Wegener and the Continental Drift Hypothesis Quiz
1) Based on his polar experiences, Wegener thought the continents
a) Were joined into a single landmass that was near the North Pole.
b) Could move like an icebreaking ship through ice sheets.
c) Could not have been joined because glaciers would have originated in the oceans if they
were.
d) All of the above.
2) The continents were joined into a single landmass that has since broken apart,
which Wegener named
a) Rhodinia
b) Gondwana
c) Panthelassa
d) Pangaea
3) Many of the best scientists of the day agreed with Wegener’s hypothesis even
though he did not have a plausible mechanism for continental movement.
a) True
b) False
4) The reason scientists did not accept Wegener’s mechanism for continental drift is
a) If these forces were strong enough to move continents the planet would spin out of
control.
b) They calculated that centrifugal and tidal forces are too weak to move the continents.
c) If the continents were plowing through ocean basins, sea level should be much higher
than it is.
d) None of these.
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5) This drives continental movements.
a) Convection currents in the mantle
b) Centrifugal forces
c) Tidal forces
d) Horizontal heat conduction.
6) The heat source for plate motions is the mantle.
a) True
b) False
7) A convection cell explains a circular motion of
a) Warm material rising and cool material sinking.
b) Cool material rising and warm material sinking.
c) Deep material being squeezed by high pressure to the surface and surface material
falling into the deep.
d) Surface material becoming dense and sinking due to high pressure and deep material
having less pressure and so becoming buoyant.
8) Scientists rejected Wegener’s theory because
a) It didn’t explain the fossil evidence.
b) It didn’t explain the puzzle-like fit of the continents.
c) There was no plausible mechanism to explain continental movement.
d) All of the above
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9) Where two adjacent convection cells rise to the surface, a continent could break
apart and the pieces could move in the opposite direction.
a) True
b) False
10) The hypothesis of continental drift was ignored until new evidence was found
that pointed to a mechanism.
a) True
b) False
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