Gr8-ES-Plate Tectonics Quiz

What is the asthenosphere?

• The rigid outer crust of Earth

• The layer beneath the lithosphere

• The zone where earthquakes occur

• The region with the highest volcanic activity

What is plate tectonics?

• The study of minerals in Earth's crust

• The theory explaining the structure and motions of Earth's lithosphere

• The exploration of ocean floor topography

• The analysis of global geomagnetic patterns

What do hot spot volcano chains like Hawaii indicate?

• The presence of underground rivers

• Intense earthquake activity

• The slow movement of a tectonic plate over a fixed mantle plume

• The imminent collision of tectonic plates

How have plate tectonic motions been important in controlling Earth's environments over geologic history?

• By causing mass extinctions

• By controlling climate, organisms, and Earth's environments

• By influencing ocean currents

• By triggering volcanic eruptions

What does paleomagnetic evidence from the seafloor and continental drift support?

• The existence of extraterrestrial life

• Plate tectonics theory

• The concept of parallel universes

• The expansion of the universe

What forms at continental convergent boundaries?

• Ocean basins

• Deserts

• Mountains

• Coral reefs

What occurs at oceanic divergent boundaries?

• Subduction

• Collision

• Plates move apart, and new seafloor is created

• Lateral sliding of plates

What geological events and processes are primarily caused by the movement of tectonic plates?

• Meteorite impacts

• Tsunamis

• Earthquakes, volcanism, orogeny, and rifting

• Glacial periods

How do transform boundaries, like the San Andreas fault, accommodate lateral motion between plates?

• Through volcanic eruptions

• Through large strike-slip earthquakes

• Through subduction

• Through mountain formation

What is responsible for the movement of tectonic plates?

• Solar wind

• Convection currents in the asthenosphere

• Gravitational pull from the moon

• Magnetic fields from the Earth's core