Continental Drift Theory

How does fossil evidence support Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift?

• Similar fossils are found along continental margins that appear to join together.
• Fossils are found in areas where the present-day climate could not have supported the organisms that made the fossils.
• Similar fossils of giant, land-dwelling dinosaurs are found on continents separated by oceans.
• all of the above

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The theory of continental drift named a key part of this idea Pangaea. What is Pangaea?

• One of the ancient animals that helped Wegener prove that fossils from different continents originally came from the same location
•  supercontinent that existed in Earth's distant past
• The underwater ocean range in the middle of the ocean
• The hot spot which gave rise to the Hawaiian Islands, among others

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What is the force that moves the continents? 

• Conduction 
• Convection 
• Radiation 
• Conveyor belts 

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What evidence did Wegener use to support his theory?

• Continents and fossils fitting together/matching-up like puzzle pieces 
• glacier scars and other climate evidence from temperature
• mountain ranges and rocks line up across continents
• all of the above

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What are the mechanisms that have been proposed to explain the movement of Earth's tectonic plates?

• slab pull and sea-floor spreading

• mantle convection and continental drift

• sea-floor spreading and continental drift

• mantle convection, ridge push, and slab pull

The movement of tectonic plates is so slow and gradual that you cannot see or feel them moving. As a result, scientists depend on the global positioning system (GPS) to verify tectonic plate motion. Satellites can measure the small distances that GPS ground stations move over time. In what units is the movement of tectonic plates measured?

• meters/day

• meters/week

• centimeters/year

• kilometers/month

Tectonic plates can be made of continental crust or oceanic crust, or a combination of the two. Besides their location, how else are these two kinds of crust different?

• Continental crust is thinner than oceanic crust.

• Continental crust is thicker than oceanic crust.

• Tectonic plates made of continental crust are larger than plates made of oceanic crust.

• Tectonic plates made of continental crust are smaller than plates made of oceanic crust.

A plate boundary is a place where two tectonic plates meet. There are several types of tectonic plate boundaries. Which statement below shows the correct definition of a tectonic plate boundary?

• At a divergent boundary, plates separate.

• At a transform boundary, plates move apart.

• At a convergent boundary, plates slide past each other.

• At a divergent boundary, one plate sinks under another plate.

The illustration shows some of Earth’s tectonic plates. The arrows indicate the direction in which some of these plates are moving.

According to this map, where can you infer that mountains are being formed?

• between the Scotia Plate and the Pacific Plate

• between the Cocos Plate and the Caribbean Plate

• between the South American Plate and the African Plate

• between the North America Plate and the Antarctic Plate

What is it called when two oceanic plates move apart and new crust is formed?

• crustal integrating
• sea-floor spreading

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