On 4 September 2012 I will be giving a video conference presentation to Australian high schools using the Electroboard smartboard system on “Developments in Plate Tectonics”. This will be largely aimed at a general audience, with minimal assumptions about the tectonics background knowledge. I will post the PDF of the presentation and accompanying notes in the following days. For now, I have attached a PDF of the introduction and the suggested class activities.
Overview
The theory of Plate Tectonics is the unifying idea that explains the evolution of our planet’s surface and subsurface – everything from the motion of continents through geological time to the development of an atmosphere and oceans that have nurtured and sustained life on Earth. The theory itself was formally described in the 1960s, and there have been rapid advances in our understanding of the Earth system to include the dynamic interactions between the planet’s surface and the Nickel-Iron core. Australian scientists and students are leading much of this research and there are many opportunities for future generations of students to leave their mark on a very young and evolving inter-disciplinary theory. In particular, growing use of supercomputer simulations have allowed us to better understand the Earth’s interior and describe the motion of tectonic plates as the surface manifestation of convective flow in the Earth’s mantle – a layer of rock nearly 3,000 km thick beneath the surface that behaves like a fluid over geological time. We are only now beginning to piece together the puzzle that links the different layers in Earth’s hot interior to the driving mechanisms of vigorous convection in the outer core that gives rise to the magnetic field, shielding life on our planet from the damaging solar, and drives mantle circulation and plate tectonics.
The core of our planet exceeds temperature of 6 000°C, which is hotter than the surface of the sun. As the surface of the planet is only an average of 16°C, the huge temperature difference drives a powerful yet complex convective system and heat exchange that churns solid rock and makes it behave like putty, resulting in the motion of continents and the volcanic activity we observe at plate boundaries. This volcanic activity was a primary force in removing gas and water from the Earth’s interior to produce an atmosphere and hydrosphere – so far the only planet capable of sustaining life. As a result, most scientists will agree that plate tectonics is a major contributor and precursor to life – and if evidence of past plate tectonic activity is found on Mars, then there is a very real chance that Mars also once supported biological systems. Early indications show that Mars was once very much like the Earth, having resided in the Goldilocks Zone in the solar system – an orbit around that sun that would allow for water to exist in all three phases of gas, solid, and most importantly, in a liquid state.
This ELECTROBOARD session will describe the recent developments in our understanding of the plate-mantle system on Earth, and how geoscientists are incorporating technologies from medical science (CAT scans) to astronomy (satellite gravimetry) in order to uncover the secrets of our planet’s past. Geoscience in Australia is at the frontier of addressing the two biggest problems facing the survival of the human species – that is, energy scarcity and climate change. In many ways these issues go hand in hand, and the use of alternative energy sources instead of fossil fuels has the potential to address the energy needs of a growing human population and mitigate at least some of the severe effects of human-induced climate change. Geoscience helps us find the optimal locations for wind and solar power stations, while also helping pinpoint potential sources of geothermal power.
Students will be introduced to concepts in plate tectonics and geosciences, and how we use open-source and free software technology, GPlates, developed by Australian scientists to reconstruct the past 600 million year evolution of our continents. GPlates is a free, easy-to-use application that comes with detailed documentation and free sample data that can be installed on any Linux, Windows or Mac computer and used for class activities that can help students understand the geological evolution of our planet, changing sea levels and climate and the evolution and explosion of life in the last 542 million years.
ELECTROBOARD Sessions:
Students – 2-3pm, Wednesday 4 September 2012
Teachers – 3:30-4pm, Wednesday 4 September 2012
For more information and free teaching material, contact Sabin on sabin.zahirovic@sydney.edu.au. To download GPlates, visit www.gplates.org and visit www.earthbyte.org for our research updates.
geodynamix 