Download Name Date ______ Period _____ Continents Adrift: An Introduction

Name _______________________________________________________ Date ____________ Period _____
Continents Adrift:
An Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
1. If you examine the globe closely, you will find continents ___________________________.
2. Alfred Wegener thought continents were joined in a supercontinent called
________________________________________________________________________
3. He called his theory of moving continents _______________________________________
4. Evidence:
A) _____________________________________________________________________
B) _____________________________________________________________________
C) _____________________________________________________________________
D) _____________________________________________________________________
E) _____________________________________________________________________
5. This supports the theory of _________________________________________________
6. Earth’s exterior ___________________________ is cracked into ___________________
7. How can continents move? __________________________________________ in the Earth’s
mantle circulate caused by _________________ in the Earth’s mantle.
8. Plates move apart at _______________________________________________ and the crust
is ___________________________________________________
9. Plates collide at __________________________________________________________
and the crust is __________________________________________________________
10. Plates slide past at ______________________________________________________
11. Mid-Ocean Ridges are ____________________________________ boundaries.
12. When one plate dives beneath another, it is called ________________________
Plate material is ___________________________________________________
13. Earthquakes occur because the crust has cracks called __________________________
When sufficient __________ builds up, then crust breaks, causing _________________
14. ______________________________ also occur near plate boundaries.
15. Most volcanoes occur near ________________________________________________
Mount St Helen’s occurred in this way.
16. Hawaii was formed over a magma chamber called a ______________________________
17. _____________________________________ are typical of Hawaiian Volcanoes.
18. ____________________________________ are the result of convergent plates. These are
called _________________________________________.
19. The earth is broken up into more than a ______________________________ plates
20. Most divergent boundaries occur _____________________________________________
Ridges created by rising magma are called _____________________________________
This is an area where plate material is _________________________________________
21. Convergent boundaries are where plate material is ______________________________