an earthquake, what can you
conclude about the earthquake’s location?

It may vary depending on the location of the seismograph. If a seismograph records P-

waves and surface waves but not S-waves, the seismograph may be on the other side of the
Earth from the earthquake since S-waves can only travel through solid materials unlike P-waves
which can pass through solid, liquid, and gas.
 3. If an earthquake occurs in the center of Luzon, what can you infer about the geology of
that area?

There might be an ancient fault zone deep within the crust located there.

4. Explain why it would be difficult for scientists to locate the epicenter of an earthquake if
they have seismic wave information from only two locations?

Because atleast 3 locations are needed to get an accurate location. It would be difficult
to determine the location of an earthquake's epicenter from only two locations, because it is
always recommended that at least three locations be used to ensure accuracy.

QUICK LAB EXPERIMENT 5: Seismograph Record

1. What do the lines on the paper represent?

The lines on the paper are represented by several types of seismic waves.

2. What do the sand and the newspaper represent?

The continental plate is represented by the sand, and the oceanic plate is
represented by paper.

3. Compare the lines made in steps 4-6 with those made in step 8. Which materials
vibrated more when the ball was dropped on it? Explain why one material might vibrate
more than the other.

As we perceived in steps 4-6 in regard to the line (blue) made by the ball and the
composition of sands and rocks inside the box, the line has the least oscillations
compared to the red line. This is because the box is made up of a variety of materials,
each of which has a different composition (from steps 4 to 6, the box is composed of
heavy amounts of sand and rocks, and step 8 on the other hand, has an amount of 2/3
of the sand and rocks from steps 4-6 and comprised of crumpled papers), making it
more susceptible to vibration and disturbance.

4. How might different types of crustal material affect seismic waves that pass through
it?

Seismic waves that travel through different crustal formations are significantly
altered by the presence of a variety of crustal materials where each of which has its own
unique properties and attributes. It has been shown via academic experiments
especially in science that rocks and materials that are denser make it simpler and more
expedient for a seismic wave to go through them. Yet, waves encounter more
resistance as they encounter softer and more hollow materials.
5. How might the distance of the epicenter of an earthquake from a seismograph affect
the reading of a seismograph.

The greater the distance between the seismic station and the epicenter of an
earthquake, the less likely it is that a seismograph will be able to detect an earthquake's
epicenter, on the other hand, the closer the distance from the seismic station and the
epicenter of an earthquake is more likely that the seismograph will be able to detect the
earthquake's epicenter.

 
MODULE 5: Critical
Thinking

1. Describe how the presence of ocean water is crustal rocks might affect the formation of
magma.

Fluids from the subducting plate combine with crust and mantle material as the oceanic
plate sinks into the asthenosphere. These fluids lower the melting point of the rock, causing it to
melt and form magma.

2. Yellowstone National Park in in Wyoming is far from any plate boundary. How would you
explain the volcanic activity in the park?

Volcanoes can also form above a column of superheated magma called a mantle plume.
The heat from the mantle plume melts and thins the crust, resulting in surface volcanic activity.
This may happen in areas that are distant from plate boundaries. It is also referred to as hot
spot or intraplate volcanism. Most volcanoes form at the boundary of two tectonic plates, but
Yellowstone is unique located in the center of the North America plate. Many geologists believe
this is because Yellowstone is located on top of a "hot spot," which is a plume of warm mantle
rising up from the Earth's core.

3. Would quiet eruptions or explosive eruptions be more likely to increase the steepness of
a volcano cone?

In a quiet eruption, the lava flows and spreads out over a large. In an explosive eruption,
pyroclastic material piles up much higher. Hence, an explosive eruption would be more likely
to increase the steepness of a volcano cone.

4. Why would a sudden increase of earthquake activity around a volcano indicate a

possible eruption?
 Before a volcano erupts, the magma rises towards the surface as more pushes up the rocks
around it. In a nutshell, large tectonic earthquakes may cause dissolved gases to escape from
the magma (similar to shaking a soda bottle), increasing pressure and possibly leading to an
eruption.

QUICK LAB EXPERIMENT 6: Volcano Verdict

1. How do you explain the difference in the appearance of the lime water from one
trial to the next? 
          Since for this experiment, we used carbonated water to act as lime water,
the carbonated water in the second trial is much more violent and frothy since it
has a lot of baking soda prior to the instruction.

2. What does the data that you collected tell you about the activity in the volcano? 
          To better comprehend it, an experiment that uses gas emission to
represent the small-scale event that occurs prior to a suspected volcano is
particularly beneficial. An emissions tester is used to determine the state of a
volcano inside it by detecting carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Besides this, a
volcano will release sulfur dioxide when the magma is relatively near to the
surface (SO2). If SO2 is discovered at a volcano that is not currently erupting, it
may indicate an eruption is about to occur.   

3. Based on your results in step 9 or 10, do you think it would be necessary to

evacuate the city? 
          After flipping the coin and getting a tail, we went straight to step 10 where it
is implied to put 8 mL of baking soda into the solution of water and vinegar,
resulting in carbonated water to bubble violently. In this case, I think it is
important to urgently implement an evacuation for the people living near the
volcano. It is essential to be more alert and prepared once things come to worst.

4. How would a geologist use a gas emissions tester to predict volcanic eruptions? 
          Gas emissions testers are devices that primarily detect carbon dioxide.
They may be mounted on volcanoes and set up to transmit data constantly to an
observatory via radio. Monitoring volcanic gases can be useful for making
eruption predictions. As an illustration, a rise in the levels of carbon dioxide and
sulfur dioxide released by fumaroles may signify a rise in magmatic activity
somewhere under the volcano.

5. Scientists base their predictions of eruptions on a variety of evidence before

recommending an evacuation. What other forms of evidence would a scientist
need to know to predict an eruption? 
           In order to keep track of volcanoes, scientists employ a wide range of
methods, such as seismographic detection of the earthquakes and tremor that
almost always precede eruptions, exact measurements of the ground
deformation that frequently occurs in conjunction with magma rise, changes in
volcanic gas emissions, and changes in gravity and magnetic fields. Although the
behavior and patterns of erupting volcanoes alter arbitrarily, these other ways to
identify their existence are surely useful but they are not faultless. Nonetheless,
scientists will still undergo a lengthy procedure to innovate a process that will
help them to prevent and take action about the certain situation.

MODULE 6: Critical Thinking

1. What two agents of weathering would be rare in a desert? Why?

The two agents of weathering that would be rare in a desert are ice wedging and hydrolysis
since deserts has little to no water and these agents entirely depend on water.

2. Automobile exhaust contains nitrogen oxides. How might these pollutants affect
chemical weathering process?
 Chemical weathering is all about the process in which rocks are broken down due to
chemical interactions with the environment when chemical reactions act on minerals in rocks.
Most chemical reactions prominently occur between rock, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and
acids. With these pollutants, the physical and chemical properties of rocks changes, and thus
chemical weathering took place. For instance, hydrolysis and carbonation can turn a hard rock
like granite into sediment after thousands of years of chemical weathering.

3. Imagine that there is an area of land where mechanical weathering has caused damage.
Described two ways to reduce the rate of mechanical weathering.

We define Mechanical Weathering as the process in which rocks are broken down into
smaller pieces by physical means and do not change the composition of the rocks. I would
suggest reducing the rate (damage) of mechanical weathering is to check first if the land and
rocks beneath it are suitable and enough to be built on. If there’s a crack, then don’t build
establishments there. Another solution that I think of is to take care of the environment. It may
sound cliche but in iced wedging, water seeps into cracks in the rock and freezes it due to cold
climates. Climate change is a factor of this in which greenhouse gas concentrations rise as the
global surface temperature melts ice into water that seeps into cracks.

4. How would Cleopatra’s Needle probably have been affected if it had been in the cold,
dry climate of Siberia for 100 years?

It is concluded that the majority of the damage to the obelisk occurred in Egypt due to rising
moisture laden with sulfate salts. The hydration pressure of these salts, combined with frost
wedging, is to blame for the monument's major damage during its first few years in New York.
As a result, chemical weathering has taken its toll on the four stone faces of the Needle. Many
of its hieroglyphics have faded. In fact, only two sides remain legible.
 5. Suppose you wanted to grow grapevines on a hillside in Italy. What farming methods
would you use?

Contour and terrace farming. Contour plowing is the process of cutting furrows into the
land's slope to control the flow of water. This is accomplished by ploughing in a straight line
perpendicular to the land's slope. Terrace farming is the process of creating level platforms on a
land's slope.

6. A hillside community has asked you to help brainstorm ways to prevent future mudflows.
Describe three of your ideas.

First and foremost so that water and other may flow simultaneously when the rain comes.
Also, we can dig a ditch to divert mudflows away from our respective homes. Next, I will suggest
removing the loose soil and replacing it with more dense material since soil erosion is one of the
huge drivers of landslides. Lastly, plant trees and shrubs more often. Vegetation is one of the
best ways to maintain soil from eroding which could help to prevent landslides.

MODULE 7: Critical Thinking

1. Most submarines use sonar as a navigation aid. How would sonar enable an underwater
vessel to move through ocean depths?

This would tell the navigator how close they are to the bottom and whether they are too
close or too far away.

2. Why are submarine robots more practical for deep-ocean research than submersibles
designed to carry people are?

Because the traditional submarines which are designed to carry people are too slow and
dependent on the battery than submarine robots. They also surface for the diesel engines to
recharge the batteries. On the other hand, the reason why submarine robots are because have
over manned submersibles is that they can frequently conduct exploratory surveys in conditions
that are far too extreme or dangerous for humans. And another, the humans that are tasked to
be submerged deep down the ocean can be assigned to other tasks to help further study what
lies in an ocean as manpower support, technically an organization on this matter can be more
productive.

3. The Pacific Ocean is surrounded by trenches, but the Atlanic Ocean is not. In addition,
the Pacific Ocean is wider than the Atlantic Ocean, and much of the crust under the
Pacific Ocean is very young. Which ocean’s abyssal plain has thicker sediments?

According to the study of Reynolds, E. et al., (2016), Sediment thickness and accumulation
rates are greater in the North and South Atlantic and Indian Oceans than in the Pacific Ocean,
owing to the absence of anomalous sediment accumulations caused by continental rifting and
collision in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean basins. The thickness of the sediment on the Atlantic
Ocean floor is roughly twice that of the Pacific Ocean floor. One reason for this is that rivers
flowing into the Atlantic cover more land and transport more sediment than rivers flowing into
the Pacific.

4. Is sea level to fall significantly, what would happen to the continental shelves?

If sea levels fell, continental shelves would DRY OUT, ERODE, and DISAPPEAR.
Microscopic plants and animals dependent on the nourishment in the shelves would die.

QUICK LAB EXPERIMENT NO.7: Sonar

1. Did the rate the pulse traveled change during the course of the investigation?

Yes, based on the experiment, as the coil grew closer and closer, the rate of the pulse
traveled increased and the time it took to travel from doorknob to our hand decreased.

2. If a pulse took 3 s to travel to the doorknob and back to your hand, what is the distance
from the doorknob to your hand? 

Average rate of travel/time = 10,674.67/3 = 3558

3. How is the apparatus you used similar to sonar? How is the apparatus different from
sonar? Explain

The apparatus is similar to a sonar in that it communicates by using a spring as a wave

transmission to receive pulses. However, a real sonar is used on the ocean floor and can mostly
detect, navigate, and map objects by detecting sound waves from it that are higher pitched.
MODULE 8: ASSESSMENT
B

C
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D B

A
A

D
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A
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B. Interpreting Graphs

1. Explain what type of boundary exist between the continental plates found on the graph below.
 As we can see in the picture above, most types of boundaries that exist between
continental plates are either divergent or convergent. Take for example the collision between
the Pacific plate, Nazca plate, and South American Plate. The movement of each plate is
complementary to each other, which is convergent. Meanwhile, North American and Eurasian
plates are moving away from each other to form rifts and mid-ocean ridges.
 A and B specifically refers to the lithosphere and oceanic crust. Both are moving
divergently that froms a (D) oceanic spreading bridge. Apparently, the (B) oceanic crust is
subducting plate that move towards the (C) continental crust that forms land structure such as
mountains and hills. Meanwhile, E pertains to the process of two convergent boundary that also
made a young plate boundary. Therefore, A (lithosphere), B (oceanic crust), C (continental
crust), D (oceanic spreading), E (convergent boundary or the young plate boundary).

A – Organic, most prominent in forested areas, loose and partly decayed

B – Consists of minerals, has applicable amounts of organic matter, many soils in grasslands
and agricultural lands.

C – Heavily leached, precipitated, and light in color

D – Least weathered among the 4 layers, unconsolidated, and has loose parent material.
 Active sonar transducers emit an acoustic signal or pulse of sound into the water. If an
object is in the path of the sound pulse, the sound bounces off the object and returns an “echo”
to the sonar transducer. If the transducer is equipped with the ability to receive signals, it
measures the strength of the signal.
 As we can see in the diagram above, ocean-floor sediments is dominantly composed of
biogenic sediment. This is due to the remains of marine organisms and most of them came from
organisms like plankton when their exoskeleton break down. In addition, Hydrogenous
sediments form as a result of chemical reactions in water, when dissolved materials precipitate
out and form solid particles. Moving forward, earth, rocks, and dust also compose the ocean-
floor. The deep oceans contain a mantle of fine sediments derived from planktonic animals, clay
and coarser materials carried out to sea or blown in as dust, and even cosmic dust. Terrigenous
(land-derived) detritus and even organic reef rocks are deposited on the ocean floor as one gets
closer to shore. Lastly, biota from the overlying ocean water, eroded material from land
transported to the ocean by rivers or wind, ash from volcanoes, and chemical precipitates
derived directly from seawater are all sources of sediment on the seafloor.