Plate Tectonics DQ 2014-2015
Name: __________________________________
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1. Convection currents, which may be the driving force for the movement of lithospheric plates, are
mostly found in Earth’s
A. crust
B. outer core
C. plastic mantle
D. inner core
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Alfred Wegner’s Theory of Continental Drift was not well accepted because he couldn’t say what
force could be big enough to move continents. Current theories explain this movement with---A. subduction zones at continental margins.
B. hot spots forming under continents.
C. magnetic reversals of the north and south poles.
D. convection currents in the mantle.
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. Which provides the best evidence for the theory that faults and volcanoes are results of tectonic
plate interactions?
A. Faults on tectonic plates are in constant motion, but volcanoes may not erupt for many years.
B. Faults and volcanoes existed long before there were tectonic plates.
C. Tectonic plates that have many faults do not usually have volcanoes.
D. Faults and volcanoes are often found at tectonic plate boundaries.
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Identical rock types, identical fossils, and very similar mountain ranges are found on different
continents that are separated by a wide ocean. Which of these best explains these observations?
A. Organisms traveled between these continents on land bridges.
B. The same forces erode mountains in different locations.
C. These continents were joined together at one time in the past.
D. Some rock types are very common and are found everywhere.
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
5. The folding and faulting found in the rocks of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia were created
by —
A. collisions of continental plates
B. wave action of prehistoric ocean
C. the Coriolis effect
D. heating and cooling of the prehistoric atmosphere
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
6. The youngest rocks on the ocean floor are typically located near what feature?
A. a mid-ocean ridge
B. a continental shelf
C. an abyssal plain
D. a subduction trench
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Plate Tectonics DQ 2014-2015
Name: __________________________________
7. A rift valley is evidence of which kind of plate boundary?
A. convergent
B. divergent
C. transform
D. uniform
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
8. The convergence of two continental plates would produce--A. island arcs. B. rift valleys. C. folded mountains. D. trenches.
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
9. Seafloor spreading provides evidence of which of the following Earth processes?
A. erosion of coastlines
B. weathering of mountains
C. movement of crustal plates
D. formation of sedimentary rocks
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
10. Earthquake vibrations are detected, measured, and recorded by instruments called--A. sonargraphs.
B. seismographs.
C. Richter scales.
D. magnetometers.
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
11. The Richter scale measures which of the following earthquake characteristics?
A intensity
B magnitude
C frequency
D probability
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
12. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions most often occur--A. near plate boundaries
B. on large pieces of land
C. in large bodies of water
D. in regions near the equator
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
13. Which of the following is most responsible for the formation of new crust at the edge of a
tectonic plate?
A. mountain building at a continent-continent convergent boundary
B. magma rising up from the mantle at a divergent boundary
C. two tectonic plates sliding past one another at a transform boundary
D. subduction of one oceanic plate under another at a convergent boundary
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
14. As Ann stood at the top of a mountain, she wondered about the time involved in forming a
mountain. Which of the following processes takes approximately the same amount of time as
mountain formation?
A. rising and falling of tides
B. cycling of nutrients in nature
C. creating a new mid-ocean ridge D. gathering of clouds for a thunderstorm
Justification--____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
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