Earth’s Movement Test Study Guide-Key
Test: Thursday, December 3, 2015
1. What rock is the continental crust mostly made out of? granite
2. What rock is the oceanic crust mostly made out of? basalt
3. What are convection currents? the circular path of a gas or liquid as it
is heated, it rises, spread out and cools, then sinks back down.
Convection currents are found in the mantle.
4. What is a deep, narrow valley in the ocean floor where subduction
takes place? a trench
5. What is the difference between magma and lava? Magma is found
underground in the mantle; lava is magma that has been erupted onto
Earth’s surface.
6. What is a fault? a break or crack in Earth’s crust where two plates
slide past each other.
7. What is the Theory of Continental drift? The theory that states that
crustal plates are moving up to 3.9 inches each year. Scientists believe
that Pangaea was once was giant supercontinent that was all connected
and due to movements in earth’s crust, the plates have shifted to where
the continents are today.
8. What is a mountain range on the ocean floor called? Mid-ocean ridge
9. What is Pangaea? What evidence helps to support the idea of
Pangaea? Pangaea was one giant supercontinent. The coasts of Africa
and South America look like they fit together like a puzzle. Different
rocks and fossils were found on different continents, which supports the
idea that the continents were once all connected.
10. Where are convection currents found? in the mantle
11. What are the 3 types of volcanoes? Shield, Cinder Cone, Composite
12. Give an example of each type of volcano from above.
Shield: Hawaiian Islands
Cinder Cone: Krakatoa Island
Composite: Mount St. Helens
13. List the 3 plate boundaries. Draw arrows to show which way the
plates move. Tell what feature each plate boundary forms.
Convergent: 
mountains
Divergent: 
volcanoes
Transform: 
earthquakes
14. What causes an earthquake? An earthquake is caused when two
transform plate boundaries try to slide past each other and become stuck.
15. What are the 3 types of waves that are produced during earthquakes?
Which wave is most destructive? Primary (P) waves, Secondary (S)
waves, and Surface (L) Waves. Surface waves are the most destructive
earthquake wave because they move the slowest.
16. What scale is used to measure earthquakes? What do the different
numbers represent? The Richter Scale; earthquakes are measured from
1-10. The numbers represent the strength of the earthquake with 1 being
the lightest and 10 being the strongest.
17. How are volcanoes and earthquakes alike? Most earthquakes occur
along the edges of tectonic plates. Most volcanoes are formed along the
edges of plates.
18. What is the Ring of Fire? major earthquake and volcano zone that
almost forms a circle around the Pacific Ocean.
19. What is subduction? Which crust sinks under the other? the
downward movement of the edge of a plate of earth’s crust going under
another plate into the mantle. The oceanic crust sinks below the
continental crust.
20. What famous fault runs through California? San Andreas Fault
21. Up to how many inches can crustal plates move each year? 0-3.9