Exam 1: Introducing Geology, the Essentials of Plate Tectonics, and Other Important Concepts

A transform plate boundary occurs where two plates converge.

With the cementation of loose particles sediment becomes ______.

The mantle is the most voluminous of Earth's three major concentric zones.

Where a subducting plate slides beneath the lithosphere, melting takes place and a(n) ____ is created.

_______ are geological forces generated inside the Earth.

Convergent boundaries, due to their geometry, are the sites of the largest earthquakes on Earth.

The best geologic data currently available indicates that Earth is approximately ___ years old.

Which of the following lifeforms appeared first in the geologic record?

Rocks formed at high temperatures and under high pressure deep within the Earth and pushed upward by tectonic force are stable in their new environment.

Among other things, geologists are employed as __.

___ refer(s) to the scientific study of Earth.

Earth's lithosphere is made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and crust.

The ____ is soft and therefore flows more readily than the underlying mantle.

A ___ is a hot, turbulent mixture of expanding gases and volcanic ash that flows rapidly down the side of a volcano.

Most deaths associated with volcanic eruptions are due to burns of lava flows.

Most convergent plate boundaries coincide with the crests of submarine mountain ranges called mid-oceanic ridges.

Fossil evidence indicates that dinosaurs became extinct approximately ___ years ago.

Plate tectonics regards the lithosphere as divided into segments (plates) that are in horizontal motion.

The concept of plate tectonics regards the earth's ___ as broken into a number of ___ that are in motion relative to each other.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, and tsunamis are all examples of: