Leanne Rainbow's List: Taiwan project

• • tfyufyiiug
  Add Sticky Note
• a convergence rate of ~ 80 mm/yr in a ~N118E direction

  • This is important - what do you think this means?
• oceanic crust of the South China Sea led

  • type your thoughts here
  Add Sticky Note

1 more annotation...

• Taiwan is situated on the edges of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plate.  Huatung Longitudinal Valley marks the boundary line between the two plates: to  the east of it is the Philippine plate and to the west is the Eurasian plate.  The Philippine Sea plate keeps moving westward; when it hits the Eurasian plate  it goes under the crust and becomes a subduction zone. The rising of Taiwan's  Coastal Range (Hai-an Shan-mo) is a product of this plate movement.

  • (green) Where does Taiwan sit in terms of plates?
    (blue) What are Taiwan's coastal range and how are they formed?
  Add Sticky Note
• Taiwan was formed out of a geosyncline, a large, troughlike depression in the  ocean floor containing masses of sedimentary and volcanic rocks, and is part of  an island arc.

  • What this means is that off the western coast of mainland China, there was a big trough. The trough got filled with sediment over millions of years. The sediment pile got bigger and bigger.
  Add Sticky Note
• The stratum of western Taiwan is principally made of marine rock sediment

  • So the western edge of Taiwan is made up of sediment rocks. Where did all that sediment and rocks come from?
  Add Sticky Note
• Tatun Shan in the north, the Coastal Mountain Range in the east and many  outlying islets, are comprised of lava flow
• Compression from the Philippine plate not only creates new mountains but also  lifts the surface of Taiwan. On the average, Hengchun Peninsula and the Central  Range rise 0.5 centimeters a year. Taiwan is a mountainous island, with more  than 200 peaks of over 3,000 meters. These towering peaks with their steep  slopes drastically contrast with the plains, which account for only 30% of the  total land area. Obviously, in terms of geology, Taiwan is a very young and  still developing island.
  

  • (green) What is happening to Taiwan?
    (blue) Why is Taiwan still a young and developing island?
  Add Sticky Note
• Other areas, such as Tatun Shan in the north, the Coastal Mountain Range in the  east and many outlying islets, such as Penghu archipelago , are comprised of  lava flow

  • Much of Taiwan is composed from sediment but not these volcanic ranges - what caused them?

4 more annotations...

• Kuanyin lying by side of Tamshui,

  • location of kuanyin - beside tanshui
  Add Sticky Note

• Before the existence of Taiwan, calcareous sediments were  deposited in the ocean. As time passed, new sediment kept accumulating on top of  the old; this, followed by lithification, formed limestone.
  

  • What was Taiwan made out of? (This page doesn't say - but where did that stuff come from?) What type of rock was formed?
  Add Sticky Note
• After a long period of time, the intense pressure and subterranean heat caused  the transformation of the limestone into marble

  • Over thousands of years what happened to the limestone?
  Add Sticky Note
• About four million years ago, the Philippine Sea Plate and  the Taiwan Eurasian Continental Plate collided

  • What type of plate boundary is this?
  Add Sticky Note
• causing the mountains to rise up and the marble stratum,  covered by other strata, to rise with them.
  

  • Taiwan gets raised.
  Add Sticky Note
• At the same time, the continents have been rising, so the mountains have become  higher and higher while the valleys have become deeper and deeper.

  • what caused Taiwan to get pushed up? What caused Taroko gorge to form?
  Add Sticky Note

3 more annotations...

• Lying between 119°18'03"and 119°42'54"E longitude and 23°09'40"and 23°45'41"N  latitude, the Penghu Islands (the Pescadores) consist of 64 islets situated in  the Taiwan Strait, midway between China and Taiwan

  • This should help
  Add Sticky Note
• archipelago

  • What is an archipelago?
  Add Sticky Note
• Due to long-term underwater erosion, the islands have a relatively flat terrain

  • What is erosion?
  Add Sticky Note
• The islands were formed by a mass of basalt rising from the sea through volcanic  action.

  • What is basalt?
  Add Sticky Note
• Their highest elevation, located on Mao Island (Greater Cat Islet), is only 79  meters above sea level.

  • A little fact for you.

3 more annotations...

• • Page 11 paragraph 2 has some information about the rift valley in Taiwan and how it was formed.
  Add Sticky Note
• • Page 11 - Information on the central mountain range
  Add Sticky Note

• Six million years ago, the Philippine Sea Plate, which had already long been  moving in the Pacific, smashed at an angle into the largest tectonic plate in  the world, the Eurasian.

  • Which tectonic plate went up and which one got subducted?
  Add Sticky Note
• was consequently pushed up through the surface of the sea
• Even today, Taiwan is rising at a rate of five to ten centimeters a year, making  it the most "upwardly mobile" plate in the world, exceeding even Japan or the  west coast of North America.

  • Hmmm I read a different number on another site - you might want to check this number. It seems awfully high.

  • Now that's pretty cool!
  Add Sticky Note
• It turns out that since ancient times rivers on the Eurasian continent have been  dumping silt into the ocean, slowly creating the land bulge we now know as  Taiwan.

  • How did Taiwan form?
  Add Sticky Note
• But it is nonetheless impressive how the motions of the earth's crust pushing  upwards and the abundant rains and river waters cutting downwards have together  magically carved this narrow 1000-meter-deep gorge, with its world-famous  scenery.

  • Great explanation of how uplift and erosion work together
  Add Sticky Note

3 more annotations...

• This page is for students researching: (1) how Taiwan was formed or (2) Taroko gorge - Leanne Rainbow on 2009-02-08

• Due to volcanic activity, islands in an archipelago may either reduce or  increase in size. If volcanic activity remains fairly constant, deposition of  volcanic materials may actually