Earth’s Changing Surface Test
Name:
Date:
Directions: Read each question and circle the best answer.
1. An area where one plate slides under another is called a
a. Divergent boundary
b. Transform boundary
c. Subduction zone
d. Continental zone
2. Which process is an example of physical weathering?
a. a nail rusting
b. acidic water dissolving calcite
c. rock weathering to make clay
d. plant roots breaking rock
3. What forms along divergent boundaries?
a. Mid-ocean ridges and rifts
b. Subduction zones and trenches
c. Folded Mountains and volcanoes
d. Canyons
4. The main force acting along a convergent boundary is
a. shear
b. tension
c. convection
d. compression
5. Shear is the main force acting at which type of boundary?
a. divergent
b. transform
c. oceanic-continental convergent
d. continental-continental convergent
6. Which statement correctly describes a force acting at a plate boundary?
a. Shear is the main force acting along a transform boundary.
b. Tension is the main force acting along an oceanic-continental convergent boundary.
c. Compression is the main force acting along divergent boundary.
d. Convection is the main force acting along a continental-continental convergent boundary.
7. Most volcanoes and earthquakes occur
a. Over hot spots
b. Next to calderas
c. In the middle of tectonic plates
d. Along plate boundaries
Earth’s Changing Surface Test
8. A
is NOT a possible effect of an earthquake.
a.
b.
c.
d.
tsunami
hot spot
landslide
liquefaction
9. Which landform is NOT associated with volcanic eruptions?
a. caldera
b. fault
c. lava flow
d. mid-ocean ridge
10. Rifts form at which type of plate boundary?
a. Convergent
b. Divergent
c. Hot spot
d. Transform
11. Sediment is made by
a. erosion
b. deposition
c. weathering
d. transportation
12. The force produced when two plates move away from each other is
a. compression
b. subduction
c. tension
d. shear
13. The sediment deposited by glaciers creates
a. flood plains
b. moraines
c. sand dunes
d. sedimentary boundaries
14. Tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other at
a. convergent boundaries
b. divergent boundaries
c. mid-ocean ridges
d. transform boundaries
15. Which type of weathering is most common in cold, mountainous areas?
a. crystallization
b. dissolving
c. frost wedging
d. melting
Earth’s Changing Surface Test
16. Tectonic plates generally move toward or away from each other at what speed?
a. Few centimeters per second
b. Few centimeters per day
c. Few centimeters per year
d. Few centimeters per million years
17. Volcanic ash is produced during
a. explosive eruptions
b. lava flows
c. liquefaction
d. subduction
18. What feature is marked by the X on the image below?
a.
b.
c.
d.
subduction zone
continental rift
mid-ocean ridge
transform fault
19. What term best describes what is happening when a tree’s roots apply enough force to uplift and break sidewalk
into small pieces?
a. chemical weathering
b. erosion
c. liquefaction
d. physical weathering
20. Which landforms are NOT examples of deposition?
a. moraines and deltas
b. valleys and mountains
c. floodplains and sand dunes
d. none of the above
Directions: Answer the following questions in a complete sentence.
21. List two types of evidence and explain how it supports the theory of plate tectonics. (2pt)
22. How is magma different from lava? (2pts)
Earth’s Changing Surface Test
23. Compare and contrast chemical and physical weathering. (2pts)
Directions: On the line before each definition, write the letter of the term that matches it correctly. Each term is
used only once.
____ 24. Boundary where plates slide past each other
A. composite volcano
____ 25. A process that changes the composition of a rock
B. chemical weathering
____ 26. Type of Volcano that is large, explosive, steep sided,
C. divergent
and cone shape.
____ 27. Small pieces of rocks and minerals are called
D. sediment
____ 28. Force that pushes rock together
E. physical weathering
____ 29. Boundary where plates move away from each other
F. transform
____ 30. Force that pulls rock apart
G. compression
____ 31. Type of Volcano that tends to be large, has a circular
H. shield Volcano
base, and is non-explosive.
____ 32. Breaking rock into small pieces without changing the
I.
tension
composition.
____ 33. Dangerous waves that can be caused by earthquakes.
A. Plate tectonics
____ 34. This theory states that Earth’s crust is broken into rigid plates.
B. Geological Evidence
____ 35. Alfred Wegner developed the hypothesis that continents move called
C. Subduction zones
____ 36. Evidence that shows that similar rocks and mountains are found on
different continents called
D. Tsunamis
____ 37. The area where one plate slides under another
E. Lava flows
____ 38. Long streams of molten rock that build up as flat layers when the lava
cools
F. Continental drift
____ 39. A rupture and sudden movement of rocks along a break or a crack in
Earth’s crust.
G. Caldera
____ 40. Large indentation in the center of a volcano that forms when the
surface above the magma chamber collapses.
H. Earthquake