St. Peter’s High School
Geography Department

Mr A Barnard Mrs A Dadge  |  Mr J Mitchell  |  Mrs S Miklausic  |  Mrs G Stott | Mr A Williams


Year 10 AND 11 GCSE PAGES Tectonic Activity

The Earth’s crust is unstable and creates hazards.
Global distribution of continental plates.
Tensional and compressional margins.
The processes of plate movements and their role in the formation of fold mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes.

Characteristic features and formation of fold mountains, earthquakes (focus, epicentre) and volcanoes (composite and shield volcanoes).

Occurrence and measurement of earthquakes.
The link between earthquakes and plate boundaries to be understood.

The interaction between people and the environments and hazards created by tectonic activity.
Description and explanation of human activity in one range of young fold mountains (St. Peter's example = The Alps)
Study of one range of fold mountains eg. tourism, farming, and HEP in the Alps or Rockies.
Case study of effects and responses to a volcanic eruption and an earthquake to include primary and secondary effects and the short medium and long term responses.

Two case studies are required, a volcanic eruption eg. Mt. St Helens and Pinatbu and an earthquake eg. Kobe or San Francisco. Study to include the short, medium and long term responses of different interest groups eg. local and national government, aid agencies etc.

Settlement issues in areas of tectonic activity – the advantages and disadvantages of settlement in areas of tectonic activity.

Students should appreciate that areas affected by tectonic activity present both advantages and disadvantages for settlement eg. the threat of a volcanic eruption versus the fertile soils for farming as on
the slopes of Mount Etna or the threat of avalanches and difficulty of communications versus the valuable minerals able to be mined in the Andes mountains.

Variations in the effects of and responses to tectonic activity between rural and urban areas, and between MEDCs and LEDCs.( Mt St Helens v. Pinatubu and San Francisco v. Gujarat)
A consideration of the values and attitudes of different interest groups.
Choice of earlier case studies from both an MEDC and LEDC will make it easier for students to appreciate these variations.
Consideration may be given to differences in population densities, building materials, availability of emergency services, quality of communication networks, relative wealth etc. Values and attitudes to tectonic activity may include the unwillingness of some people to
accept the hazard or the need to use the fertile soils through to those who would advise abandonment of areas prone to tectonic activity.

 

Visit these web links to help you revise for the earthquakes and volcanoes section

1. Learn on the Internet

2. BBC Bite size - tectonic pages

3. Dot-school revision site

4. Volcano World - masses of up-to-date information on volcanic eruptions around the world, including Mt St Helens

5. Global Earthquake Response centre - find out where the last earthquake occured, how big was it? where was it? ....

6. More revision pages - plenty of diagrams.

7. Mt. St. Helens Volcano information

8. San Francisco Earthquake pages

9. The US Geological Society and other scientists conclude that there is a 62% probability of at least one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake, capable of causing widespread damage, striking the San Francisco Bay region before 2032.