Choose one of the following prompts to answer.

Prompt 1

Imagine that a specimen has gone through the following transitions along the timeline given:
•5 million years ago: a sandy beach
•3 million years ago: a piece of sandstone
•1.5 million years ago: a piece of quartzite
•Today: a piece of granite

Describe the processes that would have occurred to create each of the different specimens above. How would they have transitioned from one type to the next? What might become of this sample in the future? What function could each of these types of sediment or rocks have for humans? Be sure to use the information you have learned about plate tectonics, the rock cycle, use of minerals and rocks as resources, and the formation of minerals and the three major rock types.

Prompt 2
Identify which of the earth’s systems would be impacted if plate tectonics did not exist. Think about how the landscape would look, how the movement of sediment would be different, whether mass wasting events would change, how our atmosphere would be impacted, and so on. How, specifically, would human populations be impacted?

Prompt 3
Using the diagrams (one shows volcanoes and earthquakes that have occurred around the world as well as major cities, and the other shows plate boundaries), answer the following questions :
•List and describe the three types of plate boundaries and discuss the types of geologic events that occur at these boundaries (e.g., earthquake activity [shallow or deep] and volcanoes [type of volcanism and lavas]).
•Pick one specific plate boundary (e.g., Juan de Fuca and North American plate) that is located close to a population center, and discuss what is specifically occurring there. How are human populations impacted by geologic events at this location? (For example, are they prone to major earthquakes, volcanism, tsunamis?) If you were the emergency management official in this region, what types of preparatory actions would you take to be sure your constituents were informed and protected?

For additional details, please refer to the Critical Thinking Essay Rubric document in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics section of the course. To view the integrated rubric for this submission, click on the title of this item and then click the “View Rubric” button. For more information, review these instructions.