Name______________________
Period______________
Topic Plate Tectonics
Date_______________
Turn in at the end of the period. It is homework and due the following day if you do not finish in class.
Warm Up: Watch the video and respond to the question below. (2-3 COMPLETE sentences)
Plate Tectonics
1) Plate tectonics compose the Earth’s __________ crust (lithosphere), which is made up of enormous
fragments. _________________ explain why the Earth’s surface is the way it is. Tectonic plates can form
landforms.
2) Write down the names of 2 tectonic plates: _____________________ & ________________________
3) The tectonic plate can __________ together through a process called _____________. Subduction is
the main process that forms mountains. Oceanic _________________ subducts underneath the
continental lithosphere. The oceanic lithosphere heats and dehydrates as it subsides. The melt rises
forming ___________________.
4) There are 3 types of convergent plate _____________________:
5) Continent to continent collisions form ___________________________ .
6) Continent – _________________ crust collisions cause subduction.
7) Ocean – Ocean plate collision also cause a _______________. However, under the ocean a
____________ is formed because the subducting plate is pushed far down.
8) Divergent boundaries result is _______________ ridges. As plates move apart, new material erupts to
fill the gaps. Iceland was formed through this process.
9) Transform boundaries is where tectonic plates ______________ past each other laterally. These
cause less ___________________ earthquakes than subduction earthquakes.
10) About 250 _______________ years ago, most of the continents formed one massive continent called
_____________.
11) Over millions of years, Pangea broke up and formed our current ______________. There are a total
of 7 continents now because of _________________ drift.
11.5) Watch the videos and explain continental drift in your own words:
12) Mt. Everest sits on the ________________ Plateau and is over 60 million years old and is 8,848
meters tall (29,028.87ft tall)!! The two colliding _______________ plates that have created Mt. Everest
are the Asian and ______________ Plates.
13) Mt. Everest will continue to rise at the same rate. It gains about 3mm in height every year. Sir
_______________ Hillary and Tenzig Norgay were the first to climb Mt. Everest in ____________.
14) Human _______________ is the main reason Mt. Everest is slowly getting ________________.
Resources are being consumed at a very quickly rate in the local area.
15) The Alps are the largest __________________ range in Europe. The highest peak is Mt. Blanc at
4,810 meters tall (15,780 ft). These mountains were formed when the _______________ plate drifted
northward and collided with the ________________ plate. The Alps are impacted by humans due to
popularity. More people want to go visit the Alps than can sustainably be supported by the Alps.
1) How might the surface of the Earth be different if it were not divided into tectonic plates? (3-4
complete sentences)
2) Compare and contrast divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries (3-4 sentences)
Research and provide an example of each. (Bullet point for the examples)
3) Glacial deposits often form at high latitudes near the poles. Explain why glacial deposits have
been found in Africa. (3-4 sentences)
4) What observations/evidence that you can think of would support the theory of continental
drift? (3-4 sentences)