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Catastrophic Events Study Guide - Plate Tectonics
1.
Draw a diagram and label the layers of the earth.
2.
a. Which layer of the earth is the thickest?
b. Which layer of the earth is the thinnest?
3.
What are the 3 types of rocks, how do they form, and give an example of each one:
Rock Type
How it forms
Example
4.
Which type of rock is made from cooled magma?
5.
Which type of rock is made from cooled lava?
6.
Hawaii is made from a rock called basalt. What type of rock is basalt?
7.
Vibrations in the earth caused by the sudden release of energy, usually as a result of the movement of rocks along a fault is
known as a(n):
8.
A person that studies earthquakes is called a(n):
9.
a. Which type of seismic wave reaches the epicenter first?
b. Describe the motion of this type of wave.
10. a. Which type of seismic wave reaches the epicenter second?
b. Describe the motion of this type of wave.
11. Explain the difference between the epicenter and the focus.
12. The area where the Juan de Fuca Plate slides below the North American Plate is known as the:
13. In general, where do most volcanoes and earthquakes occur throughout the world? \
14. What is the Ring of Fire?
15. The earth's surface is made of which two different types of crusts?
16. When an oceanic plate slides below a continental plate, the oceanic plate bends downward because it is more
_____________________________. This is called ________________________________, and it creates a
_______________________________ at the edge of the plate boundary.
17. Sea-floor Spreading occurs at a _____________________________ plate boundary and creates a
_______________________________________________ on the bottom of the ocean.
18. Name 3 of the main tectonic plates.
19. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is a divergent plate boundary. This line that goes from north of Iceland to the
Antarctic is known as the ___________________________________________________.
20. What process drives plate tectonics below the earth's surface?
21. What is the name of the plate boundary where two plates are moving apart from each other?
22. What is the name of the plate boundary where two plates are colliding and pushing against each other?
23. What is the name of the plate boundary where two plates are moving side by side?
24. a. Who is known as the “Father of Plate Tectonics?”
b. Name 2 pieces of evidence he had to support his continental drift theory:
25. Explain why scientists need three points of data from seismographs in order to locate the epicenter of an earthquake.
26. Weathering and erosion cause ____________________________ to flow down rivers and settle on the bottom of the ocean
floor in a process called _________________________________. Over time, the processes of
____________________________ and ______________________________ cause sedimentary rocks to form from the
sediments.
27. ______________________________ and __________________________ are required to turn one type of rock into
metamorphic rock.