Plate Tectonic Links (from Gwyn Jones):

1. Introduction to Plate Tectonics
   • Plate Tectonics in a Nutshell (As it says, in a nutshell!)
     http://geology.about.com/library/bl/blnutshell_plate-tec.htm
   • This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics (Outstanding! From the experts at the United States Geological Survey [USGS].)
     http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html


2. Basic Plate Tectonics Maps and Additional Information
• The World's Crustal Plates
  http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/slabs.html
• Illustrating the Main Types of Plate Boundaries (The 3 "block diagrams" above the figure show relative plate motions for the different types of boundaries.)
  http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/Vigil.html
• Understanding Plate Motions (Excellent summary, from USGS's "Dynamic Earth".)
  http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/understanding.html


3. Distribution of Volcanoes Maps
• Active Volcanoes, Plate Tectonics, and the "Ring of Fire" (Each red dot is a different active volcano.)
  http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/Maps/map_plate_tectonics_world.html
• Recent Volcanic Activity (Each red dot is the site of volcanic activity in the past 10,000 years.)
  http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/volcano.72.gif
• Plate Tectonics and the Cascades Range (Map view and cross-section ["side view"] of the Cascades.
  http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/Maps/map_plate_tectonics_cascades.html


4. Distribution of Earthquakes Maps
• World Seismicity 1975-1995 (USGS) (The different color dots represent different depths of individual earthquakes. See the right-hand side of the map.)
  http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/general/seismicity/world.html
• Earthquake Epicenters (Red = shallow, green = intermediate, blue = deep earthquakes)
  http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/quakes.72.gif
• Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics (Color and symbol coding is explained in the legend and caption.)
  http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/Maps/map_quakes_world_990707_flat.html
5. Global Topography Maps
• Basic Topography (The colors show different elevations above (+) or below (-) sea level, in meters. See right-hand side of map.)
  http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/topo.72.gif
• Crustal Plate Boundaries (with Elevations) (Elevations and plate boundaries are shown together here.)
  http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/plateswtopo.gif
  • Crustal Plates with Topography, Western Hemisphere = http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blplateswtopowhem.htm
  • Crustal Plates with Topography, Eastern Hemisphere = http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blplateswtopoehem.htm
6. Age of the Ocean Floor Map
• Age of the Ocean Crust (The colors represent different ages of the seafloor crust, in millions of years. See right-hand side of map: Red = youngest, blue = oldest.)
  http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/age.72.gif

Animations, Visualizations, and Hands-On Mini-Exercises:

http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/animate/pltecan.html and http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/visualization/collections/PTMovements.html and http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/education/student/tectonics/index.html (you can even move the continents around to "create" Pangaea!)

Minerals Links

A Few Earthquake Links:

General Earthquake Information

• Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN) - including Publications
• USGS Earthquake Hazards Home and Research in Seismology in the Pacific Northwest
• Pacific NW Earthquakes - Rice University