Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics Quiz

Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis stated that all the continents once joined together to form

• two major supercontinents.

• two major supercontinents and three smaller continents.

• one major supercontinent.

• three major supercontinents.

The hypothesis of continental drift is used to explain an event that happened

• two million years ago.

• two hundred million years ago.

• two billion years ago.

• two hundred billion years ago.

What evidence supports Wegener’s hypothesis?

• The same mammal species exist on different continents.

• Major rivers on different continents match.

• Land bridges still exist that connect major continents.

• Fossils of the same organism have been found on different continents.

Evidence about ancient climates indicates that

• glacial ice once covered much of what is now India and Australia.

• the countries found in the Northern Hemisphere today were once centered over the South Pole.

• no continents occupied the Northern Hemisphere.

• the countries found in the Southern Hemisphere today were once centered over the North Pole.

Which of the following results when divergence occurs within the oceanic lithosphere?

• seafloor spreading

• a rift valley

• a volcano chain

• a mountain range

What forms when one oceanic plate is forced beneath another plate?

• an ocean basin

• ocean ridges

• a subduction zone

• a rift valley

Which of the following does NOT occur at a subduction zone?

• The leading edges of both plates are bent downward.

• Oceanic crust is pushed down into the mantle.

• One oceanic plate moves into another oceanic plate.

• One continental plate moves into an oceanic plate.

Which of the following is NOT evidence of sea-floor spreading?

• the alternation of polarity in segments of the ocean floor

• the relationship between earthquakes and plate boundaries

• analysis of seafloor sediments

• the distribution of ice sheets across the planet

Which of the following is true of a rock that has the property of paleomagnetism?

• Rocks formed millions of years ago show the location of the magnetic poles at the time of their formation.

• All rocks, regardless of when they are formed, will eventually possess the same polarity.

• A major shift in polarity occurred in all rocks that were formed one million years ago.

• A rock possesses a specific polarity depending on where it is formed.

According to the theory of plate tectonics, the

• asthenosphere is divided into plates.

• lithosphere is divided into plates.

• asthenosphere moves over the lithosphere.

• asthenosphere is strong and rigid.