Plate Tectonics

1. A teacher asks students to make a model of a transform plate boundary. The students use blocks to represent tectonic plates and slide the blocks past each other in the direction of the arrows as shown. Which event can the students best demonstrate with their model?

• An earthquake

• A volcanic eruption

• Formation of a rift valley

• Building up of a mountain

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The San Andreas fault is a transform fault. The map below shows a student's approximation of where the fault line crosses through the United States. Students were asked to make maps predicting which may land most likely move over thousands of year. Which map best predicts the likely movement of land along the fault line over thousands of years?

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Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

A mid-ocean ridge separates the Pacific and the Nazca plate off the western coast of South America. Which statement best describes the relative motions of the Pacific and Nazca plates?

• The Pacific and Nazca plates are both moving to the east.

• The Pacific and Nazca plates are both moving to the west.

• The Pacific plate is moving to the west, and the Nazca plate is moving to the east.

• The Pacific plate is moving to the east, and the Nazca plate moving to the west.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The diagram below shows a model of the movement of two tectonic plates. When the plates collide, one plate often moves below the outer plate. The rising magma that can result from this type pf plate movement may produce.

• fossil layers

• volcanic islands

• deep-sea sediment

• seafloor spreading

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The model below shows two continental plates. The folded mountains in this model form at which type of plate boundary?

• Transform boundary

• Divergent boundary

• Subduction boundary

• Convergent boundary

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

The Himalayan mountains are shown on the map below. Four student were asked to identify the geologic process that caused this mountain range to form. Their responses are shown below. Which student correctly identified the geologic process that formed the Himalayan mountains?

• Student 1

• Student 2

• Student 3

• Student 4

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The thick black lines on the map below show the locations of mid-ocean ridges. Which geologic feature is most likely to form at a mid-ocean ridge?

• Peninsula

• Volcano

• Delta

• Plateau

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Rift valleys can form when fractures in Earth’s crust widen. The valley walls slowly move at a rate of only a few millimeters a year. Which of these best describes the type of tectonic activity that forms rift valleys?

• Rift valleys form where a continental plate moves under an oceanic plate.

• Rift valleys form where a plate slides horizontally past another plate.

• Rift valleys form where two plates move away from each other.

• Rift valleys form where an oceanic plate moves under another oceanic plate.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

The map below illustrates some of the major tectonic plates found on Earth. The Aleutian Islands in Japan are volcanic islands that have an arc-type appearance. What type of tectonic boundary would create this type of landform?

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Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The Mariana Islands form a volcanic island arc. A student assumes that one tectonic plate is sliding below another in the area. Which of these findings best supports this conclusion?

• A deep ocean trench is found along the edge of the arc.

• A transform fault lies between each of the islands.

• The oceanic crust along the island arc is longer than the volcanic islands.

• The fossils in one plate correspond to the fossils found in the other plate.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3