Exam 3: Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics

Convection occurs when heat rises which changes the density of a fluid or semisolid substance.

What is considered to be the densest type of crust?

Despite the various attempts of land and ocean drilling, there has been no success in reaching the interior of the Earth.

Mountains are supported by the mechanical strength present in the asthenosphere due to the presence of heavy elements such as iron and magnesium.

What features did Dr. Ballard not encounter during his National Geographic exploration to the mid-ocean ridge?

What type of wave causes the most damage to property during an earthquake?

Since the Earth has density stratified layers, which layer would be the densest?

What was Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift? What evidence did he have to support his theory? Why was his theory originally rejected?

What process involves the radiation of internal heat to the surface?

Radiometric dating was used to age the ocean floor which was found to be older than the land at the center of continents.

How much lithosphere is submerged into the asthenosphere?

What prevents the subduction of terranes?

Density is defined as:

Who determined that S waves were unable to survive deep passage through the Earth's interior?

Who was responsible for the theory of continental drift?

What specifically describes the balance between the lithosphere floating atop the asthenosphere?

The sustained heat within the Earth's interior is attributed to:

Primary waves travel ____ as fast as secondary waves.

What characteristic is associated with convergent plate boundaries?

What substance was able to show previous orientations of Earth's magnetic field?