Week 2 Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics


Tectonic plates are large yet varying in size, solid rock made of the Earth's oceanic and continental lithosphere. The image above provided by The National Parks Service shows Earth's plates including the kind of boundary they have and their name. Movement of tectonic plates directly leads to natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The size, frequency and magnitude of these events greatly depends on the type of plate boundary and location. 




For instance, the Dominican Republic is located on the Caribbean Tectonic Plate. The Caribbean plate is mostly an oceanic plate and is known to be moving eastward 22 mm/year. 

Below is a chart of all the neighboring plates and their interaction with the Caribbean Plate: 


The Dominican Republic has experienced 4 earthquakes so far in 2023, ranging from a magnitude of 2.7 on January 27th to a 5.0 on February 1st.  


Resources:
https://www.unavco.org/science/snapshots/solid-earth/2020/wang.html

http://hikersbay.com/earthquakes/dominicanrepublic?lang=en

https://lacgeo.com/caribbean-plate-tectonic#:~:text=The%20Caribbean%20Plate%20is%20a,frequent%20earthquakes%20and%20volcanic%20eruptions.



Comments

  1. Emma HFebruary 5, 2023 at 8:40 PM

    Hello MaryEllen, I really like how you not only talked about tectonic plates in the Dominican Republic, but talked about it in general. I'm really curious on what made you choose the Dominican Republic. I actually volunteered in the Dominican Republic in high school and absolutely fell in love with the country.

    ReplyDelete

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