Earth Science Benchmark

Convection causes huge slabs of rock to rise and sink slowly through Earth's mantle.  The main heat source for this movement is

• Earth's mantle and core
• radiation from the sun
• friction produced by plate motions
• magma from Earth's crust

Metamorphic rock forms as a result of

• heat and pressure
• volcanoes
• compaction and cementation
• cooling magma

Magma that cools deep underground produces

• extrusive igneous rock
• intrusive igneous rock
• metamorphic rock
• sedimentary rock

Metamorphic rock can form from

• igneous rock only
• magma
• igneous or sedimentary rock
• sedimentary rock only

Which rock will most likely contain fossils?

• sedimentary
• metamorphic
• intrusive igneous rock
• extrusive igneous rock

Where are earthquakes most likely to occur?

• where Earth's tectonic plates are moving together
• where magma cools slowly beneath Earth's surface
• where Earth's lithosphere is in constant slow motion
• where Earth's seafloor is spreading into deep ocean trenches

The volcanoes along convergent oceanic-oceanic plate boundaries may form

• a hot spot
• a part of the mid-ocean ridge
• an island arc
• a subduction plate

Scientists once thought that the continents had formed in their current locations.  Alfred Wegener first published this theory of continental drift in 1915.  Which of the following provides evidence for continental drift?

• Movement of the Australian continent was observed
• Africa and South America have the same type of climate.
• Plants and animals found in Africa differ from those found in Australia
• Africa North America and South America fit together like puzzle pieces.

The diagram shows two types of movements of Earth's crust.  What feature of the ocean floor develops in the region labeled A?

• trench
• continental shelf
• mid-ocean ridge
• island arc

Earthquakes create vibrations called seismic waves.  What is a characteristic of S waves?

• The cause large waves in the ocean.
• They cause the ground to roll like ocean waves.
• They arrive after P waves
• They move the ground only up and down.