Quiz 19: Plate Tectonics
Geology/Geography/Oceanography/Atmospheric Sciences
Q 1Q 1
Pangea initially separated into two parts, a northern supercontinent, and a southern supercontinent.
Free
True False
True
Q 2Q 2
Continental drift is the hypothesis that the sea floor forms at the crest of the mid-oceanic ridge, then moves horizontally away from the ridge crest.
Free
True False
False
Q 3Q 3
Wegener's theory of continental drift proposed that the continents plowed through oceanic crust.
Free
True False
True
Free
True False
Free
True False
Free
True False
Q 7Q 7
The asthenosphere is a mantle zone of low seismic wave velocity that behaves in a ductile manner.
Free
True False
Q 8Q 8
As a descending plate reaches depths of about 100 km, magma is generated in the overlying asthenosphere.
Free
True False
Q 9Q 9
The portion of a fracture zone between two offset portions of a ridge crest is called a transform fault.
Free
True False
Free
True False
Free
True False
Q 12Q 12
Magma that is created by ocean-continent convergence forms either island arcs or belts of igneous activity on the edges of continents.
Free
True False
Q 13Q 13
Recent studies using seismic tomography indicates that whole mantle convection is the best model.
Free
True False
Free
True False
Q 15Q 15
Young mountain belts, with their associated igneous intrusions, metamorphism, and fold-thrust belts, form at convergent boundaries.
Free
True False
Free
True False
Free
True False
Free
True False
Q 19Q 19
The downward plunge of cold lithosphere accounts for the existence of oceanic trenches as well as their low heat flow.
Free
True False
Q 20Q 20
Wegener reassembled the modern continents to form the giant super continent of Gondwanaland.
Free
True False
Q 21Q 21
In plate tectonics, intense geologic activity occurs at ____.
A) plate boundaries
B) ocean floor
C) continental interiors
D) along coastlines
E) along mountain ranges
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 22Q 22
____ is the idea that continents move freely over Earth's surface, changing their positions relative to one another.
A) Plate tectonics
B) Sea floor spreading
C) Continental drift
D) Continental collisions
E) Plate spreading
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 23Q 23
In this hypothesis the two sides of the mid-oceanic ridge are moving in opposite directions like slow conveyor belts.
A) plate tectonics
B) sea floor spreading
C) continental drift
D) continental collisions
E) plate spreading
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 24Q 24
A _____ plate boundary is where plates are moving away from each other.
A) convergent
B) shear
C) transform
D) divergent
E) transverse
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 25Q 25
The portion of a fracture zone between two offset portions of ridge crest is called a ____.
A) normal fault
B) strike-slip fault
C) convergence zone
D) Benioff zone
E) transform fault
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 26Q 26
During extension in divergent plate boundaries a rift valley forms as a central ____.
A) horst
B) strike-slip fault
C) graben
D) mountain range
E) subduction zone
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 27Q 27
These plate boundaries are marked by shallow-focus earthquakes in a narrow zone for a single fault or in a broad zone for a group of parallel faults.
A) divergent
B) transform
C) ocean-continent convergence
D) subduction
E) ocean-ocean convergence
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 28Q 28
This type of plate boundary the two plates can consist of ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, or continent-continent crust.
A) divergent
B) strike-slip
C) convergent
D) transform
E) transverse
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 29Q 29
The inner wall of a trench consists of a(n) _____ of thrust-faulted and folded marine sediment and pieces of oceanic crust.
A) accretionary wedge
B) subduction wedge
C) large amount of sea
D) active volcano consisting
E) a gap
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 30Q 30
____ volcanoes can be found along subducting plate boundaries.
A) Shield
B) Cinder cone
C) Andesitic
D) Basaltic
E) Pegmatitic
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 31Q 31
Hess's original hypothesis was that sea-floor spreading is driven by deep mantle ____.
A) contraction
B) spreading centers
C) convergent boundaries
D) transform faults
E) convection
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 32Q 32
Harry Hess proposed that the _______.
A) sea floor moves
B) continents drift
C) magnetic field reverses
D) magnetic poles wander
E) the core is liquid
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 33Q 33
Wegener reassembled the continents to form the super continent _____.
A) Asia
B) Pangea
C) Laurasia
D) Gondwanaland
E) Madagascar
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 34Q 34
One possible mechanism for plate tectonic drive is ____.
A) meteor impacts
B) earthquake energy
C) slab pull
D) gravity sliding
E) Benioff drive
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 35Q 35
Sea-floor spreading implies that sea-floor rocks should be ______________.
A) the same age throughout
B) youngest on the crest of mid-ocean ridges
C) younger as water become colder
D) younger toward the trench
E) youngest on the continental shelf
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 36Q 36
Measured rates of sea-floor spreading range from ______ cm/year.
A) 0.1 to 1
B) 100 to 1000
C) 1000 to 10,000
D) 1 to 24
E) 0.01 to 0.1
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 37Q 37
Marine geologists can predict the age of igneous rocks of the sea floor by measuring _____.
A) the percent of iron-rich minerals in the rock
B) their grain size
C) the velocity of earthquake waves
D) their density
E) magnetic anomalies
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 38Q 38
The downward plunge of cold rock at convergent boundaries accounts for the existence of _____.
A) continental shelves
B) submarine hot springs
C) oceanic trenches
D) the Earth's core
E) the abyssal plains
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 39Q 39
The Rift Valley in East Africa is an example of a _____.
A) diverging plate boundary
B) converging plate boundary
C) transform plate boundary
D) back arc spreading center
E) continental rise
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 40Q 40
One kind of convergent plate boundary is ____.
A) rift valley convergence
B) continent-continent convergence
C) transform convergence
D) subduction zone convergence
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 41Q 41
The ___ includes rocks of the crust and uppermost mantle.
A) true ocean basin
B) asthenosphere
C) lithosphere
D) ophiolites
E) Moho
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 42Q 42
In the early 1900s the German meteorologist _____ made a strong case for continental drift.
A) Charles Plummer
B) George Bush
C) Ben Franklin
D) Alfred Wegener
E) Diane Carlson
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 43Q 43
The Himalayan Mountains are thought to have formed ____.
A) by continent-ocean convergence
B) by ocean-ocean convergence
C) by continent-continent convergence
D) at a spreading center
E) at a transform fault
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 44Q 44
Plumes form ______ that are related to areas of active volcanism such as Iceland, Yellowstone and Hawaii.
A) converging plate boundaries
B) trenches
C) aseismic ridges
D) failed rifts
E) hot spots
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 45Q 45
The head of large plumes that form "hot spots" may cause uplift and ____.
A) andesitic volcanoes
B) transform faults
C) vast fields of flood basalt
D) spreading centers
E) subduction zones
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 46Q 46
The isotopic ages of Hawaiian Island basalts increase regularly to the ____.
A) northwest
B) east
C) north
D) south
E) northeast
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 47Q 47
A divergent boundary on the sea floor is associated with ______.
A) submarine trenches
B) mid-oceanic ridges
C) transform faults
D) aseismic ridges
E) guyots
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 48Q 48
The San Andreas Fault is _________ in California.
A) a normal fault
B) an oblique fault
C) a transform fault
D) a thrust fault
E) a reverse fault
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 49Q 49
_______ proposed an explanation for magnetic anomalies.
A) Charles Plummer
B) Harry Hess
C) Alfred Wegener
D) Vine and Matthews
E) Diane Carlson
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 50Q 50
The most common type of transform faults offset oceanic ____.
A) abyssal plains
B) microcontinents
C) continental shelves
D) trenches
E) ridge crests
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 51Q 51
Divergent plate boundaries can occur where spreading occurs under a continent, for example ___.
A) the Red Sea
B) the Himalayan Mountains
C) the Alps
D) the Gulf of Mexico
E) the Mediterranean Sea
Free
Multiple Choice
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 53Q 53
The Peru-Chile trench is moving over the ________ Plate as South America moves west.
A) North American
B) Australian
C) Nazca
D) South American
E) Antarctic
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 54Q 54
Magma heated by ocean-continent convergence may form a(n) _____ such as the Aleutian Islands.
A) mantle diapir
B) convection uplift
C) abyssal plain
D) magmatic arc
E) hot spot
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 55Q 55
The apparent movement of the magnetic poles through geologic time is called _____.
A) mantle plume motion
B) polar drift
C) sea-floor spreading
D) continental drift
E) polar wandering
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 56Q 56
Evidence in support of continental drift includes ____.
A) glacial striation patterns
B) fossil distribution on different continents
C) fit of continental margins
D) matching of geologic patterns on continents
E) all of the choices are correct
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 57Q 57
Young mountain belts with their associated igneous intrusions, metamorphism, and fold-thrust belts form at _______.
A) divergent boundaries
B) continental rifts
C) transform fault boundaries
D) convergent boundaries
E) hot spots
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 58Q 58
Pangea initially separated into two parts, the southern part is called ____.
A) Rodinia
B) Laurasia
C) Panthallasia
D) Gondwanaland
E) Atlantis
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 59Q 59
Alternating positive and negative polarity magnetic anomalies in the crust form a stripe-like pattern parallel to _____.
A) lines of longitude
B) the equator
C) continental margins
D) aseismic ridges
E) mid-oceanic ridges
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 60Q 60
The basic idea of ______ is that the Earth's surface is divided into a few large plates that move slowly relative to one another.
A) continental drift
B) sea floor spreading
C) mantle plumes
D) plate tectonics
E) isostasy
Free
Multiple Choice