Exam 2: Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory

The temperature at which iron-bearing minerals gain their magnetic property is the ____________________.

Hot spots move with continental plates.

Which group of fossils is considered evidence for the former existence of Gondwana?

There is a divergent plate boundary within the region of east Africa.

Geologists have an excellent understanding of plate movements since before Pangaea came together.

How does fossil evidence support continental drift?

A transform plate boundary may connect ____.

What evidence is there that ocean basins are young and old oceanic crust must be destroyed?

What were the major lines of evidence for continental drift as presented by Wegener in the early 20ᵗʰ century?

Earth's lithosphere is divided into seven major plates and numerous smaller ones.

Briefly explain how magnetic reversals in oceanic crust and fossils in ocean sediments are used to construct a magnetic time scale.

Paleomagnetism is the study of the ____________________ magnetism in rocks.

Who proposed the idea of seafloor spreading?

How does seafloor spreading explain the movement of the continents?

In what ways does plate tectonics theory have economic applications?

Features associated with ancient continental rift zones include andesite volcanoes and strike slip faulting.

The Emperor Seamount-Hawaiian Island chain

Plate tectonics have affected biological evolution by ____.

Briefly describe what happens when divergent plate boundaries form within a continent.

The three kinds of boundaries there can be between adjacent plates are ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.