Week 2: Tectonic Plates and Boundaries

The map below shows how Chile lies on the South American Plate. The western part is bordered by the Nazca Plate and the southern part is bordered by the Antarctic Plate. This area is known as the Chile Triple Junction. Chile is also part of the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is an area in which a lot of earthquakes occur and volcanoes erupt. Chile is on a convergent boundary, which is when two plates collide together. Chile is also a subduction zone; the Nazca Plate goes below the South American Plate during an earthquake. 

Chile is very prone to earthquakes. The largest earthquake ever recorded (9.5 magnitude) happened in Chile. Such earthquakes also causes Chile to be prone to tsunamis. Volcanic eruptions also occur in Chile, as it has 43 volcanoes. The largest eruption to occur in Chile happened in 1949. 

                                      



Sources: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/background/edu/purpose.html#:~:text=Chile%2C%20and%20the%20other%20countries,called%20the%20East%20Pacific%20Rise.
plate-boundaries.html
https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/geology.html 
Chile-earthquake-of-1960
https://www.worlddata.info/america/chile/volcanoes.php#

Comments

  1. Sophia RAugust 30, 2024 at 3:16 PM

    Great work, I learned a lot about Chile through this post. Somethings I found particularly interesting was that much like my country (Italy) Chile is bordered by two plates therefore on a convergent boundary. I also learned that much like Italy Chile is also prone to earthquakes, and volcanos. Although Italy does not experience Tsunamis like Chile does. Even though our countries are far apart on the map and are by two completely different tectonic plates, I still found a remarkable number of similarities between the geological activity of the two places.

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  2. Thuy HSeptember 1, 2024 at 1:47 AM

    I enjoyed learning about Chile through your post! Like Chile, Vietnam is very prone to earthquakes, but the earthquakes in Vietnam are less destructive and considered moderate. It was shocking to read how Chile's strongest earthquake had a magnitude of 9.5 when Vietnam's strongest earthquake is estimated to have a magnitude of 7.5. Knowing that Chile has 43 volcanoes, there is no surprise that the country experiences volcanic eruptions often. I am excited to learn more about your country!

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