Mid Atlantic Ridge (plate tectonics)

This is for all you scientists out there interested in plate tectonics.
As i said in my previous post the Mid Atlantic Ridge is a divergent boundary between Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South American Plate in the South Atlantic.
The way a divergent boundary works is when two plates pull apart from each other, forming a ridge which then slowly turns into land. In this case a ridge was created between the plates i listed above, and land was created which is mostly submerged under the Atlantic. It includes the island of Iceland but that part of the ridge is called Reykjanes Ridge. The picture at the top is a picture of a divergent boundary.
My dear friend Michael was curious as to what the latitude and longitudinal points were for the Mid Atlantic Ridge!
Here they are: Lat:0°14'38.57"S Long: 19°58'50.76"W
In the comments tell me about what you think makes these longitudinal and latitudinal lines special?
Margee

Mid Atlantic Ridge

This i'm afraid to say is going to be our last stop, which i will describe. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, is a divergent plate boundary located down the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is part of the longest mountain range in the world. This boundary is a separation zone between the Eurasian Plate and the North American plate in the Atlantic. It also separates the African Plate from the South American Plate in the South Atlantic. The photo above shows a tourist excursion through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This was definitely crazy interesting for me. Their were cliffs and many rocky mountains. Sandra was afraid to walk through because she was worried that rocks would fall on her (haha Sandra is so funny).
In order to visit the Mid Atlantic Ridge we had to travel all the way to Iceland by plane from India. This was a very beautiful place and i'm going to write one more blog about the science/plate tectonics behind the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Leave comments:)
margee

Himalaya range in India

Today me and my Armenian comrades visited the Himalayas in India. We took a long plane ride to India, and it was truly spectacular but very tiring. The view above is what the Himalayan Range in India looks like from a persons point of view from a far distance. The Himalayan Range in India is the formation of the convergent zone between two plate called the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. As i stated earlier a convergent boundary is when one plate goes under or above the other plate. In this case the Indo-Australian plate goes over the Eurasian plate. Over time it gradually raises higher which makes the Himalayas rise 5 mm per year.
In the Himalayas we visited a typical Bhuddist prayer zone which they have there. We payed respect to the gods and snapped many amazing photos.
Anyway feel free to leave comments
Margee

The Aleutian Islands

Today we visited the Aleutian Islands. They are a range of multiple volcanic islands within the boundary of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate. Me, Sandra, and Michael took a boat down the coast of the islands. The view was spectacular. The snow tipped volcanoes were completely out of this world. We visited an island called Unalaska where a small amount of people lived. Many Russians lived there since the islands went all the way to Kamchatka in Russia. The view at the top, shows a night view of the Aleutian, all courtesy of that photo goes to Michael, my dear Armenian friend.
The Aleutian islands are a convergent boundary (subduction zone), A subduction zone, or a convergent boundary, is a place in the plates (usually involving at least one oceanic plate and sometimes a continental plate) where one plate goes under the other one and forms a trench. After the plate goed under and the other gets low enough into the asthenoshpere, the plate will melt and the magma will rise to the surface and form a volcano. This is exactly how the volcanoes formed because of the North American plate going under the Pacific plate. The picture to the right shows a simple drawing of the convergent boundary.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.
Thanks much
margee

San Andreas Fault

Today me and my Armenian friends visited the San Andreas Fault line. It is a fault that runs roughly 810 miles through California in the US. It is a transform fault which is the boundary of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Here we visited the San Andreas lighthouse. It was truly spectacular! This is the kind of sight that you get to see once in a life time. The first photo above is a satellite view of the fault, and the second photo above is the lighthouse that we visited. Truly dazzling isn't it?
Now to the scientific part, the San Andreas Fault is a transform boundary between the Pacific plate and the North American plate as i stated earlier. What's a transform boundary? Well this is something i had to explain to Sandra and Michael (My armenian friends). A transform boundary is when to plates go together and rub against each other while going in opposite directions, none of the plates lose any land throughout the process. The third photo shows a transform boundary.
Well this is the end, for a little bit.
Ill blog next time.
Feel free to leave comments.
Margee

This is the Juan de Fuca plate. As you can see it runs from the border of British Columbia and Washington and ends near portland. This plate is underneath North America and is very dangerous. In this article scientists are discussing how they think that the Juan de Fuca plate will cause a very massive new earthquake, i really am hoping that it won't be anything as major as Japan:(
There is a possibility that one of the future GREAT earthquake's the world will see, in the near future, will come from the Cascadia region of North America, and that it will originate with the Juan de Fuca plate.

"Since 2005 there has been a series of ongoing "creeping" earthquakes taking place within the subduction zone of the Juan de Fuca plate.

Two weeks prior to February 2, 2007, scientists in Canada began picking up "...an unusual travelling tremor deep inside the earth’s crust."

"Herb Dragert, a researcher with the Geological Survey of Canada in Victoria, said the wandering tremor is the result of subtle, slow slippage of the Juan de Fuca plate as it pushes against the North American plate in an area known as the Cascadia subduction zone.

A sudden slippage of the two plates would trigger an earthquake similar in magnitude to the one off the coast of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004 that killed more than 300,000 people."
Earthquake scientists detect plate slippage"
Here is the plate:

Washington and Oregon Coastline

Hi my name is Margaret and i live in Washington. Today i took a couple of friends out to explore the coastline of Washington and Oregon. We drove through Bellevue, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Through there we went to the west and came to the coastline along the sides of Washington and Oregon. Here lies the Juan de Fuca plate named after a famous explorer, who noticed submerged volcanoes under the North American Coastline. This plate has been known to have caused many earthquakes and was said to have caused a tsunami in Japan during the 1700's. We walked along the beach. It was very exciting for my friends to see this since they lived in Armenia which didn't have very many cold beaches like this one. It was very windy and the water was ice cold. There was seaweed washed upon the whole shore, and we saw many dead ocean creatures. We collected many shells, and then went and ate at Crab Pot in Seattle to finish our sea exploration.