PLATE TECTONICS STUDY GUIDE
Name _________________________
Date ______________ Per ________
1.
WHAT ARE 2 PIECES OF EVIDENCE FOR CONTINENTAL DRIFT?
Fossils, rock types, puzzle, ancient climates
2. WHO WAS ALFRED WEGENER?
Person who proposed Pangaea and Continental Drift
3. WHAT IS THE NAME FOR THE SUPERCONTINENT?
Pangaea
4. WHY WAS THIS HYPOTHESIS REJECTED?
Couldn’t explain a force to move the plates
5. WHAT IS THE THEORY PLATE TECTONICS?
That the lithosphere is divided into plates and these plates move on the asthenosphere
6. WHERE DO EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES MOST OFTEN OCCUR IN RELATIONSHIP TO
PLATE TECTONICS?
Along plate boundaries
7. WHAT LAYER OF THE EARTH IS DIVIDED INTO PLATES?
Lithosphere (crust and portion of upper mantle)
8. WHAT IS THE THINNEST LAYER OF THE EARTH?
crust
9. WHAT IS THE ASTHENOSPHERE?
Portion of mantle that is fluid enough for the plates to float on
10. WHAT HAPPENS AT A SUBDUCTION ZONE?
More dense plate sinks below a less dense plate
11. WHAT IS A RIFT VALLEY? AT WHAT TYPE OF BOUNDARY WILL THIS OCCUR?
Middle of mid-ocean ridge where plates are spreading apart; divergent boundary
12. WHICH BOUNDARY CREATES EARTHQUAKES?
transform
13. WHAT FORMS ON THE OVERRIDING PLATE AT A SUBDUCTION ZONE?
volcanoes
14. WHERE THE 2 PLATES MEET AT AN OCEANIC-OCEANIC OR OCEANIC-CONTINENTAL
BOUNDARY, WHAT FEATURE IS CREATED?
Volcanoes and trench
15. WHICH PLATE SUBDUCTS WHEN 2 OCEANIC PLATES CONVERGE?
More dense
16. AT A DIVERGENT BOUNDARY, WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROCKS FURTHEST
FROM THE MID-OCEAN RIDGE?
Colder, older and denser
17. IDENTIFY THE MOTIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING BOUNDARIES:
a.
CONVERGENT 
b. DIVERGENT 
c.
TRANSFORM
18. WHY DOES MAGMA RISE TO THE SURFACE?
Less dense than surrounding material
19. WHAT ARE 3 THINGS THAT ARE FORMED AT A DIVERGENT BOUNDARY?
Mid-ocean ridge, rift valley, new seafloor
20. NAME 1 MOUNTAIN CHAIN THAT FORMED BY CONTINENTAL-CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE.
Himalayas, Appalachian, Rockies
21. DESCRIBE THE 3 DIFFERENT EXPLANATIONS FOR THE MOVEMENT OF THE PLATES:
a.
MANTLE CONVECTION- heat from the core rises in the mantle and creates circular
patterns affecting the plates above
22. What is the difference between magma and lava?
Magma is below earth’s surface, lava is above
23. What is pyroclastic flow?
Movement of pyroclastic material (hot ash and rocks) down the side of a volcano
24. Where is the Ring of Fire?
around the Pacific Ocean
25. What are possible damages from earthquakes?
Building damage, fires, liquefaction, tsunami
26. What fault is located in California?
San Andreas
27. What is a tsunami?
Wave generated due to displacement of land underwater
28. What is the great mystery about the location of Yellowstone National Park?
It’s not at a plate boundary
29. What city is known for being buried following an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.?
Pompey
30. Back in 2010, a volcano erupted in Iceland. Why did this volcano make headline news in regards to
Europe?
It stopped air travel in Europe
Use the words in the word bank to fill in the blanks:
Asthenosphere
Convection currents
lithosphere
plates
plate tectonics
convergent boundaries
ocean trenches
31. The Theory of __plate tectonics_ states that the Earth’s crust and upper mantle are broken into
sections.
32. These sections called _plates_ are composed of the crust and a part of the upper mantle.
33. The crust and the upper mantle are called the _lithosphere__.
34. The plastic-like layer upon which the plates float is called the _asthenosphere_.
35. The driving force behind the movement of the Asthenosphere are _convection currents in the mantle.
36. At deep _ocean trenches_ subduction allows part of the ocean floor to sink back down into the
mantle.
Multiple Choice – Choose the best answer to each question.
37 The place where two plates come together or converge is called:
a. divergent boundaries
b. transform boundaries
c. convergent boundaries
d. subduction boundaries
38. The process which occurs during the convergence of two oceanic plates, or an oceaniccontinental plate resulting in old oceanic plate (old sea floor) being recycled back down into the mantle is
called:
a. sea floor spreading
b. convection
c. subduction
d. elimination
39. The result of two oceanic-oceanic plates converging would be:
a. folded mountains
b. rift valley
c. mid-ocean ridge, or sea floor spreading
d. volcanic mountains, volcanic island arcs, deep ocean trenches.
40. Subduction zones occurs at the following type of boundary:
a. convergent boundaries, of oceanic-oceanic, or oceanic-continental plates
b. transform boundaries
c. divergent boundaries
d. convergent continental plates
41. Divergent boundaries between two oceanic plates would most likely create:
a. folded mountains
b. coastal mountain ranges
c. mid-ocean ridge, new sea floor
d. volcanic island arcs
42. Two continental plates converging would create which of the following:
a. volcanic arcs
b. coastal mountain ranges
c. folded mountain ranges
d. mid-ocean ridges
43. Plate boundaries where no new crust is created or destroyed are:
a. transform
b. convergent
c. divergent
d. subduction