This activity conveys the knowledge that Earth is dynamic and that plate tectonics is an active, ongoing process. Students use radiocarbon dates for the raised coral reefs from the New Georgia Islands (Solomon Island Group) in combination with measurements of the elevation of these fossil reefs above current sea level to calculate rates of tectonic uplift. Students then develop a conceptual model to explain the pattern of uplift for the last 10,000 years that emerges from the data.
