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Plate Tectonics Vocab

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 8mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What are fossils?

a)

The solid layer of Earth between the crust and the core

b)

The mineralized remains of organisms

c)

The thin, solid, outermost layer of Earth

d)

The process of continental drift

2.

What is the main difference between the crust and the mantle?

a)

The crust is solid, while the mantle is liquid.

b)

The crust is thinner and solid, while the mantle is thicker and semi-solid.

c)

The crust is made of fossils, while the mantle is made of minerals.

d)

The crust is the innermost layer, while the mantle is the outermost layer.

3.

Which of the following best describes plate tectonics?

a)

A place where two tectonic plates collide

b)

A theory explaining the movement of tectonic plates on the mantle

c)

A huge piece of the Earth's crust

d)

A place where two tectonic plates move apart

4.

Which of the following best describes seafloor spreading?

a)

A place where two tectonic plates collide

b)

A phenomenon by which magma from Earth’s mantle comes up at the mid-ocean ridge and creates new oceanic crust

c)

A huge piece of the Earth's crust

d)

A place where two tectonic plates move apart

5.

Which of the following best describes continental drift?

a)

The theory that continents were once connected but have drifted apart

b)

A phenomenon by which magma from Earth’s mantle comes up at the mid-ocean ridge and creates new oceanic crust

c)

A huge piece of the Earth's crust

d)

A place where two tectonic plates move apart

6.

What is the key characteristic of a convergent boundary?

a)

Plates move apart

b)

Plates collide

c)

Plates remain stationary

d)

Plates slide past each other

7.

What is the key characteristic of a divergent boundary?

a)

Plates move apart

b)

Plates collide

c)

Plates remain stationary

d)

Plates slide past each other

8.

What is magma?

a)

Solid rock found on Earth's surface

b)

Melted, or molten, rock material beneath Earth's surface

c)

A type of sedimentary rock

d)

A layer of Earth's atmosphere

9.

What happens to the denser plate during subduction?

a)

It rises to the surface

b)

It is pushed downward beneath a less dense plate

c)

It forms a mid-ocean ridge

d)

It creates new oceanic crust

10.

What is a trench in geological terms?

a)

A mountain range formed by tectonic activity

b)

A deep and narrow depression in the seafloor where subducted plates move into the asthenosphere

c)

A flat plain formed by sediment deposition

d)

A volcanic crater formed by magma eruption

11.

What causes the formation of a trench in the seafloor?

a)

The collision of two continental plates

b)

The subduction of one tectonic plate beneath another

c)

The spreading of tectonic plates at a mid-ocean ridge

d)

The erosion of the seafloor by ocean currents

12.
What do you call the supercontinent landmass formed million years ago?
a)
Pangea
b)
Asia
c)
Pantallasa
d)
Eurasi
13.
Who is the person credited with developing the theory of continental drift?
a)
Harry Hess
b)
Galileo
c)
Alfred Wegener
d)
Newton
14.
Wegener’s proposal of a supercontinent was supported by:
a)
earthquake data
b)
seafloor magnetism
c)

rock, fossil, and seafloor spreading

d)
convection currents in the mantle.
15.
What type of plate boundary is this?
a)
Plate
b)
Divergent
c)
Convergent
d)
Transform