What is the main theory behind plate tectonics?
Earth's outer layer is divided into large, moving pieces.
The Earth’s crust is completely solid and does not change.
The Earth’s core is made of solid iron only.
Earth's continents are fixed in place.
What is formed when two tectonic plates collide at a convergent boundary?
Mountain ranges or deep ocean trenches
Ocean ridges
Volcanoes
Earthquakes ONLY
The process of one tectonic plate sliding underneath another is known as:
Subduction
Earthquake
Convection
Seafloor spreading
What is the primary force driving the movement of tectonic plates?
The Earth's rotation
Earth's magnetic field
Wind currents
Convection currents in the mantle
Which of the following is an example of a divergent boundary?
The San Andreas Fault
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Mount St. Helens
The Himalayan Mountains
Earthquakes are most commonly associated with which type of plate boundary?
Divergent
Convergent
Transform
All types of plate boundaries cause earthquakes
The Himalayas were formed by the collision of which two tectonic plates?
Pacific and North American
African and South American
Indian and Eurasian
North American and Eurasian
What is the Ring of Fire?
A region where many meteor impacts occur
A belt of volcanic activity in the Arctic
A series of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean
A famous earhquake zone in the Atlantic Ocean
Which of the following is TRUE about the theory of continental drift?
The continents have always been in their current positions.
There was once a supercontinent called Pangaea.
The movement of continents is caused by ocean currents.
Continental drift is unrelated to plate tectonics.
Where are most volcanic eruptions like to occur?
In places where there are no plate movements
At convergent and divergent plate boundaries
In the middle of continents
At transform boundaries
Which of the following is NOT evidence supporting the theory of plate tectonics?
The shape of the continents, which appear to fit together
The distribution of similar fossils across continents
The presence of deep ocean trenches only at mid-ocean ridges
The matching of rock layers on different continents
What happens at a transform boundary?
Plates move towards each other and form mountains.
Plates move away from each other and form new crust.
Plates slide past each other horizontally; earthquakes
Plates move downward into the mantle.
What is seafloor spreading?
When new oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges
The sinking of oceanic plates at subduction zones
The formation of new volcanoes in the ocean
The movement of continents across the ocean floor
Which of the following best describes the Earth's lithosphere?
A region where oceanic plates meet continental plates
The inner core of the Earth
The layer of molten rock beneath the crust
The rigid outer layer, which is broken into tectonic plates
Which major tectonic plate is composed of almost 100% oceanic crust?
Pacific
North American
Eurasian
African
