Download Study Questions for Chapter 4 Chapter 4 1. What evidence did

The University of Southern Mississippi
Department of Marine Science
Study Questions for Chapter 4
Chapter 4
1. What evidence did Alfred Wegener bring forward in support of his hypothesis of continental
drift?
2. Why was Wegener’s hypothesis not accepted despite the tons of data he brought forward to
show that the pattern of geologic evidence was consistent with drift of the continents?
3. Describe the Geosyncline Hypothesis. What mechanism was used to explain the compression
and deformation in the trough. The mechanism is inadequate, how does the hypothesis
fail, what observations are not explained?
4. Describe the theory of the Shrinking Earth. Why did this hypothesis fail?
5. Describe Holmes’ hypothesis of ocean crust formation.
6. What evidence lead Carey to propose that the Earth is expanding?
7. What other hypotheses attempted to explain the features we find in continental and oceanic
crust prior to Harry Hess's 1962 paper?
8. What is the distribution of earthquakes on earth? Describe both the geographic distribution
and the distribution with depth. Tell me everything! How did this help the development
of the hyothesis of sea floor spreading and the plate tectonic theory? What is a Benioff
zone?
9. What is polar wandering and how does it support the hypothesis of continental drift? Tell me
everything!
10. Tell me how magnetic anomalies on the sea floor are considered strong evidence for sea floor
spreading. Tell me everything! What did Vine and Mathews contribute in support of sea
floor spreading?
11. What was Lynn Sykes 1966 experiment? Draw a diagram and be sure to tell me about the
hypothesis he tested.
12. How did the work of the DSDP and the ODP help prove the hypothesis of sea floor
spreading?
MAR 581/481
Study Questions, Ch. 4, p. 1