Topographic & Satellite Maps and Plate Tectonics Review

The San Andreas fault is a transform fault.  The map 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.

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Serena is using this map to plan a family day hike.  The hikers will include her grandparents and her 4-year-old twin brothers.

Which of the numbered trails is most likely to be the safest and easiest for her family group?  

(a)  

The satellite photo below shows San Francisco, California, which has may miles of coastline and an inland bay.

Which area of the coastline has most likely experienced the greatest effect of erosion from waves over hundreds of years?

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

A student stands at the point marked X on the topographic map below.

What height in meters must the student climb in order to reach the top of the hill?

(a)  

The satellite image below shows a ship channel between South Padre Island and Boca Chica beach in South Texas.

Sand is sometimes removed from the ship channel through a process called dredging to make it easier for ships to travel through.  Recently sand from the bottom of the channel was moved to area beaches.  Without this transfer of sand, what would most likely occur in this area in the future?

• The ship channel would become deeper, and the island would move east toward the mainland.

• The ship channel would become shallower, and the beach would become narrower.

• The ship channel would become narrower, and the island would become completely covered with water.

• The ship channel would become wider, and the island would sink into the Gulf of Mexico.

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The points labeled W and Y on the topographic map below show the campsites of two families.  Each family hiked to the elevation on the map marked X.  The arrows show the paths taken by both families.  

What was the change in elevation, to the nearest ten meters, for the family that took the steepest path to Point X?

(a)  

Mountains in the Himalayas are increasing in elevation due to --

• seafloor spreading

• the action of earthquakes

• converging continental plates

• transform faulting or a tectonic plate

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Magma rises to become new oceanic crust where --

• two plates separate and move apart from each other creating a ridge.

• one plate grinds against another plate.

• two plates meet and collide forming a mountain.

• one plate splits in half.

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A volcano that is part of the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" is created by --

• splitting and gradual spreading of two plates.

• sliding and scraping of one plate against another.

• subduction and melting of one plate under another plate.

• uplifting and bunching of one plate over another.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

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Which is the best evidence that continents that are now separated were once joined as a single land mass?

• Continents that were once joined now have similar climates.

• Identical plant and animal fossils are found on continents that are now separated.

• The cultures of the people on separated continents have similar languages.

• The migratory patterns of wildlife on separated continents are similar.

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