Plate Tectonics
Practice Test
1.
What is the study of Earth's magnetic record?
a.
paleontology
b.
paleomagnetism
c.
paleogeography
d.
magnetometer
2.
According to the data shown in the figure, what was Earth's magnetic polarity like 5 million years ago?
a.
the reverse of today
b.
pointing in an east-west direction
c.
there was no magnetic field
d.
the same as today
3.
What is the polarity of a magnetic field that has the same polarity as the present magnetic field?
a.
a normal polarity
b.
a magnetic reversal
c.
a reverse polarity
d.
an isochron
4.
How are the convection currents set in motion?
a.
the heat from radioactive decay
b.
slab push
c.
slab push and ridge pull
d.
spreading mid-ocean ridges
5.
According to the figure, where is an earthquake's focus most likely to occur?
a.
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
b.
along the west coast of North America
c.
in northern Eurasia
d.
near the south pole
6.
Places where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other are called __________.
a.
earthquake boundaries
b.
convergent boundaries
c.
transform boundaries
d.
divergent boundaries
7.
Where do tectonic plates interact?
a.
at mid-ocean ridges
b.
at plate centers
c.
in deep-sea trenches
d.
at plate boundaries
8.
What is the name of Alfred Wegener's hypothesis about moving landmasses?
a.
continental drift
b.
seafloor spreading
c.
continental movement
d.
plate tectonics
9.
Wegener proposed that the continents were __________.
a.
plowing through oceanic crust
b.
formed at mid-ocean ridges
c.
formed at deep ocean trenches
d.
floating on top of oceanic crust
10.
What evidence did Wegener use to estimate the time of Pangaea's break up?
a.
ocean-floor topography
b.
coal deposits
c.
magnetic isochrons
d.
fossil data
11.
Which type of information was NOT collected by Wegener to support his continental drift hypothesis?
a.
seafloor magnetic data
b.
glacial deposits
c.
rocks
d.
fossils
12.
Rocks close to mid-ocean ridges are __________ rocks far from mid-ocean ridges.
a.
older than
b.
the same age as
c.
younger than
d.
a different composition than
13.
The __________ states that Earth's crust and ridged upper mantle are broken into plates that move at different rates and in different directions.
a.
theory of plate tectonics
b.
theory of seafloor spreading
c.
hypothesis of continental drift
d.
hypothesis of continental movement
14.
The supercontinent from Wegener's theory of continental drift is called __________.
a.
Gondwanaland
b.
North America
c.
Laurasia
d.
Pangaea
15.
An expedition finds a sample in the rock on the seafloor thought to be 4 million years old. What was the polarity of the Earth at that time, according to the figure?
a.
reversed
b.
half-reversed
c.
normal
d.
nonexistent
16.
A place where two plates slide laterally past each other is called a __________.
a.
transform boundary
b.
divergent boundary
c.
mid-ocean ridge
d.
convergent boundary
17.
What is thought to be the driving mechanism of plate movement?
a.
conduction of heat in the mantle
b.
volcanoes
c.
continental drifting
d.
convection currents in the mantle
