Plate Tectonics Quiz

What did Alfred Wegner call the supercontinent that he believed once existed?

• Gondwana

• Atlantis

• Laurasia

• Pangaea

What evidence supported Alfred Wegner's theory of continental drift?

• Matching age and type of rock layers in different continents

• Fossils from similar plants and animals found in different continents

• Both A and B

• None of the above

In the 1950s, what did scientists discover about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?

• It was a deep trench formed by tectonic activity

• It was a mountain range running along the ocean floor

• It was a dormant volcano

• It was sinking into the ocean floor

What did Harry Hess propose about the seafloor at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?

• It was spreading outward to make room for more

• It was a result of volcanic activity

• It was formed by a meteor impact

• It was sinking into the mantle

What is the lithosphere?

• A layer of dense sedimentary rock at the bottom of the ocean

• A layer of ice covering the polar regions

• A rigid layer of solid rock at the Earth's surface

• A layer of molten rock beneath the Earth's crust

What drives the movement of the Earth's lithospheric plates?

• Tidal forces from the Moon

• Magnetic forces from the Earth's core

• Solar radiation from the Sun

• Convection currents in the mantle

Where is seismic activity greatest?

• At all three boundaries

• At convergent boundaries

• At divergent boundaries

• At transform boundaries

What drives volcanic activity at divergent boundaries?

• Subduction of oceanic plates beneath continental plates

• Collision of two continental plates

• Magma pushing up along the boundaries

• Tidal forces from the Moon

What is the ring of fire?

• A region of high tectonic pressure in the Indian Ocean

• A zone of intense seismic activity in the Atlantic Ocean

• A chain of volcanoes along the Pacific Ocean

• A belt of meteorite impacts around the Earth

What does plate tectonics drive?

• The nitrogen cycle

• The carbon cycle

• The rock cycle

• The water cycle