Estimating the spreading rate of Atlantic and Pacific ridges
Initial Publication Date: June 1, 2012
Summary
Given maps of bathymetry of Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, students estimate spreading rate of each ridge writing a matlab script that plots a line of bathymetry, and calculated bathymetry as a function of spreading rate. They then vary the estimated spreading rate manually until they produce a bathymetric curve that closely resembles the real bathymetry.
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Context
Audience
upper level undergrad/ graduate level course in tectonics/geodynamics
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
familiarity with matlab
high-school math
isostacy/subsidence
density
high-school math
isostacy/subsidence
density
How the activity is situated in the course
stand-alone exercise
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
understand why ocean bathymetry varies in a systematic way
appreciate how spreading velocity controls bathymetry of ocean
appreciate how spreading velocity controls bathymetry of ocean
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
transforming mathematical equation into matlab script
appreciate that "all models are wrong, but some models are useful" i.e., the modeled bathymetry does not perfectly match the real bathymetry, but can capture the general subsidence pattern.
appreciate that "all models are wrong, but some models are useful" i.e., the modeled bathymetry does not perfectly match the real bathymetry, but can capture the general subsidence pattern.
Skills goals for this activity
writing equations in matlab
plotting data in matlab
plotting data in matlab
Description and Teaching Materials
For this lab students are provided with a handout describing the concepts of subsidence of aging oceanic lithosphere and the equation relating ocean subsidence to age. They are then provided data files of bathymetry of the atlantic and pacific oceans.
Students then must write a script to plot the real data and the calculated bathymetry as a function of spreading velocity, and estimate the spreading velocity of each ocean by trial and error based on visual curve-matching.
data for "Estimating the spreading rate of Atlantic and Pacific ridges" (Matlab .MAT File 22kB Oct4 15)
Teaching Notes and Tips
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