Plate Tectonics Quiz

Olivia became interested in the fossil evidence that Wegener used to form his hypothesis of continental drift. How did fossils show that the continents were once joined together?

• Animal fossils such as the mesosaurus were found on one continent.

• Scientists found examples of different kinds of fossils on some continents.

• Plant fossils of the same kind of fern like plants were found on five continents.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

After studying plate tectonics, Lee became interested in mid-ocean ridges and how rock develops as the tectonic plates spread apart, so he decided to investigate further. Which of the following statements are true about sea-floor spreading? Choose the three statements that apply.

• Magma flows through cracks in Earth's crust and hardens.

• Continental crust is formed by the ridges as they grow.

• Mid-ocean ridges are the sources of the spreading.

• Older rock is farther away from the mid-ocean ridges.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

The sinking of ocean crust back into the mantle when it meets continental crust is ______________.

• subduction

• sea floor spreading

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The sinking of ocean crust back into the mantle when it meets continental crust occurs at _______________.

• divergent boundaries

• convergent boundaries

Julia watched a pot of water boil. The boiling water reminded her of the convection currents she had learned about while she studied plate tectonics. How do these currents drive the motion of Earth’s plates?

• Ocean water rises as it warms and falls as it cools to move the plates.

• Hot melted rock rises and cooler rock sinks in the mantle, forming currents that move the plates.

• Melted rock rises and falls, and the currents move the mantle while the crust remains in place.

What determines how the plates interact at their boundaries?

• The materials the plates are made of.

• The difference in thickness of the plates.

• The kind of plates they are and whether they keep moving.

• The kind of boundary and the directions in which the plates are moving.

What Earth surface feature forms where the Indian and Asian plates collide? (Hint: Mt. Everest)

• Deep Ocean Trench

• Mountains

• New Sea Floor

• Plateau

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

What kind of plate boundary formed in the area where the Indian and Asian plates meet?

• Convergent

• Divergent

• Transform

• Uneven

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

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Maria visited the mountains in Wyoming and became interested in the different ways that mountains and valleys form. How do mountains and valleys develop from a series of normal faults?

• Walls of rock grind past each other in opposite directions. This pushes one side up above the other to form the mountains.

• Compression causes rock to fold and bend, but not break, in the middle of a plate. The rock that folds upward becomes a series of mountains.

• A hanging wall slips down at a diverging plate boundary. The slab of crust that falls forms a valley, and the slabs on each side form mountains.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Isabella read about what can happen at the different kinds of plate boundaries. At a convergent boundary, water may be trapped and may mix with the material in the mantle. What occurs if this material reaches the surface before cooling?

• a major earthquake

• a volcano

• a tsunami

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NGSS.HS-ESS1-5