Download Lesson Assessment: Plate Tectonics

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Date: _____________
Lesson Assessment: Plate Tectonics
1. According to Alfred Wegener, today's continents once formed a large landmass called _____.
a) Laurasia
b) Pangaea
c) Eurasia
d) Gondwanaland
2. Which piece of evidence was NOT used by Alfred Wegener to support his theory of continental drift?
a) common fossils found in distant continents
b) the fit of the coastlines of South America and Africa
c) concentration of earthquake and volcanic activity in narrow zones around the globe
d) evidence of glacial till in tropical and subtropical regions
3. When plates move apart from each other, the motion is called _____.
a) convergence
b) spreading
c) divergence
d) transform
4. On what continent can a rift valley that will eventually break the continent up by spreading to become a sea
be found?
a) Africa
b) Europe
c) Antarctica
d) North America
5. What do geologists believe is the driving force behind plate movement?
a) convection currents
b) tidal pull
c) Coriolis force
d) motion of Earth's magnetic field
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Name: __________________
Class:
Date: _____________
Lesson Assessment: Plate Tectonics
6. Kauai, the farthest northwest of the Hawaiian islands, is the oldest, and each island is younger as one moves
to the southeast. How do geologists explain the formation of this volcanic island chain?
a) The Hawaiian chain is the visible portion of a long mid ocean ridge that is producing new oceanic
crust, resulting in volcanism.
b) The Pacific plate is moving northeast over a hotspot in Earth's mantle that continually produces new
volcanism directly above it.
c) The island chain results from the subduction of one oceanic plate under another. As the subducting
plate sinks into the mantle and melts, magma rises, producing volcanism above.
d) The islands are the result of a collision between two oceanic plates, which has caused uplift and
warping of the crust, earthquakes, and volcanism.
7. Polar wandering, or the apparent movement of Earth's magnetic poles during the last 500 million years, has
been used as evidence for continental drift. How can we tell from this evidence that the continents have
drifted?
a) The apparent position of the magnetic poles at a given time is influenced by the positions of the
continents because they contain so much metal. As the continents moved, they produced a measurable
"wobble" in the natural path of the poles.
b) The changing position of Earth's magnetic poles indicates that Earth's magnetic field moved, exerting
stress on the continents and shifting their positions.
c) The poles appear to have moved mostly because the continents have changed locations, so that
alignment of magnetic materials no longer points in the direction it once did.
d) The poles, which are a product of magnetic forces in Earth's mantle, moved in a regular pattern,
showing that convection of mantle material could provide a mechanism by which plates of lithosphere are
transported.
8. Rocks become deformed by a number of different types of stress. What type of stress has the opposite effect
from that of tension?
a) shear
b) spreading
c) faulting
d) compression
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Name: __________________
Class:
Date: _____________
Lesson Assessment: Plate Tectonics
9. Earth's plates float on a plastic like region of extremely high pressure and density called the _____.
a) transform fault
b) subduction zone
c) lithosphere
d) asthenosphere
10. Intermediate and deep focus earthquakes occur only within _____.
a) subducting plates at convergent boundaries
b) transform boundaries where enormous pressure is built up by shear tension
c) ridges deep on the ocean floor where new crust is being created
d) hot spots that also produce volcanic activity
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ANSWER KEY
1.. b
2.. c
3.. c
4.. a
5.. a
6.. b
ANSWER KEY Page 1
7.. c
8.. d
9.. d
10.. a