Plate Tectonics
Practice Test
1.
What evidence did Wegener use to estimate the time of Pangaea's break up?
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
magnetic isochrons
b.
fossil data
c.
ocean-floor topography
d.
coal deposits
2.
How are the convection currents set in motion?
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
slab push
b.
slab push and ridge pull
c.
spreading mid-ocean ridges
d.
the heat from radioactive decay
3.
What is the study of Earth's magnetic record?
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
magnetometer
b.
paleontology
c.
paleomagnetism
d.
paleogeography
4.
What is the name of Alfred Wegener's hypothesis about moving landmasses?
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
seafloor spreading
b.
continental movement
c.
continental drift
d.
plate tectonics
5.
When a divergent plate boundary forms on continents, a __________ forms.
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
rift valley
b.
mid-continent ridge
c.
crater
d.
volcano
6.
Places where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other are called __________.
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
convergent boundaries
b.
earthquake boundaries
c.
transform boundaries
d.
divergent boundaries
7.
The __________ states that Earth's crust and ridged upper mantle are broken into plates that move at different rates and in different directions.
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
theory of plate tectonics
b.
hypothesis of continental movement
c.
hypothesis of continental drift
d.
theory of seafloor spreading
8.
Which type of information was NOT collected by Wegener to support his continental drift hypothesis?
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
glacial deposits
b.
fossils
c.
rocks
d.
seafloor magnetic data
9.
What two topographic features of the ocean floor were discovered only with the use of sonar?
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
volcanic islands and mid-ocean ridges
b.
shallow-sea trenches and volcanic islands
c.
mid-ocean ridges and earthquakes
d.
mid-ocean ridges and deep-sea trenches
10.
What is an isochron?
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
a line on a seafloor map that connects points of equal age
b.
a point on a seafloor map that has a magnetic reversal
c.
a part of a mid-ocean ridge
d.
a line on a seafloor map that connects points of equal elevation
11.
Why did Wegener think that the Antarctic continent had been closer to the equator in the geologic past?
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
existence of the Transantarctic Mountains
b.
evidence of fossil fish
c.
existence of coal beds
d.
existence of volcanic rocks
12.
What is the polarity of a magnetic field that has the same polarity as the present magnetic field?
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
a normal polarity
b.
an isochron
c.
a magnetic reversal
d.
a reverse polarity
13.
What is the process called when one plate is forced beneath another at a convergent plate boundary?
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
subduction
b.
subtraction
c.
convergence
d.
transformation
14.
Rocks close to mid-ocean ridges are __________ rocks far from mid-ocean ridges.
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
older than
b.
younger than
c.
a different composition than
d.
the same age as
15.
What is thought to be the driving mechanism of plate movement?
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
volcanoes
b.
continental drifting
c.
convection currents in the mantle
d.
conduction of heat in the mantle
16.
A place where two plates slide laterally past each other is called a __________.
SC.D.1.4.2
a.
mid-ocean ridge
b.
transform boundary
c.
divergent boundary
d.
convergent boundary
17.
Wegener proposed that the continents were __________.
SC.D.1.4.3
a.
formed at mid-ocean ridges
b.
plowing through oceanic crust
c.
formed at deep ocean trenches
d.
floating on top of oceanic crust
