Plate Tectonics: from hypothesis to theory

Who proposed the theory of Continental Drift?

• Alfred Wegener

• Harry Hess

• Abraham Ortelius

• John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith

The lithosphere plates move on convection currents in the...

• crust

• atmosphere

• asthenosphere

• core

What type of plate boundary occurs between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate?

• convergent oceanic-oceanic plate boundary

• convergent oceanic-continental plate boundary

• transform boundary

• convergent continental-continental plate boundary

The Andes mountain range of South America was formed at a ____.

• convergent boundary

• divergent boundary

• transform boundary

• hot spot

Some of Wegener's evidence supporting his hypothesis include...

• fit of the continents

• similarity of fossils of different continents

• locations of sand dunes in the Gobi desert

• paleoclimate data

Label E

• continental slope
• volcanic island
• abyssal plain
• sea mount

A rift valley forms at a 

• convergent plate boundary
• divergent plate boundary
• transform boundary
• deep ocean trench

The theory that pieces of the Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle is called:

• Radiation
• Plate Tectonics
• Pangea
• Continental Divide

The youngest material of the ocean floor is found at mid-ocean _________.

• ridges
• trenches
• basins
• rifts

What is the primary cause of volcanoes and earthquakes?

• crustal plate movements
• Earth's gravitational force
• higher than usual tides
• solar magnetic storms