Transcript Seismic Stuff - Issaquah Connect

FAULTS
“Little” Cracks in the Earth’s Crust
FAULTS VS. PLATE BOUNDARIES
•Faults are fractures
in the Earth’s Crust
where the rock on
either side is moving
in different directions.
•Faults can be large
or small but they DO
NOT have to be at the
edges of the plates.
•Plate Boundaries
occur at the edges of
the very large tectonic
plates.
•Most of the
earthquakes occur at
Plate Boundaries.
RECENTLY DISCOVERED FAULTS
•Scientists are still
discovering new
faults. Many of these
new discoveries are
made my UW
Geology professors
and students.
THE SEATTLE FAULT ZONE
DISCOVERED IN 1965
http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/top10/fault.html
This is a good but scary article on the Seattle Fault.
LET’S THINK IT THROUGH:
If you live near a
fault are
earthquakes your
friends?
THE BIG IDEAS FOR THE FAULT LAB
(INQUIRY 15.3)
•As the crust moves rock along the fault line catches due to
“friction” (stick).
•As the crust continues to move pressure builds up in the
areas of stick.
•When the fault finally ruptures (slip) energy is released in
the form of an earthquake.
•The greater the stick force, the greater the slip will be and
the more energy released via the earthquake.
•More smaller earthquakes mean that the pressure never
really builds up much (small stick = small slip). When the
rock around the faults stops moving scientists worry lots of
pressure is building up and may result in a very large quake.
MATERIALS LIST
•Goggles
•2 wooden
blocks with
Velcro
•1 string
•1 spring scale
•1 roll of
masking tape
•1 bolt
•2 washers
•1 wing nut