Galápagos Islands by Grace Dunlap

1 of 8

Galápagos Islands

Published on Nov 24, 2015

No Description

BY: GRACE DUNLAP AND JOSIE CROSS

The islands were created by convergent boundaries because of oceanic to oceanic.
The stationary hot spot formed a chain of volcanoes as the Nazca crustal plate moved east-southeast.
Some islands are older than others since they continue to be formed.

Geologically, the islands are quite young and are probably no more than 5 million years old
Some of the most volcanically active islands are only hundreds of thousands of years old.
It is located on the equator, roughly 1000km (600 miles) west of the South American coast.
The perpetually moving plate is still heading eastward.

Formed in the Pacific by the interaction of plate tectonics and hot spot volcanism
Created by convergent boundaries from oceanic to oceanic.
It is thought to be the product of a mantle plume.
Islands have been formed in the Pacific by plate tectonics and hot spot volcanism.

Heat beneath the plates cause them to move apart and erupt which then forms new volcanoes and islands
Since they are located over a particularly hot mantle, the volcanoes erupt repeatedly which causes islands since the stuff builds up.
Tectonic plates move about 5cm per year which makes the volcanic activity to move with them creating new islands to the west
One mid-ocean ridge, known as the Galapagos spreading center, is located north of the Galapagos archipelago.
A major transform fault is located north of the Galapagos.

The global weather anomaly hit the Galapagos hard. Many fish searched for different waters to feed upon.
This left the nest of birds on the coast abandoned.
Dogs, which is not necessarily a natural hazard completely, have been a threat to tortoise eggs and others.
Goats in this area have led to the extinction of 4-5 plants on the islands.

The Galápagos Islands are still affected by plate movement to this day.
Every year, the plate tectonics beneath them move about 5cm per year.
This causes the volcanic activity to move creating new volcanoes and islands while leaving old volcanoes dormant.