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Study Guide
Plate Tectonics
1. Who was Alfred Wegener and what was his great discovery called? _________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the Theory of Continental Drift?___________________________________________
3. What did Wegener call his hypothesized supercontinent? ________________________________
4. What is plate tectonics? ________________________________________________________
5. What types of evidence did Wegener find to support his Theory of Continental Drift?
a) _______________________________________________________________________
b) _______________________________________________________________________
c) _______________________________________________________________________
d) _______________________________________________________________________
e) _______________________________________________________________________
f) _______________________________________________________________________
6. What problem caused other scientists to reject Wegener’s theory?
___________________________________________________________________________
7. Another scientist, Harry Hess, did mapping of the ocean floor during World War II for the U. S. Navy. What
ocean floor feature did he discover? ______________________________________
8. What was Hess’ theory called? ____________________________________________________
9. What 2 observations did Hess make that supported his theory of seafloor spreading?
a)_________________________b)_____________________________
10. What drives or moves the lithospheric plates? Explain.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
11. High temperatures inside Earth form _________________.
12. Use the pie section below to answer this question.
The pie section shows Earth's composition from the center to the surface. Section IV is most likely composed of
________________
Study Guide
13. Compared to rocks in Earth's crust, rocks in the mantle are more _____________________.
14. Which of these statements about Earth's crust is true?
A) It is a layer of solid rock that remains the same throughout time.
B) It includes the continents, but not the ocean floor.
C) It is a changing, moving surface with the same thickness everywhere.
D) It is a system of large masses called plates that slowly move together or apart.
15. Earth's core is mainly composed of_______________ and ________________.
16. A deep well or mine shaft goes through which layer or layers of Earth? ________________
17. Label the drawing of convection cells in the mantle with the words listed in the box.
a- warmer material
b- less dense
c- rises toward the crust
d- more dense
e- cooler material
f- sinks back toward the
core
18. The place where lithospheric plates meet are called plate boundaries. There are 3 types of plate boundaries.
Write the types of boundaries, then study the illustrations at the bottom of the pages.
a) ____________________ boundaries- plates move away from each other.
b) ____________________boundaries- edges of plates bump into each other.
c) ____________________boundaries- sides of plates slide past each other.
19. What type of feature on Earth forms at divergent plate boundaries?
_______________________________________
20. How are deep-ocean trenches formed?
______________________________________________________________
21. When 2 plates collide, or run into each other at a convergent plate boundary, which one subducts under
the other?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
22. What happens when an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
23. What feature has formed in South America because the Nazca Plate has subducted under the South
American Plate?
____________________________________________________________________________
24. What happens when 2 continental plates collide at convergent plate boundaries?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
25. What feature has formed as the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plates have collided?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Study Guide
26. The third type of plate boundary is a transform plate boundary. How do scientists know if transform
boundary is present? a)______________________________b)___________________________c)_________________________
27. Now, look at the map of Earth’s lithospheric plates on page 107. Name all 16 tectonic plates:
__________________, ______________________, ______________________, _____________________,
__________________________, ______________________, ______________________,
_____________________, __________________________, ______________________,
______________________, _____________________, __________________________,
______________________, ______________________________,________________________
28. What is the primary cause of volcanoes and earthquakes?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
29. How do active volcanoes located on islands create more land area on these islands? (page 146)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
30. What causes volcanoes to form at a diverging plate boundary? (page 147)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
31. What causes volcanoes to form at a converging plate boundary? (page 148)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
32. Most volcanoes are located along the edges of tectonic plates.
Study Guide
A. Describe the relationship between the formation of a volcano and its location.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
B. Explain the function of a volcano.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
C. Explain how a volcano affects the formation of new ocean floor.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
D. Describe one constructive effect of a volcano on the surface of Earth.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
33.
A. Layer A in the diagram has the lowest temperature and pressure. What part of the Earth is labeled layer
A? _________________________________
B. Layer C in the diagram has the greatest temperature and pressure. It is MOST LIKELY Earth's
_________________________
34.
If we compare the temperature and pressure of the Earth's mantle to the core, what differences
can we expect as we move downward into the Earth?
35.
Scientists believe the Earth's inner core to be solid. This is probably due to extremes in