Download Plate Tectonics Review with Answers Rich Text

Name ________________________
Date __________
Period _____________
8th Grade Plate Tectonics Test
MODIFIED TRUE/FALSE
1. Some early mapmakers thought that the coastline of South America matched the coastline of Asia.
_______________
ANS: F, Africa
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
2. Albert Einstein was the famous scientist that came up with the continental drift theory.
___________________
ANS: F, Alfred Wegener
3. The circulation of material caused by differences in density is called convection currents.
_______________
ANS: T
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
PTS: 1
4. Scientists at the time rejected Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift because he could not explain
how or why Earth’s continents move. ____________________________________
ANS: T
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
PTS: 1
5. Convection currents are found in the Earth’s mantle. _______________________
ANS: T
MULTIPLE CHOICE
6. The youngest rocks on the ocean floor are located ____.
a. near continents
c. far from mid-ocean ridges
b. at mid-ocean ridges
d. near Asia
ANS: B
The closer the crust is to a mid-ocean ridge, the younger the oceanic crust is.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
7. The crust and upper mantle make up Earth's ____.
a. lithosphere
b. asthenosphere
c. core
d. continents
ANS: A
The cold and rigid outermost rock layer is called the lithosphere. It is made up of the crust and the
solid, uppermost mantle.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
8. Scientists have observed that the plates move at rates ranging from 1 cm to 12 cm per _____.
a. century
c. day
b. decade
d. year
ANS: D
Tectonic plates move slowly, only a few centimeters per year.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 4 | DOK 2-MOD
9. The result of plate movement can be seen at ____.
a. abyssal plains
b. ocean margins
c. plate centers
d. plate boundaries
ANS: D
When plates separate, collide, or slide past each other along a plate boundary, stress builds.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
10. The alignment of iron minerals in rocks when they are formed reflects the fact that Earth's ____ has
reversed itself several times in the past.
a. magnetic field
c. asthenosphere
b. core
d. gravity
ANS: A
Iron-rich minerals in cooling lava align with Earth’s magnetic field. When Earth’s magnetic field
changes direction, minerals in fresh lava record a new magnetic signature.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
11. Plates slide past one another at ____.
a. subduction zones
b. transform boundaries
c. convection currents
d. divergent boundaries
ANS: B
A transform plate boundary forms where two plates slide past each other.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
12. Seafloor spreading occurs because ____.
a. new material is being added to the asthenosphere
b. earthquakes break apart the ocean floor
c. sediments accumulate at the area of spreading
d. molten material beneath Earth's crust rises to the surface
ANS: D
When the seafloor spreads, the mantle below melts and forms magma. Because magma is less dense
than solid mantle material, it rises through cracks in the crust along the midocean ridge.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
13. Matching ____ on different continents are evidence for continental drift.
a. river systems
c. weather patterns
b. rock structures
d. wind systems
ANS: B
The Caledonian mountain range in northern Europe and the Appalachian Mountains in eastern North
America are similar in age and structure. They are also composed of the same rock types.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
14. What does subduction do?
a. lifts new rock to the surface
b. erodes surface rock making sediment
c. takes rock into Earth where it will be melted
d. places tension on rocks so that they pull apart
ANS: C
Subduction takes all types of rocks deep into Earth, where they can melt and create new igneous or
metamorphic rocks.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
15. ____ are formed when two continental plates collide.
a. Volcanoes
b. Strike-slip faults
c. Mountain ranges
d. Rift valleys
ANS: C
Mountains can form where two continents collide.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
16. The ____ is (are) an example of a transform boundary.
a. Appalachian Mountains
c. Mid-Atlantic Ridge
b. Himalayas
d. San Andreas Fault
ANS: D
The famous San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform plate boundary.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
17. What features form where two plates diverge?
a. plains and plateaus
b. rifts and mid-ocean ridges
c. mountains and ocean trenches
d. ocean trenches and mid-ocean ridges
ANS: B
PTS: 1
18. The youngest part of the ocean floor is found ____.
a. along deep sea trenches
b. where ocean sediments are thickest
c. near ocean ridges
d. where Earth’s magnetic field changes polarity
ANS: C
The closer the crust is to a mid-ocean ridge, the younger the oceanic crust is.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
19. What can form where two plates converge?
a. plains and plateaus
b. basins and continents
c. ocean trenches and volcanic arcs
d. mid-ocean trenches and plains
ANS: C
PTS: 1
20. Features found at divergent plate boundaries in the ocean include ____.
a. mid-ocean ridges
c. crumpled mountains
b. deep-sea trenches
d. island arc volcanoes
ANS: A
Mid-ocean ridges are located along divergent plate boundaries.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 1 | DOK 1-LOW
21. Continental-continental plate collisions produce ____.
a. island arcs
c. deep-sea trenches
b. rift valleys
d. very tall mountain ranges
ANS: D
Convergent plate boundaries can also occur where two continental plates collide. Because both plates
are equally dense, neither plate will subduct. Both plates uplift and deform. This creates huge
mountains like the Himalayas.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
22. Crust is neither destroyed nor formed along which of the following boundaries?
a. convergent
c. transform
b. divergent
d. magnetic
ANS: C
A transform plate boundary forms where two plates slide past each other.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
23. The driving forces of tectonic plates are related to convection currents in Earth’s ____.
a. crust
c. inner core
b. mantle
d. outer core
ANS: B
Convection in the mantle is related to plate tectonic activity.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 2 | DOK 1-LOW
COMPLETION
Match each letter that appears on the diagram with the appropriate feature below. Then answer the
questions.
24. The type of boundary marked by the letter X is a(n) _________________________.
ANS: divergent boundary
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 3 | DOK 2-MOD
25. The type of boundary marked by the letter Y are ___________________________________.
ANS: convergent plate boundaries
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 3 | DOK 2-MOD
26. The arrows in the mantle and oceanic crust indicate the direction of flow of
_________________________ beneath the plates.
ANS: convection currents
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 3 | DOK 2-MOD
27. The feature marked by the letter A is a ___________________________.
ANS: rift valley
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 3 | DOK 2-MOD
SHORT ANSWER
28. What is the difference between a convergent and a divergent plate boundary?
ANS:
Convergent plates move together; divergent plates move apart.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 4 | DOK 2-MOD
29. Why did Alfred Wegener believe that all of the continents once had been joined?
ANS:
The edges looked as if they would fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.
PTS: 1
DIF: Bloom's Level 4 | DOK 2-MOD
30. Identify the following diagrams as a normal fault, reverse fault or strike-slip fault.