Plate Tectonics

What is Pangea?

• A type of dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago.

• The name of a supercontinent that existed 280 million years ago.

• A famous ancient city in Greece.

• A geological term for the movement of tectonic plates.

What is subduction?

• The process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep ocean trench and back into the mantle.

• The process of volcanic eruption that occurs at mid-ocean ridges.

• The movement of tectonic plates away from each other.

• The formation of new oceanic crust at divergent boundaries.

What is a fault?

• A fracture in the Earth's crust along which movement has occurred.

• A type of rock formation that is completely solid.

• A geological feature that only occurs underwater.

• A crack in the Earth's surface that does not involve movement.

What is continental drift?

• The theory that continents have moved over geological time and were once joined together.

• A process by which ocean currents are formed.

• The movement of tectonic plates causing earthquakes.

• A method of measuring the age of rocks.

What is the asthenosphere?

• The outermost layer of the Earth that is solid and rigid.

• The semi-fluid layer of the mantle on which tectonic plates move.

• The layer of the Earth that is primarily composed of liquid iron and nickel.

• The solid inner core of the Earth that is extremely hot.

What is a convergent boundary?

• A tectonic boundary where two plates collide, often forming mountains or causing subduction.

• A tectonic boundary where two plates move apart, creating new crust.

• A boundary where tectonic plates slide past each other without creating or destroying crust.

• A boundary that forms when tectonic plates are stationary and do not interact.

What is a mid-ocean ridge?

• An underwater mountain range formed by plate tectonics, where sea floor spreading occurs.

• A type of ocean current that circulates warm water around the globe.

• A deep-sea trench where tectonic plates converge and create earthquakes.

• A volcanic island formed by the eruption of underwater volcanoes.

What is the lithosphere?

• The rigid outer layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

• The inner core of the Earth, made up of molten iron and nickel.

• The layer of the Earth that is responsible for tectonic plate movement.

• The gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth, composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen.

What causes earthquakes?

• The sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust due to the movement of tectonic plates.

• The gradual cooling of the Earth's core over millions of years.

• The collision of asteroids with the Earth.

• The expansion of gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

What do tectonic plates move around on?

• The lithosphere.

• The asthenosphere.

• The mesosphere.

• The outer core.