Plate Tectonics Review
1. Describe the theory of continental drift.
2. What evidence is there for the theory of continental drift?
3. Describe in words and with a sketch each of the types of plate boundaries.
4. What are the results on Earth at each plate boundary?
5. Describe a fault and each type.
6. How do faults and boundaries differ?
7. Describe each layer of earth. (Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Outer core, Inner Core)
8. What causes movement of plates on earth?
9. Describe subduction.
10.
What is the Ring of Fire?
11.
Describe the theory of plate tectonics. What evidence is there to support plate
tectonics.
12.
How do convection currents and plate tectonics relate?
Answers
1. Continental Drift states that Earth had one landmass that broke apart and then drifted
away from one another.
2. The evidence is seafloor spreading, fossil records on different planets, and the yway
continents seem to fit together.
3. Convergent- Two plates that are coming together
Divergent- Two plates that are moving away from each other
Transform- Two plates that slide past one another
4. Convergent produces mountains, earthquakes, and some volcanoes.
Divergent- Seafloor spreading and volcanoes
Transform- a large number of earthquakes
5. A fault is a break in the Earth’s crust. Three types- Normal, Reverse, Strike-slip
6. Faults are breaks in the crust that occur in the middle of a plate. Boundaries are
where two plates meet
7. Lithosphere is the crust and the rigid upper portion of the mantle. Asthenosphere is
the plastic like layer of the mantle. Outer core is the heaviest materials on Earth in a
liquid state. Inner core is the heaviest materials on Earth in a solid state.
8. Three causes for plate movement- Slab pull, Ridge push, and convection currents
9. Subduction is when an oceanic plate and continental plate meet and the oceanic
plate dives beneath the continental plate.
10.
The ring of fire is an area that borders the Pacific plate that has a large amount
of seismic activity such as Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
11.
The theory of plate tectonics states that the lithosphere is broken into pieces that
moves along the top of the asthenosphere.
12.
Magma inside the Earth heats and rises then cools and sinks over and over
creating a convection current. This convection current creates a churning motion that
moves the plates along the asthenosphere.