Download Convection homework

Plate Tectonics: Convection
Learning Target: Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter
by thermal convection.
Success Criteria:
 Describe the Earth’s interior in cross-section (crust, mantle, liquid outer core, solid inner core)
determined by density.
 Describe how radioactive decay and residual thermal energy from the formation of the Earth as
a source of energy.
 Describe the process of convection that causes hot matter to rise and cool matter to fall
producing tectonic activity.
 Describe how matter is cycled between the crust and the mantle at plate boundaries.
Vocabulary:
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Core – is the center of the Earth.Outer core is molten metal, inner core is solid metal
Mantle - Very hot and mostly solid
Crust - Thin, cool, rocky outer “skin”
Paleomagnetism - the study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field in rocks, sediment, or
archeological materials
Radioactive decay - spontaneous breakdown of an atomic nucleus resulting in the release of
energy and matter from the nucleus.
Convection - the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid
or gas.
Article: Sumner, Thomas. "Plate tectonics just a stage in Earth's life cycle." Science News. N.p., 16 June 2016.
Web. 21 Feb. 2017. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/plate-tectonics-just-stage-earth%E2%80%99s-lifecycle
1. What is the purpose of the article?
2. When did the process of plates moving start?
3. Why did this process not occur earlier?
4. How does plate tectonics regulate the Earth’s atmosphere?
5. How are warmer and colder planets different?
Classwork/Homework:
1. In the diagram of the ocean basin, where is the oldest oceanic
found?
C. C
D. D
2. How is the crust different from the other layers of the Earth?
is hotter.
B. It is thinner.
mostly liquid. D. It is under pressure.
3. __ currents in the Earth’s mantle cause movement which causes
earthquakes and volcanic activity.
A. Conduction
C. Ocean
B. Convection
D. Radiation
crust
A. A
B. B
A. It
C. It is
4. Convection in the upper mantle, magma injection at the spreading boundaries, and gravity pulling the plates
downward at subduction zones are three theorized causes of _.
A. glacial melting
C. high and low ocean tides
B. changing of the climate
D. movement of the tectonic plates
5. Layer B in the diagram above is located between the crust and core in terms of location, temperature, and
pressure. What part of the earth is labeled layer B?
A. core
C. mantle
B. crust
D.
lithosphere
6. Earthquake epicenters were mapped for a 35-year
period in the diagram above. The black dots
marking the epicenters also represent what feature
on Earth?
A. hot spots
B. rift zones
C. plate boundaries
D. sea floor spreading
7. What is the main method of heat transfer from the core to the crust of the Earth?
A. conduction
C. insulation
B. convection
D. radiation
8. S-waves are transverse waves generated by earthquakes. These do not travel through liquids. Because of this,
scientists have inferred that the _ of the Earth is liquid.
A. crust
C. outer core
B. mantle
D. inner core
9. Which layer of the earth contains granite and basalt in the greatest abundance?
A. inner core
C. mantle
B. crust
D. outer core
10. What is the densest part of Earth?
A. core
B. crust
C. lithosphere
D. mantle
11. When mantle rocks near the radioactive core are heated, they become less dense than the cooler, upper mantle
rocks. These warmer rocks rise, while the cooler rocks sink. This movement of warmer and cooler mantle rocks
creates pockets of circulation within the mantle called _, which are thought to be the force behind the
movement of tectonic plates over the asthenosphere.
A. magma flows
C. convection cells
B. density cells
D. conduction points
12. Geologists trying to drill into the mantle would most likely drill from a platform in the ocean, rather than on
land, because the crust beneath the ocean is _.
A. older
C. thinner
B. softer
D. less dense
13. Earth’s lithosphere contains all but one of the features below. This is the _.
A. crust
C. upper mantle
B. core
D. continental and oceanic plates
14. Earth’s layers formed as result of differentiation. During differentiation, different zones of elements form layers
and today we know these layers are made up of different elements. Certain elements sunk to the center while
others collected near the surface. We might predict that the _ elements, like iron and nickel, formed the core.
A. most dense
C. light weight
B. least dense
D. first crystallized
15. Trace the development of plate tectonics by placing the supporting evidence in correct chronological order.
A. Mapping paleomagnetic reversals
B. Wegener’s mapping of the supercontinent
Pangaea
C. GPS tracking of Earth’s crustal movements
D. Discovery of seafloor spreading
A. A, B, C, D
B. B, C, C, C
C. B, C, A, C
D. D, B, A, C
16. Which layer is broken up into several plates which move and float very slowly? Their very slow motion is the
cause of plate tectonics, a process associated with continental drift, earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation
of mountains.
A. inner core
C. asthenosphere
B. outer core
D. lithosphere