1. Plate Tectonics Unit Project
Plate boundaries and Human Impact

2. Transform Boundary Characteristics
Transform Plate Boundaries are locations where two plates slide past one another.
Pressure forms when plates get “stuck”
Earthquakes occur when plates move and pressure is released
The Earth’s crust is neither created or destroyed at a transform boundary
The fracture zone that forms a transform plate boundary is known as a transform fault. Most transform faults are found in the ocean basin and connect offsets in the mid-ocean ridges. A smaller number connect mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones.
A smaller number of transform faults cut continental lithosphere.
Transform boundaries are also known as Strike-Slip Faults.
Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis.

3. Examples of Transform Boundaries
The San Andreas Fault Zone of western North America, located in California and Mexico, is the most famous example.
© Geology.com
Another example of a transform boundary on land is the Alpine Fault of New Zealand
An example of a transform boundary in an ocean basin is in the Caribbean
This boundary has a transform fault that caused the Haitian Earthquake of 2010

4. Human Impact of Plate Tectonics
Haitian Earthquake
January 12, 2010
©buzzybloggers.com © AP
Human Impact of Plate Tectonics
An estimated three million people were affected by the quake.
The Haitian Government reported that an estimated 230,000 people died. This makes the Haitian earthquake the 4th most deadly earthquake ever.
An estimated 300,000 were injured and 1,000,000 made homeless.
An estimated 250,000 homes and 30,000 businesses collapsed or were severely damaged.
7.0 magnitude earthquake, epicenter located only 16 miles from the country’s capital of Porte-au-Prince.

5. Media Report of Haiti Earthquake

6. Media Interview

7. School Fusion Blog Discussion
Why was this earthquake so devastating and was the world response to it adequate?
Go to Mr. Miller’s blog page on School Fusion to respond to this blog.

8. Works cited
“Fast Facts Haiti Earthquake.” Fox News. 2010/01/13. Organization Norton, Mike. “NWCaribbean Satellite Photo.” Nasa World Wind :49 (UTC). NWCaribbean_satellite.png SEPUP. Issues in Earth Science. Berkeley, California: The Regents of The University of California, “2010 Haiti Earthquake.” Wikipedia.org. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake.