Exam 2: Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory

How does fossil evidence support continental drift?

Where divergent plate boundaries form beneath continental masses,low areas known as ____________________ form.

Wegener proposed that the continents were once all together as a supercontinent he named ____________________,which then split into a northern supercontinent called ____________________ and a southern supercontinent called ____________________.

The 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami,the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010 and the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan in 2011 occurred at the same type of plate boundary.

During the Triassic,a number of rift related fault basins formed along the eastern margin of North America.

The subduction of cold,dense oceanic lithosphere into the mantle facilitates teh movement of plates by slab pull.

Which are not associated with a mid-oceanic ridge?

Briefly explain why the movement of continents over geologic time was the best explanation for polar wandering.

The northern supercontinent consisted of:

The heat that drives thermal convection cells comes primarily from ____________________ and is supplemented by ____________________.

Volcanoes are found at these two types of plate boundaries: ____________________ and ____________________.

What type of motion is found at a transform plate boundary? What physical feature marks the boundary between the two plates?

Deviations from the average strength of Earth's present-day magnetic field are called ____________________.

The mechanism for plate movement is:

Briefly explain why there is so much oil in the Persian Gulf region.

What other geological processes could have resulted in the configuration of coastlines so that South America and Africa appeared to fit together?

What is a method by which the present rate of motion between two plates can be measured accurately?

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

What are four of the many things that plate tectonics theory explains or whose explanations it has influenced?

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