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Plate Tectonics

Total questions: 57

Worksheet time: 1hrs 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

The North American plate and Pacific plates meet at the San Andres Fault in California causing frequent earthquakes. This fault is located at a _____ boundary.

a)

Ridge

b)

Divergent

c)

Convergent

d)

Transform

2.

Which TWO landforms occur when a continental plate and an oceanic plate hit each other?

a)

Volcanoes on land and Volcanic Islands

b)

Volcanoes on land and Deep Sea Trench

c)

Volcanoes on land and Mountains

d)

Rift Valley and Mid Ocean Ridge

3.

How do most mountains form?

a)

Continents collide and fold up on each other

b)

Earth is shrinking and the crust wrinkles up

c)

Ocean plates diverge and fold up on each other

d)

Gravity from the moon pulls sections of the Earth up

4.

What kind of landform is created when a continent starts to get torn apart?

a)

Volcanic Island

b)

Deep Sea Trench

c)

Mid-ocean Ridge

d)

Rift Valley

e)

Mountains

5.

Plates are not created or destroyed: They just pass by each other.

a)

Converge

b)

Diverge

c)

Transform

6.

This is where new material is added on to plates.

a)

Converge

b)

Diverge

c)

Transform

7.

This is where plate material may be destroyed (or recycled) and returned to the mantle.

a)

Converge

b)

Diverge

c)

Transform

8.

What are these plates doing?

a)

Diverging

b)

Converging

c)

Forming a transform boundary

9.

Study this diagram carefully, noticing the direction of the arrows.The green bars are tectonic plates.What will happen at the place where the star is drawn on this diagram?

a)

The plates will slide past each other (causing a major earthquake)

b)

The plates will hit each other (one will subduct)

c)

The plates will diverge (spread apart)

10.

What are these plates doing?

a)

Converging

b)

Diverging

c)

Forming a transform boundary

11.

What are these plates doing?

a)

Converging

b)

Diverging

c)

Forming a transform boundary

12.

What type of event will occur at this boundary?

a)

Earthquake

b)

Volcano Eruption

c)

Tornado

d)

Mountain Building

13.

A divergent boundary occurs when plates ....

a)

Pull apart

b)

Come together

c)

Slide past each other

d)

subducting

14.

The Great Rift Valley in Africa and the Mid-Ocean Ridge were all created by this boundary

a)

Divergent

b)

Convergent

c)

Reform

d)

Transform

15.

The type of plate boundary where two plates come together is a .....

a)

Convergent Boundary

b)

Divergent Boundary

c)

Transform Boundary

d)

Plate Boundary

16.

A place where two plates slip past each other, moving in opposite directions, is known as a _______

a)

transform boundary

b)

divergent boundary.

c)

convergent boundary.

d)

rift valley.

17.

Identify this type of plate movement

a)

Divergent Boundary

b)

Convergent Boundary

c)

Transform Boundary

d)

None

18.

Tectonic plates can be made of continental crust or oceanic crust, or a combination of the two. Besides their locations, how else are these two kinds of crust different?

a)

Continental crust is thinner than oceanic crust.

b)

Continental crust is thicker than oceanic crust.

c)

Tectonic plates made of continental crust are larger than plates made of oceanic crust.

d)

Tectonic plates made of continental crust are smaller than plates made of oceanic crust.

19.

    __________       describes the large scale movement of the Earth’s lithosphere.

a)

Crust Displacement

b)

Mantle Movement

c)

Plate Tectonic

d)

None

20.

This scientist was the first to develop the idea of continental drift.

a)

Wegener

b)

Einstein

c)

Copernicus

d)

Hawking

21.

Identify this type of plate movement

a)

Divergent Boundary

b)

Convergent Boundary

c)

Transform Boundary

d)

None

22.

Around 200 – 250 million years ago ______ started to break into separate plates. 

a)

Oceans

b)

China

c)

Pangea

d)

None

23.

Two plates moving or sliding by each other.

a)

Divergent Boundary

b)

Convergent Boundary

c)

Transform Boundary

d)

None

24.

Two plates collide

a)

Divergent Boundary

b)

Convergent Boundary

c)

Transform Boundary

d)

None

25.
What geological forces might be responsible for this range of mountains?
a)
diverging tectonic plates
b)
erosion of the land by the ocean
c)
converging tectonic plates
d)
deposition of sediments by the ocean
26.

Earthquake epicenters (center of where the earthquakes started) were mapped for a 35 year period in the diagram above. The black dots indicate these epicenters. The black dots appear along what feature on Earth?

a)

hot spots

b)

plate boundaries

c)

rift zones

d)

sea floor spreading

27.
Which of the following is where one plate slides under another plate?
a)
submarine zone
b)
divergence zone
c)
subduction zone
d)
lower zone
28.

The San Andreas Fault in California is known as an active earthquake area. What type of

boundary is it?

a)

Converging

b)

Diverging

c)

Transform

d)

Sea Floor Spreading

29.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Great African Rift Valley and Iceland were formed as a result of what boundary interaction?

a)

Continental-Continental Convergent

b)

Continental-Oceanic Convergent

c)

Divergent

d)

Transform

30.
Tectonic plates moving causes what?
a)
Volcanos, mountain ranges, and deep ocean trenches
b)
Rivers, volcanoes, valleys, and fresh soil
c)
Volcanoes, mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, and buildings
d)
Houses, rivers, buildings
31.

Is the Lithosphere Rigid?

a)

True

b)

False

32.

What is below the Lithosphere ?

a)

Crust

b)

Core

c)

Mantle

d)

Asthenosphere

33.

What are the plates made out of?

a)

Lithosphere

b)

Asthenosphere

c)

Crust

d)

Mantle

34.

What causes convection currents?

a)

Hot magma rises while cool magma sinks

b)

The rotation of the Earth

c)

Ocean currents pulling plates apart

d)

The spinning of the Earth's core

35.

Why does oceanic crust subduct under continental crust?

a)

Oceanic crust is thin

b)

Oceanic crust is dense

c)

Continental crust is thin

d)

Continental crust is dense

36.

How is it possible for new crust to be formed without increasing the surface area of the Earth?

a)

Crust is destroyed at the same time it is created

b)

New crust is underwater where it sinks

c)

New crust breaks more easily than old crust

37.

Islands can from from magma which is pushed up at a __________ plate boundary

a)

Divergent

b)

Convergent

c)

Transform

38.
A fault is formed by the movement of a __________ plate boundary
a)
Transform
b)
Convergent
c)
Divergent
39.
What does the theory of continental drift state?
a)
The continents were once joined in a super-continent and have moved over time
b)
Continents are stationary and do not move
c)
The Earth is broken into lithospheric plates that move due to convection currents
d)
none of the above
40.
What is this a picture of?
a)
plate tectonics
b)
continental drift
c)
pangea
d)
glacier scaring
41.
What are the two types of crust
a)
continental and oceanic
b)
ocean and upper
c)
lower and upper
d)
pizza and subway
42.

The San Andreas Fault in California is known as an active earthquake area. What type of

boundary is it?

a)

Converging

b)

Diverging

c)

Transform

d)

Sea Floor Spreading

43.

Observe this diagram of a plate boundary. One statement BEST describes what is happening. It is that

a)

the oceanic crust is melting.

b)

the denser ceanic crust is subducting under the less dense oceanic crust

c)

volcanic islands are forming.

d)

the tectonic plates are moving away from each other.

44.

What Theory states Earth's Lithospheric plates are in constant motion due to convection currents in the mantle.

a)

Theory of Continental Drift

b)

Theory of Plate Tectonics

c)

Theory of Relativity

d)

Theory of Plates and Table

45.

Scientists believe Earth's Plate move due to

a)

The Crust

b)

The Sun

c)

The Convection currents in the mantle

d)

The ice age

46.

The lithosphere is made up of

a)

The crust and outer core

b)

The crust and Inner Core

c)

The crust and Upper core

d)

The crust and upper mantle

47.

A divergent boundary is when two plate divide. This is under water or on land. The landforms created on land include

a)

Mid- Ocean Ridge

b)

Mountains

c)

Rift Valleys

d)

Tornadoes

48.

Subduction of a plate boundary means one plate sinks toward the Earth's Mantle. Which plate would sink toward the mantle?

a)

The less dense continental plate

b)

The less dense oceanic plate

c)

The more dense oceanic plate

d)

The more dense continental plate

49.

A trench is formed at which type of boundary?

a)

Convergent

b)

Divergent

c)

Transform

d)

Sliding

50.

What is the process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle?

a)

Subduction

b)

Convection

c)

Plate Tectonics

d)

Continental Drift

51.

Fossils provide evidence to support the theory of plate tectonics. Why?

a)

Fossils of the same animals have been found on different continents.

b)

Fossils are always found on plate boundaries

c)

Fossils of each type of animal are always found only on one continent

d)

Fossils are never found near divergent boundaries.

52.

A mid-ocean ridge forms when seafloor spreading occurs.

What causes the mid-ocean ridge to form?

a)

New magma is added to the mantle

b)

Earthquakes

c)

Magma rises to the surface when plates pull apart

d)

Volcanoes ruin everything

53.

Who is the scientist who proposed Continental Drift Theory?

a)
Albert Einstein
b)
Alfred Wegener
c)
Isaac Newton
d)
John Dalton
54.

Alfred Wegener named his single supercontinent ____________, which means "all Earth" in ancient Greek.

a)

Pandora

b)

Gandowandaland

c)

Pangea

d)

Percia

55.

What type of fossils were noticed by Wegener to be found on two different continents?

a)
Leaves and flowers
b)
Ice and mountains
c)
Plants and animals
d)
Dinosaurs and reptiles
56.

Most geologists think that the movement of Earth's tectonic plates is caused by

a)

the rotation of the Earth.

b)

the Earth's magnetic field.

c)

subduction.

d)

convection currents.

57.

Sea-floor spreading explains how.....

a)

new crust is created at a divergent boundary

b)

volcanoes are formed on continents

c)

deep sea trenches are formed