Plate tectonics test

The map below shows the locations of four active volcanoes in the Caribbean Sea. What do these volcanoes indicate about plate tectonics in the region?

• The volcanoes form an island arc, indicating a converging plate boundary.

• The volcanoes form a line, indicating a diverging plate boundary.

• Two plates are moving past each other, causing faulting and magma formation.

• Two plates are moving apart, creating new seafloor.

Answer explanation

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

NGSS.HS-ESS2-1

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

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 image shows a plate boundary. Arrows have been added to indicate the movement of the plates. What plate boundary feature is also shown?

• A ridge formed by an inactive convergent boundary.

• A valley forming at an inactive divergent boundary.

• A fault forming at an active transform boundary.

• A volcano formed by an active transform boundary.

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 way land would most likely move over thousands of years. 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

The map shows some of Earth's plate tectonic boundaries. Based on the map, volcanic activity would most likely be found at-

• Location W

• Location X

• Location Y

• Location Z

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

A mid-ocean ridge is located at the boundary of two tectonic plates. Which diagram correctly models the relative plate motion on each side of a mid-ocean ridge?

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Tags

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

The mantle of Earth is made of a plastic like material that when its heated, the material rises, cools, sinks and is then re-heated.  This constant flow of a fluid is called

• a conduction current
• a hot spot
• a volcanic eruption
• a convection current

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

What is the driving force behind plate tectonics?

• convection currents
• magnetic reversal
• volcanic eruption
• subduction zones

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3