Study Guide - Plate Tectonics

Holes drilled several kilometers into Earth's crust provide direct evidence about Earth's interior in the form of...

• seismic waves
• rock samples
• liquid iron
• volcanic eruption

Geologists obtain indirect evidence about Earth's interior in the form of...

• measuring pressure differences at Earth's surface
• estimating temperature inside earth
• directly looking under the many layers
• recording and studying seismic waves

What is the correct order (starting from the surface) of Earth's layers?

• crust, outer core, inner core, mantle
• mantle, outer core, inner core, crust
• crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
• outer core, inner core, crust, mantle

Earth's inner core is...

• a dense ball of solid metal
• a layer of molten metal
• a layer of hot rock
• a layer of rock that forms Earth's outer skin

When you touch a hot pot or pan, energy moves from the pot to your hand. This is a type of...

• magnetic energy
• indirect evidence
• subduction
• heat transfer

The transfer of energy through empty space is called...

• conduction
• convection
• radiation
• subduction

Heat transfer within a fluid takes place by...

• convection currents
• radiation
• conduction
• density

According to Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift...

• Earth's surface is made up of seven major land masses.
• the continents do not move
• Earth is slowly cooling and shrinking
• the continents were once joined together in a single landmass

What is Pangaea?

• the name of a German scientist
• the name of the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago
• another name for continental drift
• the name of an ancient fossil

Which type of evidence was NOT used by Alfred Wegener to support his continental drift hypothesis?

• evidence from landforms
• evidence from fossils
• evidence from human remains
• evidence from climate