Name _____________________
Date __________
Chapter 1 Review – Plate Tectonics
Multiple Choice
1. The Layer of the upper mantle that can flow is the
a. Asthenosphere
b. Lithosphere
c. Inner core
d. Continental crust
2. Most scientists rejected Wegener’s thoery of continental drift because the theory failed
to explain
a. Coal deposits in Antarctica
b. Formation of mountains
c. Climate changes
d. How the continents move
3. Subduction of the ocean floor takes place at
a. The lower mantle
b. Mid-ocean ridges
c. Rift Valleys
d. Trenches
4. The process that powers plate tectonics is
a. Radiation
b. Convection
c. Conduction
d. Subduction
5. Two plates collide with each other at
a. A divergent boundary
b. A Convergent boundary
c. The boundary between the mantle and the crust
d. A transform boundary
True or False- If it is false, change the underlined word
6. The Earth’s outer core is made of basalt and granite.
7. The spinning of the asthenosphere, made of iron and nickel, explains why Earth has a
magnetic field.
8. Convection Currents form because of differences of temperatures and density in a fluid.
9. Magnetic Stripes on the ocean floor are places where oceanic crust sinks back to the
mantle.
Name _____________________
Date __________
10. When two continental plates converge, a rift valley forms.
Short Answer
11. How is the inner core different from the outer core?
12. Why are there convection currents in the mantle? Explain.
13. What evidence of Earth’s climate in the past supports the theory of continental drift?
14. What was the importance of the discovery that molten rock was coming out of cracks
along the mid-ocean range?
15. How do magnetic stripes form on the ocean floor? Why are these stripes significant?
16. What happens when a plate of oceanic crust collides with a plate of continental crust?
Why?
17. Refer to the diagram on page 50 and fill in the blanks needed.
a.
b.
Name _____________________
Date __________
Refer to the map on page 51 to answer the next three questions.
18. Look at the arrows showing the direction of plate motion. In what direction is the part of
the plate carrying Australia moving? In what direction is the part carrying India moving?
19. As India and Australia move in different directions, what type of plate boundary will
form between them?
20. On the map you can see that the northern part of the Indo-Australian plate is moving
north and colliding with the Eurasian plate. What features would occur where these
plates meet? Explain.
Name _____________________
Date __________
Thinking Critically
21. Classify these layers of Earth’s crust as liquid, solid, or solid but able to flow slowly:
crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere, outer core, inner core.
22. How are oceanic and continental crust alike? How do they differ?
23. What do many geologists think is the driving force of plate tectonics? Explain.
24. State in one sentence the most significant discovery that geologists established through
their study of plate tectonics.