Ask Dr. Jay
If you have any questions about the course, feel free to ask the author of the book! You have to register in order to ask questions, but registration is free, and we won’t share your information with anyone.

Links for the Fifth Chapter

Continental versus Oceanic Crust
This video discusses the differences between oceanic and continental crust.

Tracking Plate Tectonics with the GPS
This is the site where I got the image on page 128. You can zoom in and out on the map. Also, if you click on one of the links in the grid, it will show you the latitude, longitude, and height of the GPS receiver that corresponds to the link. You can see how those positions change over time.

Sailing Through a Pumice Raft
This short video was taken while a boat was traveling through floating pumice.

Pumice Covering The Whole Ocean
This longer video shows a person swimming in a pumice raft that has come to shore. The best part starts at 2:58.

Earth’s Magnetic Shield
This video concentrates on how the earth’s magnetic field protects us.

Nice Animation of Convection Currents Driving Seafloor Spreading
This video is talking about why there is carbon dioxide in volcanoes, but the animation is excellent for understanding how convection currents drive the motion of tectonic plates.

Why the Earth Has a Magnetic Field
This video gives details on how the earth’s magnetic field is generated. It also discusses magnetic reversals.

Plate Boundaries
This video goes over the different ways plates can move relative to one another at their boundaries.

How the Hawaiian Islands Formed
This video has good animations that show how the Hawaiian Islands formed. It gives the uniformitarian timescale.