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Worksheets

Continental Drift and Seafloor Spreading

Total questions: 46

Worksheet time: 45mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What did Wegener name the large supercontinent where all the continents were joined together?

a)

Wegenerland

b)

Gondwanaland

c)

Laurasia

d)

Pangaea

2.

Most geologists rejected Wegener's idea of Continental Drift because _________.

a)

He used too many pieces of evidence to support the idea.

b)

He wanted to know what Earth looked like millions of years ago, which is impossible.

c)

He couldn't identify "how" continents to move around.

d)

They were afraid of the new idea.

3.

Wegener used the fit of the continents as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

a)

true

b)

false

4.

Wegener used matching mountain ranges across different continents as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

a)

true

b)

false

5.

Wegener used evidence of glaciers in places now too warm as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

a)

true

b)

false

6.

Wegener used matching matching fossils of the same organisms on different continents as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

a)

true

b)

false

7.

What were 2 kinds of evidence were used to prove that the seafloor spread?

a)

rock formations, WWII shipwrecks,

b)

magnetic seafloor stripes, WWII ship logs

c)

magnetic seafloor stripes, age of rock samples

8.

What technology was used during WWII to detect enemy submarines and produce the first map of the seafloor?

a)

Sonar

b)

Radiam

c)

GPS

9.

Process by which new ocean crust forms.

a)

Seafloor spreading

b)

Continental drift

c)

Mid-ocean ridge

d)

Rift

10.

The zone where one plate slides under another is called the

a)

Convergent zone

b)

Subduction zone

c)

Transform zone

d)

Mantle zone

11.

Undersea mountain ranges are called a_________.

a)

Rift

b)

Mid-ocean ridge

c)

seafloor spreading

d)

Continental drift

12.

Wegener used matching rock types and ages across different continents as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

a)

true

b)

false

13.

Wegener used evidence of convection currents in the mantle as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

a)

true

b)

false

14.

The OLDEST seafloor is located?

a)

Closest to the mid-ocean ridge

b)

Farthest from the mid-ocean ridge

15.

Sea-floor spreading begins at the

a)

Deep ocean trench

b)

Mid-ocean ridge

c)

Continent's edge

16.

Older crust is found towards the...

a)

Mid-ocean ridge

b)

Deep-ocean trench

c)

Asthenosphere

17.

Why does oceanic crust (density 3ish) sink below the continental crust (density 2.6ish) during subduction

a)

oceanic crust is less dense

b)

oceanic crust is more dense

c)

oceanic crust is older

d)

oceanic crust is warmer

18.

Wegener's idea of Continental Drift was rejected by geologists because _________.

a)

He used too many pieces of evidence to support the idea.

b)

He wanted to know what Earth looked like millions of years ago, which is impossible.

c)

He couldn't identify how or even why the continents to moved around.

d)

They were afraid of the new idea.

19.

Who came up with the theory of seafloor spreading?

a)

Harry Hess

b)

Alfred Wegner

c)

Mrs. White

20.

Who is the person credited with developing the theory of continental drift?

a)

Harry Hess

b)

Albert Einstein

c)

Alfred Wegener

d)

Isaac Newton

21.

What are the two types of crust?

a)

continental and oceanic

b)

ocean and basin

c)

lower and upper

d)

thick and thin

22.

Younger sea floor crust is located...

a)

farther from the mid-ocean ridges

b)

at the mid ocean ridges

c)

near the continents

23.

What causes the crust to move?

a)

convection currents

b)

conduction

c)

tension

d)

radiation

24.

Why were magnetic patterns found on the ocean floor puzzling?

a)

They showed alternating bands of rock crystals pointing north and south.

b)

No rocks were magnetic.

c)

They did not show alternating bands of rock crystals pointing north and south.

d)

All rocks were magnetic.

25.
What is label G
a)
Trench
b)
Mid ocean ridge
c)
abyssal plain
d)
sea mount
26.

What are Mid-Ocean Ridges?

a)

A chain of underwater waterfalls

b)

A chain of underwater mountains where the magma oozes out.

c)

A chain of underwater rocks

27.

Which is NOT evidence of sea-floor spreading?

a)

Molten magma constantly erupting

b)

Drilling samples of rock

c)

Magnetic stripes

d)

Fossil evidence

28.

What is label D

a)

Trench

b)

Mid ocean ridge

c)

abyssal plain

d)

sea mount

29.

How long did it take the continents to move into their current position?

a)

Hundreds of years

b)

Thousands of years

c)

Almost a million years

d)

Hundreds of millions of years

30.

What do you call the evidence of Wegener's Theory that tells about the remains of an organism that lived long time ago?

a)

ashes

b)

follicles

c)

bones

d)

fossils

31.

What causes continents to move?

a)

seafloor spreading

b)

convection currents swirling

c)

magma oozing out of a mid ocean ridge

d)

all of the above

32.

True or False: Our continents will eventually become a supercontinent (like Pangaea) again, far in the future

a)

False

b)

True

33.

What is the rate at which the Atlantic Ocean is expanding?

a)

5-10 cm per year- like how our fingernails grow

b)

5-10 feet per year

c)

5-10 km per year

34.

True or False: The plates will never stop moving

a)

True

b)

False

35.

Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of Continental Drift in the early 20th century. Why did scientists refuse to believe him?

a)

He was not a REAL scientist

b)

He could not explain HOW the plates moved

c)

Scientists did not think his evidence was real

36.

Which layer of Earth contains the tectonic plates?

a)

crust and the uppermost mantle

b)

lower and middle mantle

c)

outer core

d)

inner core

37.

What is this image trying to show?

a)

How the shape of the continents match

b)

Rock evidence showing that the continents were connected

c)

Fossil evidence suggesting that the continents were connected

38.

The force in the MANTLE that makes the plate move is called _________

a)

Convection currents

b)

conduction

c)

condensation

39.

During WWII the navy mapped the ocean floor with _______.

a)

a robotic rover

b)

radiation evidence

c)

SONAR waves

40.
Where would the oldest rock be found?
a)
L
b)
M
c)
N
d)
O
41.

The average density of continental crust is 2.8 g/cm3 and the average density of oceanic crusts is 3.2 g/cm3. If these two plates came together, what would happen?

a)

The two plates would push apart and form a rift zone.

b)

The oceanic plate would rise up over the continental plate.

c)

The oceanic plate would sink under the continental plate.

d)

The two plates would meet head on and rise up to form mountains.

42.

Seafloor spreading...

a)

creates new oceanic crust

b)

destroys or recycles crust

c)

creates new continental crust

d)

creates old crust

43.
This is a picture of glacier scars found in Africa.  What are these evidence for?
a)
Africa has always been near the equator
b)
Africa was once in an area of the Earth that had a very cold climate
c)
The continents have not moved
d)
sea floor spreading
44.

The Glomar Challenger_____

a)

is a space shuttle

b)

is an oil rig

c)

has been drilling seafloor samples for over 50 years

45.

Before sonar waves evidence, people believed that the ocean was ______.

a)

had mountains just like on land

b)

was coral reefs

c)

flat and sandy

46.

The temperature gets _______ closer to the ocean ridge.

a)

cooler since magma is farther from the ocean floor

b)

hotter since magma is closer to the ocean floor

c)

stays the same since magma is very far from the ocean floor