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Plate Tectonics Final Exam Study Guide



Answer at least 15 points of questions.  You may answer up to a total of 20 points worth of questions.

Multiple Choice

Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 

 1. 

Holes drilled several kilometers into Earth’s crust provide direct evidence about Earth’s interior in the form of
a.
seismic waves.
b.
rock samples.
c.
liquid iron.
d.
volcanic eruption.
 

 2. 

Geologists obtain indirect evidence about Earth’s interior by
a.
measuring pressure differences at Earth’s surface.
b.
estimating temperature inside earth.
c.
directly looking under the many layers.
d.
recording and studying seismic waves.
 

 3. 

What is the correct order (starting from the surface) of Earth’s layers?
a.
crust, outer core, inner core, mantle
b.
mantle, outer core, inner core, crust
c.
crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
d.
outer core, inner core, crust, mantle
 

 4. 

Earth’s inner core is
a.
a dense ball of solid metal.
b.
a layer of molten metal.
c.
a layer of hot rock.
d.
a layer of rock that forms Earth’s outer skin.
 

 5. 

When you touch a hot pot or pan, energy moves from the pot to your hand. This is called
a.
magnetic energy.
b.
indirect evidence.
c.
subduction.
d.
heat transfer.
 

 6. 

The transfer of energy through empty space is called
a.
conduction.
b.
convection.
c.
radiation.
d.
subduction.
 

 7. 

Heat transfer within a fluid takes place by
a.
convection currents.
b.
radiation.
c.
conduction.
d.
density.
 

 8. 

When the heat source is removed from a fluid, convection currents in the fluid will
a.
speed up.
b.
change direction.
c.
eventually stop.
d.
continue at the same rate forever.
 

 9. 

According to Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift,
a.
Earth’s surface is made up of seven major landmasses.
b.
the continents do not move.
c.
Earth is slowly cooling and shrinking.
d.
the continents were once joined together in a single landmass.
 

 10. 

What is Pangaea?
a.
the name of a German scientist
b.
the name of the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago
c.
another name for continental drift
d.
the name of an ancient fossil
 

 11. 

Which type of evidence was NOT used by Alfred Wegener to support his continental drift hypothesis?
a.
evidence from landforms
b.
evidence from fossils
c.
evidence from human remains
d.
evidence from climate
 

 12. 

Most geologists rejected Alfred Wegener’s idea of continental drift because
a.
they were afraid of a new idea.
b.
Wegener was interested in what Earth was like millions of years ago.
c.
Wegener used several different types of evidence to support his hypothesis.
d.
Wegener could not identify a force that could move the continents.
 

 13. 

In sea-floor spreading, molten material rises from the mantle and erupts
a.
along the edges of all the continents.
b.
along mid-ocean ridges.
c.
in deep-ocean trenches.
d.
at the north and south poles.
 

 14. 

The process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle is known as
a.
convection.
b.
continental drift.
c.
subduction.
d.
conduction.
 

 15. 

Most geologists think that the movement of Earth’s plates is caused by
a.
conduction.
b.
earthquakes.
c.
convection currents in the mantle.
d.
Earth’s magnetic field.
 

 16. 

The geological theory that states that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant, slow motion is the theory of
a.
subduction.
b.
plate tectonics.
c.
deep-ocean trenches.
d.
sea-floor spreading.
 

 17. 

A place where two plates slip past each other, moving in opposite directions, is known as a
a.
transform boundary.
b.
divergent boundary.
c.
convergent boundary.
d.
rift valley.
 

 18. 

Earth’s mantle is
a.
a layer of molten metal.
b.
a layer of hot rock.
c.
a dense ball of solid metal.
d.
a layer of rock that forms Earth’s outer skin.
 

 19. 

Scientists think that convection currents flow in Earth’s
a.
continents.
b.
mantle.
c.
lithosphere.
d.
inner core.
 

 20. 

A collision between two pieces of continental crust at a converging boundary produces a
a.
mid-ocean ridge.
b.
deep-ocean trench.
c.
rift valley.
d.
mountain range.
 

 21. 

The place where two plates come together is known as a
a.
transform boundary.
b.
divergent boundary.
c.
convergent boundary.
d.
rift valley.
 



 
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