Changes to Earth’s Surface Study Guide
1) Which of the following is evidence that an area was once covered by a glacier?
a. U-shaped valley
b. Alluvial fan
c. Sedimentary deposits
d. V-shaped valley
2) Which does not cause weathering?
a. water
b. wind
c. ice
d. sunlight
3) How are weathering and erosion different?
a. Weathering is a constructive force, and erosion is destructive.
b. Weathering is a destructive force, and erosion is constructive.
c. Weathering turns rocks into sediment, and erosion moves sediment.
d. Weathering is caused by wind and water, and erosion is caused by weathering.
4) First, wind picks up sand. Then, the sand is blown against a cliff and breaks in half. Finally, the wind slows and
the sand falls to the ground. The sand was
a. first eroded, then weathered, and finally deposited.
b. first eroded, then deposited, and finally weathered.
c. first deposited, then eroded, and finally weathered.
d. first weathered, then eroded, and finally deposited.
5) Which of these is an example of erosion?
a. light shining onto a mountain
c. wind blowing away sediment
b. rain breaking down rock
d. all of the above
6) Which destructive force would create v-shaped valley or canyon?
a. Erosion
b. Weathering
c. Deposition
d. Glaciers
7) Where are Earth’s plates located?
a)
b)
c)
d)
In the oceans where convection occurs
In the asthenosphere
In the Lithosphere
In the 7 continents
8) What allows the large, stiff plates of the lithosphere to move?
a) plates that slide past one another
c) the mantle’s ability to flow
b) rivers of water underneath the crust
d) the activity of earthquakes and volcanoes.
9) What is happening to form the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Ridge?
a) One plate is sliding beneath another plate.
b) Two plates are colliding, and the mountains are being pushed upward.
c) Two plates are moving apart, and new rock forms where magma comes to the surface.
d) Sediment that wore off rocks on continents is piling up in the middle of the ocean.
10) What is sea-floor spreading, and what type of plate movement causes this process to happen?
a) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming new crust along a mid-ocean ridge, caused by a divergent
plate movement.
b) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming mountains, caused by a convergent plate movement.
c) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming volcanic islands, caused by a convergent plate movement.
d) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming new crust, caused by a transform plate movement.
11) Subduction occurs when one plate gets pulled underneath another plate, forming mountains or volcanoes.
Along which type of boundary does subduction occur?
a) Convergent b) Transform c) Divergent
d) Sea-floor spreading
12) What type of boundary creates new oceanic crust?
a) Convergent b) Transform c) Divergent
d) Sea-floor spreading
13) The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of what type of boundary?
a) Convergent b) Transform c) Divergent
d) Sea-floor spreading
14) What landform is normally created where two continental plates collide?
a) Mountains b) Trenches
c) Tsunamis
d) Rifts
15) In transform boundaries, the plates can become “stuck.” What happens when the plates become
“unstuck?”
a) Volcanoes erupt
b) Earthquakes
c) Mountains form
d) Rift valleys form
16) What type of boundary occurs at X, and what is created at this boundary?
a) Transform boundary, and earthquakes are created.
b) Convergent boundary, and mountains are created.
c) Tectonic boundary, and trenches are created.
d) Divergent boundary, and sea-floor spreading is created.
17) Which scale would most likely be used to tell how much earthquake damage was done to homes and other
buildings?
a. the Richter Scale
b. the moment magnitude scale
c. the Mercalli scale
d. the seismic scale
18) Which scale would most likely be used to estimate the amount of energy released during an earthquake?
a. the Rigid Scale
b. the moment magnitude scale
c. the Mercalli scale
d. the seismic scale
19) During an earthquake, why do S and P waves arrive at a detection point at different times?
a. The start from different points.
c. They expand and compress as they move
b. The travel at different speeds
d. They travel through different layers of rock.
20) How are volcanoes formed?
a) Molten rock beneath the earth, called magma, makes its way to earth’s surface forming a volcano.
b) Two tectonic plates slip past each other, causing heat and pressure that form a volcano.
c) Weathering and erosion carve out mountains with vents, then lava from beneath the earth comes out.
d) Molten rock beneath the earth, called lava, releases energy and eruptions forming a volcano.
KEY: CHANGES TO EARTH STUDY GUIDE
1) Which of the following is evidence that an area was once covered by a glacier?
a. U-shaped valley
b. Alluvial fan
c. Sedimentary deposits
d. V-shaped valley
2) Which does not cause weathering?
a. water
b. wind
c. ice
d. sunlight
3) How are weathering and erosion different?
a. Weathering is a constructive force, and erosion is destructive.
b. Weathering is a destructive force, and erosion is constructive.
c. Weathering turns rocks into sediment, and erosion moves sediment.
d. Weathering is caused by wind and water, and erosion is caused by weathering.
4) First, wind picks up sand. Then, the sand is blown against a cliff and breaks in half. Finally, the wind slows and
the sand falls to the ground. The sand was
a. first eroded, then weathered, and finally deposited.
b. first eroded, then deposited, and finally weathered.
c. first deposited, then eroded, and finally weathered.
d. first weathered, then eroded, and finally deposited.
5) Which of these is an example of erosion?
a. light shining onto a mountain
c. wind blowing away sediment
b. rain breaking down rock
d. all of the above
6) Which destructive force would create v-shaped valley or canyon?
a. Erosion
b. Weathering
c. Deposition
d. Glaciers
7) Where are Earth’s plates located?
a)
b)
c)
d)
In the oceans where convection occurs
In the asthenosphere
In the Lithosphere
In the 7 continents
8) What allows the large, stiff plates of the lithosphere to move?
a) plates that slide past one another
c) the mantle’s ability to flow
b) rivers of water underneath the crust
d) the activity of earthquakes and volcanoes.
9) What is happening to form the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Ridge?
a) One plate is sliding beneath another plate.
b) Two plates are colliding, and the mountains are being pushed upward.
c) Two plates are moving apart, and new rock forms where magma comes to the surface.
d) Sediment that wore off rocks on continents is piling up in the middle of the ocean.
10) What is sea-floor spreading, and what type of plate movement causes this process to happen?
a) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming new crust along a mid-ocean ridge, caused by a divergent
plate movement.
b) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming mountains, caused by a convergent plate movement.
c) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming volcanic islands, caused by a convergent plate movement.
d) Sea floor spreading is the process of forming new crust, caused by a transform plate movement.
11) Subduction occurs when one plate gets pulled underneath another plate, forming mountains or volcanoes.
Along which type of boundary does subduction occur?
a) Convergent b) Transform c) Divergent
d) Sea-floor spreading
12) What type of boundary creates new oceanic crust?
a) Convergent b) Transform c) Divergent
d) Sea-floor spreading
13) The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of what type of boundary?
a) Convergent b) Transform c) Divergent
d) Sea-floor spreading
14) What landform is normally created where two continental plates collide?
a) Mountains b) Trenches
c) Tsunamis
d) Rifts
15) In transform boundaries, the plates can become “stuck.” What happens when the plates become
“unstuck?”
a) Volcanoes erupt
b) Earthquakes
c) Mountains form
d) Rift valleys form
16) What type of boundary occurs at X, and what is created at this boundary?
a) Transform boundary, and earthquakes are created.
b) Convergent boundary, and mountains are created.
c) Tectonic boundary, and trenches are created.
d) Divergent boundary, and sea-floor spreading is created.
17) Which scale would most likely be used to tell how much earthquake damage was done to homes and other
buildings?
a. the Richter Scale
b. the moment magnitude scale
c. the Mercalli scale
d. the seismic scale
18) Which scale would most likely be used to estimate the amount of energy released during an earthquake?
a. the Rigid Scale
b. the moment magnitude scale
c. the Mercalli scale
d. the seismic scale
19) During an earthquake, why do S and P waves arrive at a detection point at different times?
a. The start from different points.
c. They expand and compress as they move
b. The travel at different speeds
d. They travel through different layers of rock.
20) How are volcanoes formed?
a) Molten rock beneath the earth, called magma, makes its way to earth’s surface forming a volcano.
b) Two tectonic plates slip past each other, causing heat and pressure that form a volcano.
c) Weathering and erosion carve out mountains with vents, then lava from beneath the earth comes out.
d) Molten rock beneath the earth, called lava, releases energy and eruptions forming a volcano.