Continental Margins and Plate Tectonics Quiz

What explains the formation of the Hawaiian Island chain?

• Transform fault movement
• Convergent boundary activity
• Stationary hot spot under moving plate
• Divergent boundary spreading

What are Guyots?

• Underwater volcanoes with flat tops
• Deep sea trenches
• Mid-ocean ridges
• Continental slopes

Which characteristic best explains why continental shelves are biologically rich environments?

• Their extreme depths
• Their shallow depths prevent nutrient loss and they receive coastal nutrients
• Their distance from shore
• Their lack of sediment

What is the primary composition of oceanic crust?

• Granite
• Basalt
• Limestone
• Sandstone

How do scientists predict the Mediterranean Sea will change in the future based on current plate movements?

• It will expand
• It will close as Africa moves northward
• It will remain unchanged
• It will become deeper

What role does the asthenosphere play in plate tectonics?

• It forms the rigid outer layer
• It provides a partially molten layer for plate movement
• It creates ocean basins
• It forms continental crust

What geological feature is formed by the collision of two continental plates?

• Volcanic island arcs
• Mountain ranges
• Mid-ocean ridges
• Deep sea trenches

Why is the continental shelf particularly important for marine ecosystems?

• It has the most hydrothermal vents
• It has the deepest waters
• It efficiently retains nutrients and receives coastal input
• It has the most volcanic activity

What geological feature is formed at divergent boundaries?

• Mountain ranges
• Mid-ocean ridges
• Deep sea trenches
• Volcanic island arcs

Which of the following is a characteristic of transform boundaries?

• Creation of new crust
• Formation of rift valleys
• Earthquakes without crust destruction
• Formation of deep sea trenches