The Earth’s lithosphere is made up of a series of plates that float on the mantle. Scientists think the convection of the mantle causes these plates to move triggering earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building events, or trench formation. These plates creep along at a rate of approximately five to ten centimeters (two to four inches) per year.There are two compositions of a tectonic plate, oceanic and continental. Oceanic plates or sections of plates are denser and occur below the ocean as its name implies. The Pacific Plate is an example of an oceanic plate. Continental crust supports land above water and is thought to be less dense and thicker than oceanic crust. Most plates are a mix of both oceanic and continental crust such as the African Plate. The African Plate has continental crust along most of the eastern edge and oceanic crust to the west along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These plates move in primarily three main ways. They slide past one another along transform (strike-slip) boundaries, they push against each other at convergent boundaries, or pull away in opposite directions at divergent boundaries. Each one of these interactions create different types of landforms. For example, the steady pressure of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate built the Himalaya mountains and the Plateau of Tibet. The divergent boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian formed the Red Sea.Use this plate map layer to explore how the movement of the plates cause earthquakes, volcanoes, or shape Earth’s landscape.

This map layer features both major and minor plates, but excludes microplates. The data is from the scientific study by Peter Bird published in volume 4, issue 3 of Geochemisty, Geophysics, Geosystems and was translated into geospatial formats by Hugo Ahlenius and updated by Dan Pisut.

This map shows the relationship between major cites with a population greater than 1.5 million people and the plate tectonics which include convergent,divergent, transform, and unknown boundaries. To make this map easier for people to read I made the major city have a filter so that only cities with over 1.5 million people will show up on the map. I also made the major city dot bigger, red and a transparency of 40% so it is easier for people to see. I made it 40% transparent so people can still see the plate boundaries that cross paths with the major city dots. I changed the plate tectonic boundary lines to a darker color, a thicker line, and also made the lines 25% transparent so people can still see the map and cities under it. I also added arrows pointing to major cities that cross paths with transform boundaries. Most major cites are right on top of a transform plate tectonic boundaries which can cause a great effect to the people who live in those popular cities. Transform plates are mostly likely to cause damage and have a effect with major populated cities. Transform plate boundaries are more likely to have a great effect than the over boundaries like convergent and divergent because more cities seem to fall right on top of transform boundaries than the other boundaries. The pattern that seems to be present is that transform boundaries have a strong relationship with cities over 1.5 million people, while other plate boundaries do not have as many cities on them as the transform boundary does.

The Earth’s lithosphere is made up of a series of plates that float on the mantle. Scientists think the convection of the mantle causes these plates to move triggering earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building events, or trench formation. These plates creep along at a rate of approximately five to ten centimeters (two to four inches) per year. These plates move in primarily three main ways. They slide past one another along transform (strike-slip) boundaries, they push against each other at convergent boundaries, or pull away in opposite directions at divergent boundaries. Each one of these interactions create different types of landforms. For example, the steady pressure of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate built the Himalaya mountains and the Plateau of Tibet. The divergent boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian formed the Red Sea.Use this plate map layer to explore how the movement of the plates cause earthquakes, volcanoes, or shape Earth’s landscape.

This map layer features both major and minor plates, but excludes microplates. The data is from the scientific study by Peter Bird published in volume 4, issue 3 of Geochemisty, Geophysics, Geosystems and was translated into geospatial formats by Hugo Ahlenius and updated by Dan Pisut.

El siguiente Story Map Journal representa la historia geológica de Puerto Rico, es decir los diferentes procesos geológicos que impulsaron su formación al igual que sus diversas zonas fisiográficas y sus diferentes tipos de rocas y depósitos. El proyecto fue creado para propósitos pedagógicos, por ende busca enseñar de manera digital e interactiva la geología de Puerto Rico. A consecuencia, se tuvo en consideración los Estándares de Contenido y Expectativas de Grado en Puerto Rico del Programa de Ciencias bajo el área de Ciencias de la Tierra y Espacio y los estándares de Estructura y niveles de organización de la materia, Conservación y cambio para estudiantes de Cuarto Grado. Asimismo, se tiene como expectativa el dominio de los siguientes temas: Los materiales y sistemas de la TierraPlacas tectónicas e interacciones de sistemas a gran escalaFormación de relieve en Puerto RicoDe igual forma, pretende que el/la estudiante:Describa algunas formas y tipos de relieve en Puerto RicoReconozca, describa y explique la relación entre los diferentes tipos de relieve en Puerto Rico y sus ecosistemas.Diferencia entre las rocas en ígneas, metamórficas y sedimentariasPor otra parte, para generar el siguiente proyecto se utilizaron diversas fuentes de información, entre ellas algunos textos, bases de datos, imágenes y vídeos los cuales posibilitaron la creación de este Story Map Journal. En el caso de los mapas aquí publicados, se utilizaron principalmente los datos y manuscritos del Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos (U.S. Geological Survey, USGS), una entidad científica a nivel federal de los Estados Unidos la cual provee la mayoría de la información geológica de Puerto Rico. Además, para facilitar el proceso de enseñanza de los/as maestros/as, se creo una guía con una serie de instrucciones para el mejor uso del Story Map Journal. Para accesar el documento, pulse el siguiente link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/repositoriogmt/recursos/atlaspr/Instrucciones+de+Uso+del+Map+Journal+Geologia+de+PR.pdfTextos: Estándares de Contenido y Expectativas de Grado en Puerto Rico, Programa de Ciencias (julio 2014), E.L.A de Puerto Rico, Departamento de Educación. Geology,Geochemistry, Geophysics, Mineral Occurences, and Mineral Resource Assessment for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. U.G. Geological Survey Minerals Team,Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. Edited by Walter J. Bawiec.Some Tropical Landforms of Puerto Rico, Geological Survey Professional Paper 1159, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1980.Tarbuck, Edward J., Lutgens, Frederick K. & Tasa, Dennis. Ciencias de la Tierra: Una introducción a la geografía física (8va edición), Traducción por AMR Traducciones científicas, Pearson Education S. A., Madrid, 2005. Mapas:EsriUKedteam. Volcanoes and Plate Boundaries. http://www.arcgis.com/home/webscene/viewer.html?webscene=3df3f177066d45fd8eaa2d87e7bf4225&viewpoint=cam:143.12816226,-44.97840908,25512548;356.342,0.1Imágenes:Burgos, Ernesto. Bosque Seco de Guánica. Flickr - Photo Sharing. https://www.flickr.com/photos/69332915@N07/8994211373 Ciencias Naturales: Recursos para el estudio de la Ciencias y las Ciencias Naturales. Movimiento de Fallas. http://www.areaciencias.com/geologia/placas-tectonicas.htmlEncyclopedia Britannica Kids. Escala de tiempo geológico. http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-107857/The-geologic-time-scale-showing-major-evolutionary-events-from-650Enciclopediapr. Los tres picachos. http://www.enciclopediapr.org/esp/article.cfm?ref=09033002El Yunque. Bosque Lluvioso. http://odstatic.com/canalviajes.com/yunque3.jpgPrfrogui. Arroyo. http://www.prfrogui.com/home/arroyopueblo.htmSobre Caribe. Cavernas de Camuy. http://sobrecaribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/cuevas-camuy.jpgTarbuck, Edward J., Lutgens, Frederick K. & Tasa, Dennis. Ciencias de la Tierra: Una introducción a la geografía física (8va edición). Ciclo de rocas. Página 27.Vídeos: BBC film, Earth: The Power of the Planet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE&feature=youtu.beThe Geologic Society. Plate Tectonics. Oceanic/Oceanic: The Caribbean Islands. http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/Chap3-Plate-Margins/Convergent/Oceanic-oceanic-collisionAutores y Colaboradores:Pedro G. NievesGerardo Rosa BauzáGlenda RománAmira YassinUnited States Geological Survey (USGS)