ESS Mid Unit Test Revision Pt. 1

Major mountain systems such as the Himalayas are believed to have been developed on sites of:

• plate collision

• continental shelves

• thin sediments

• major ocean basins

The layer of the Earth immediately below the crust is called the mantle.

                     There is good evidence that the mantle is composed of:

• rocks in a plastic or molten state.

• mainly nickel and iron.

• liquid iron.

• sedimentary rocks, saturated with water.

It is thought that a number of moving plates form the earth's surface.  What is the name given to this theory?

• Continental drift

• Plate motions

• Plate tectonics

• Crustal drift

Which of the following statements would NOT support Tectonic Plate Theory?

• The present-day continents seem to fit together.

• There is very little accumulated sediment on the ocean floors.

• Identical fossils have been discovered in similar rocks in different countries.

• Studying world-wide seismic wave patterns of the earth's interior.

The earth's crust is able to be seen as a series of plates which move about the surface.  This is possible because:

• the crust is less dense than the molten mantle and therefore floats.

• it is solid and holds the earth together.

• the force from volcanoes hold the crust on top.

• the water of the oceans squeezes the rocks down into the mantle.

Which of the people listed below first proposed the theory of Continental Drift based upon fossil evidence and the continents seeming to fit together like a Jigsaw:

• Charles Darwin

• Albert Einstein

• Alfred Wegener

• Harry Hess

The map shows the distribution of a 260 million-year-old fossil reptile found in West Australia and Madagascar. The best explanation for this distribution is:

• the reptiles were expert swimmers.

• Madagascar and Australia were once joined.

• Aborigines used to export these animals.

• the African and Australian varieties are not related.

What type of plate movement forms mountains?

• Transforming

• Colliding plates (convergent)

• Spreading plates (divergent)

• Subduction

What is the approximate rate of plate movement?

• a few centimetres each year

• a few millimetres each year

• a few meters each year

• a few kilometres each year

The theory of seafloor spreading supports ideas that

• the earth is expanding

• the earth is contracting

• new crust is being made along subduction trenches

• new crust is being made along mid-ocean ridges