Unit 2-Plate Tectonics & Rock Cycling

What is the term for the exact age of something?

• absolute dating

• relative dating

• fossilization

• carbonization

What is the thin layer of Earth, about 150 miles thick, at the border between the mantle and the crust, that is very hot and nearly a liquid?

• asthenosphere

• lithosphere

• outer core

• inner core

What is the solid rock layer beneath soil and loose sediments that can be exposed at the surface or buried deep underground?

• bedrock

• topsoil

• gravel

• clay

What is it called when one event directly causes another, such as the movement of tectonic plates causing earthquakes or volcanic eruptions?

• causation

• correlation

• coincidence

• association

What is the process in the rock cycle where minerals fill spaces between sediment grains, sticking them together to form sedimentary rock?

• cementation

• melting

• weathering

• metamorphism

What is it called when layers of sediment are pressed together by the weight above them, squeezing out water and forming rock?

• compaction

• evaporation

• erosion

• melting

What is the geologic force that builds up Earth's surface, such as volcanic eruptions creating new land or mountain formation?

• constructive

• destructive

• erosive

• weathering

What is a thick, less dense tectonic plate made mostly of granite rock, forming the continents?

• continental plate

• oceanic plate

• mantle plume

• subduction zone

What is the gradual movement of the continents across the Earth over time called?

• continental drift

• seafloor spreading

• volcanic eruption

• oceanic trench formation

What is the movement caused by warm fluids rising and cooler fluids sinking called?

• convection

• diffusion

• radiation

• condensation