Deck 3: Plate Tectonics

Question 1

Why does the Tibetan Plateau, shown in this figure, have a high elevation?

A) transform faulting
B) seafloor spreading
C) continental rifting
D) continental collision
E) hot-spot activity

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Some continents continue outward from the shoreline under shallow seawater, forming submerged benches called:

A) continental shelves
B) sea mounts
C) island arcs
D) island chains
E) abyssal plains

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Cracks and steps that cross the seafloor and run at right angles to mid-ocean ridges are called:

A) oceanic fracture zones
B) abyssal plains
C) seamounts

Answer 3

A

Question 4

On this map of the south Atlantic, what is the feature that makes a zigzag pattern on the seafloor?

A) island arc
B) linear island chain
C) subduction zone
D) mid-ocean ridge
E) none of these

Question 5

On this map, identify which letter is over a mid-ocean ridge.

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) feature is not labeled

Question 6

On this southern continent, which side has a plate boundary?

A) the left west) side
B) the right east) side
C) both sides
D) neither side

Question 7

Which of the following features is present on the seafloor off the Pacific Northwest?

A) world's largest oceanic plateau
B) long, fairly straight fracture zone
C) world's largest linear island chain
D) island arc within oceanic plates

Question 8

On this map, identify which letter is over the Atlantic ocean.

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) feature is not labeled

Question 9

On this map, identify which letter is over an island arc.

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) feature is not labeled

Question 10

Curving island chains across the seafloor that are mainly volcanic in origin are called:

A) island acrs
B) sea mounts
C) continental shelves
D) abyssal plains

Question 11

The regions of the ocean characterized by smooth ocean floor are called:

A) abyssal plains
B) seamounts
C) ocean bottoms

Question 12

How did the Red Sea, shown between Arabia and Africa in this figure, form?

A) subduction of Arabia beneath Africa
B) subduction of Africa beneath Arabia
C) a continental collision
D) continental rifting followed by seafloor spreading
E) transform faulting followed by a continental collision

Question 13

The study of the origin and arrangement of the broad structural features of Earth's surface is:

A) tectonics
B) geology
C) structuralism

Question 14

Which of the following features is associated with a deep oceanic trench?

A) mid-ocean ridge
B) linear island chain
C) seamount
D) island arc

Question 15

On this map, identify which letter is over the Pacific Ocean.

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) feature is not labeled

Question 16

Tectonics is the study of:

A) the origin and arrangement of the broad structural features of Earth's surface
B) the type and timing of volcanic eruptions around the Earth
C) the materials and processes that occur at the Earth's surface

Question 17

The main reason why the hypothesis of continental drift was not widely accepted was:

A) The hypothesis required that the entire Earth was once frozen.
B) The hypothesis required long, narrow land bridges that did not exist.
C) There was no mechanism to move continents through the oceanic crust.
D) All of these were reasons the hypothesis was not widely accepted.

Question 18

In this figure of Japan, what do the offshore trenches indicate?

A) continental rifting
B) a rift in a mid-ocean ridge formed by seafloor spreading
C) a rift in a mid-ocean ridge formed by transform faulting
D) subduction of oceanic crust

Question 19

On this map of the south Atlantic, why is the mid-ocean ridge in the center of the ocean?

A) Subduction is consuming seafloor beneath both adjacent continents.
B) Seafloor is added to both sides during seafloor spreading.
C) Subduction has occurred under one and then another of the adjacent continents.
D) Seafloor spreading has stopped in this area.

Question 20

Broad symmetrical ridges that cross ocean basins are called:

A) mid-ocean ridges
B) abyssal plains
C) seamounts
D) island chains

Question 21

Which data were used to develop the hypothesis of continental drift?

A) the shape of the continents
B) the distribution of fossils
C) the distribution of glacial deposits and directions of glacial scratch marks
D) all of these

Question 22

What types of plate boundaries are shown in this figure?

A) divergent
B) convergent
C) transform
D) divergent and transform
E) convergent and divergent

Question 23

At mid-ocean ridges, as two plates diverge:

A) solid mantle in the asthenosphere rises toward the surface and begins to melt due to decompression
B) solid mantle in the asthenosphere rises toward the surface and begins to melt due to the addition of heat
C) liquid mantle in the asthenosphere rises toward the surface

Question 24

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Earthquakes are more widespread than volcanoes or high mountains.
B) High mountains are more widespread than volcanoes or earthquakes.
C) Volcanoes are more widespread than earthquakes or high mountains.

Question 25

This figure depicts what type of boundary?

A) oceanic divergent boundary
B) ocean-ocean convergent boundary
C) ocean-continent convergent boundary
D) transform boundary
E) continental collision

Question 26

Which areas) on this world map is likely to have volcanoes above sea level?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D

Question 27

Which areas) on this world map are likely to be near a plate boundary?

A) A and B
B) A and D
C) B and D
D) C and D
E) A, B, and C only

Question 28

An oceanic transform plate boundary is most likely associated with an):

A) oceanic trench
B) mountain belt or island arc
C) mid-ocean ridge
D) all of these

Question 29

A convergent plate boundary is most likely associated with an):

A) oceanic trench
B) a linear chain of island
C) mid-ocean ridge
D) transform fault
E) none of these

Question 30

The image shows the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a submarine volcanic mountain belt that is a key location in the process of:

A) seafloor spreading
B) land bridges
C) continental drift
D) South Atlantic drift

Question 31

As two oceanic plates diverge at mid-ocean ridges, melting of the rising mantle occurs due to:

A) decompression
B) the addition of heat
C) the addition of water

Question 32

What type of plate boundary is depicted by the smaller arrows in the center of this figure?

A) divergent boundary
B) convergent boundary
C) transform boundary
D) hot spot
E) none of these

Question 33

Harry Hess and Robert Dietz proposed that the oceanic crust in the Atlantic Ocean was spreading apart at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and that this process moved the continents apart from one another. They called this process:

A) seafloor spreading
B) continental drift
C) plate tectonics
D) Gondwana

Question 34

What ideas brought a renewed interest to the idea of continental drift?

A) data that a submarine mountain occurred beneath the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
B) evidence that the entire Earth was once frozen
C) evidence that similar meteorites fall on different continents
D) evidence that a large meteorite caused extinction of the dinosaurs

Question 35

The puzzle-like fit of the continents, similarity of rock types across continents, and glacial evidence all were pieces of evidence supporting Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift. What was another piece of supporting evidence?

A) distribution of similar fossils across multiple continents
B) land bridges were discovered connecting Africa and South America
C) continents were found to have plowed through ocean basins to move into current positions
D) gravitational pull of the Moon was found to be responsible for connecting Pangaea

Question 36

A divergent plate boundary is most likely associated with an):

A) oceanic trench
B) mountain belt or island arc
C) mid-ocean ridge
D) none of these

Question 37

What type of plate boundary is depicted in this figure?

A) continental rift
B) ocean-ocean convergent boundary
C) ocean-continent convergent boundary
D) divergent and transform boundaries
E) continental collision

Question 38

Intense geologic activity occurs at plate:

A) boundaries
B) centers
C) bottoms

Question 39

Which areas) on this world map is likely to have earthquakes?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) A, B, and C only

Question 40

Volcanoes and earthquakes:

A) have many areas of overlap in their distributions on Earth
B) have few areas of overlap in their distributions on Earth
C) have no areas of overlap in their distributions on Earth

Question 41

What is being depicted by this figure?

A) continental collision
B) continent-continent convergence
C) early stages of seafloor spreading
D) early stages of subduction
E) a boundary that is mostly a transform fault

Question 42

The stages associated with continental rifting are, in order from earliest to latest:

A) narrow ocean basin, continental rift, uplift, wide ocean basin
B) narrow ocean basin, wide ocean basin, continental rift, uplift
C) uplift, wide ocean basin, narrow ocean basin, continental rift
D) wide ocean basin, narrow ocean basin, uplift, continental rift
E) uplift, continental rift, narrow ocean basin, wide ocean basin

Question 43

What occurs at mid-ocean ridges?

A) oceanic crust is destroyed
B) continental crust is destroyed
C) oceanic crust is created
D) continental crust is created
E) all crust is destroyed by magma

Question 44

Which of the following contains a modern continental rift?

A) eastern North America
B) eastern Africa
C) eastern Europe
D) eastern Pacific Ocean
E) East Timor

Question 45

Which of the following best represents the sequence by which a continent splits apart?

A) seafloor spreading, then continental rifting, then uplift due to mantle upwelling
B) continental rifting, then seafloor spreading, then uplift due to mantle upwelling
C) uplift due to mantle upwelling, then continental rifting, then seafloor spreading
D) none of these

Question 46

Mid-ocean ridges are higher than surrounding oceanic crust primarily because:

A) two plates are colliding
B) the crust is thicker
C) the crust is stronger
D) transform faulting uplifts the rocks
E) the lithosphere is thinner and hotter

Question 47

The plate boundary on the this figure is located between:

A) A and B
B) B and C
C) C and D
D) D and E
E) there is not enough information to tell

Question 48

Which feature on this figure is formed by bending of the subducted plate?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 49

The main way new oceanic crust is created is by:

A) eruption of lavas and solidification of magmas at depth
B) sediment scraped off a subducting slab
C) continents that subside below sea level
D) continental rifting, before the continents separate
E) magmas along an ocean-continent convergent boundary

Question 50

Mid-ocean ridges form where two ocean plates:

A) collide
B) diverge
C) subduct
D) slide past each other
E) are destroyed

Question 51

Which feature on this figure is formed by bending of the subducted plate?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 52

Which of the following does NOT describe continental rifting?

A) if rifting continues the continent will remain intact
B) occurs on a continent
C) includes a broad uplift of the land surface as magma ascends

Question 53

A divergent boundary can form within a continent. If it does it is called a:

A) continental rift
B) plate tectonics
C) mid-continent ridge
D) continental edge
E) continental shelf

Question 54

Which way are the plates moving in this figure?

A) away from each other
B) directly toward each other
C) toward each other at an angle
D) horizontally sliding by one another
E) there is no way to tell

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a mid-ocean divergent boundary?

A) As the plates move apart, solid lithosphere move upward into the asthenosphere.
B) Submarine lava flows form new ocean crust.
C) Mid-ocean ridges are elevated above the surrounding seafloor.
D) A rift runs along the axis of mid-ocean ridges because of movement as the plates diverge from each other.

Question 56

Mid-ocean ridges are elevated above the seafloor. The elevation of the seafloor:

A) decreases away from the mid-ocean ridge because of the cooling and contraction of the rocks
B) increases away from the mid-ocean ridge because of the expansion of the rocks
C) decreases away from the mid-ocean ridge because of the expansion of the rocks
D) increases away from the mid-ocean ridge because of the cooling and contraction of the rocks

Question 57

What type of plate boundary is depicted in this figure?

A) oceanic divergent boundary
B) ocean-ocean convergent boundary
C) ocean-continent convergent boundary
D) continental collision boundary
E) transform boundary

Question 58

Which of the following is associated with a mid-ocean ridge?

A) an island arc
B) magma produced as the mantles rise up
C) melting of the subducting plate
D) lower topography than surrounding seafloor
E) continental rift

Question 59

Which of the following is NOT happening in the area shown by this figure?

A) plates are moving apart
B) eruptions onto the seafloor
C) release of water by a descending plate
D) melting of rising mantle
E) faulting

Question 60

An accretionary prism of sediments and oceanic crust is formed:

A) an oceanic trench created by the subduction of one oceanic plate beneath another plate
B) in the asthenosphere as the subduction of one oceanic plate enters the asthenosphere
C) on top of the oceanic plate that is not being subducted

Question 61

Enormous mountain belts and high plateaus can be formed when two continental plates collide and:

A) neither is subducted
B) both diverge from one another
C) both are subducted beneath each other

Question 62

On this map of the South Atlantic, which letter is on a site of seafloor spreading?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 63

On this figure of a continental collision, which continent would have had subduction-related magmatism before the collision?

A) the continent on the left
B) the continent on the right
C) both continents
D) neither continent

Question 64

On the accompanying figure, what type of feature is located in the area of number 2?

A) transform fault
B) mid-ocean ridge
C) linear island chain
D) fracture zone

Question 65

The process of one plate sliding beneath another plate is called:

A) subduction
B) conduction
C) transformation
D) convergence
E) divergence

Question 66

Convergence of two ocean plates forms an ocean-ocean:

A) convergent boundary
B) divergent boundary
C) transform boundary

Question 67

Which feature on this figure is formed by melting of mantle above the slab?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 68

When two oceanic plates converge, some magma erupts under the ocean, forming volcanoes that may rise above the sea. These volcanoes can form a curved:

A) island arc
B) line of calderas
C) sequence of magma chambers
D) reef

Question 69

On this map of the South Atlantic, which letter is on a transform fault?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 70

On the accompanying figure, what type of feature is located in the area of number 3?

A) transform fault
B) mid-ocean ridge
C) linear island chain
D) fracture zone

Question 71

On the accompanying figure the plate boundary is located between:

A) A and B
B) B and C
C) C and D
D) D and E
E) there is not enough information to tell

Question 72

The Pacific Ring of Fire is formed by:

A) a string of volcanoes
B) earthquakes
C) island arcs
D) a string of seamounts

Question 73

The Tibetan and Himalaya Plateaus are the result of:

A) two continental plates colliding and forming mountain ranges
B) two continental plates diverging from each other
C) two continental plates being subducted beneath each other

Question 74

The convergence of two continental masses is known as an):

A) continental collision
B) subduction
C) conduction
D) divergent collision

Question 75

How is magma created in a subduction zone?

A) Friction between the two plates causes the lithosphere to melt.
B) Subduction brings one plate to a depth hot enough for minerals in the plate to melt.
C) Subduction brings one plate to a depth hot enough for minerals to release water; this water causes melting in the overlying asthenosphere.

Question 76

On this map of the South Atlantic, which letter is on an oceanic fracture zone?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 77

Which feature on this figure is formed by melting of mantle above the slab?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Question 78

The majority of transform boundaries are found:

A) in the middle of continents
B) along continental margins
C) in conjunction with mid-ocean ridges
D) within island arcs

Question 79

On the accompanying figure, what type of feature is located in the area of number 4?

A) transform fault
B) mid-ocean ridge
C) linear island chain
D) fracture zone

Question 80

A continent has an oceanic trench offshore of its coast. Which of the following is probably NOT present along this side of the continent?

A) a mountain belt
B) earthquakes
C) volcanoes
D) melting along a mid-ocean ridge
E) subduction of an oceanic plate