Download Chapter 17 Study Guide 16

Name: ____ANSWER
KEY_____________________
Period: ________
Due Date: __________
Chapter 17 Study Guide – Plate Tectonics
Directions:
Please complete the following study guide in preparation for our upcoming test. However, this SHOULD NOT
be your only method of studying for this exam. Use your notes, book, labs, homework, and class activities to
help you study. Below is a list of general topics that you will see on the test.
Main Ideas/Topics Covered on the Test:
 Earth’s Interior
 Theory of Plate Tectonics
 Theory of Seafloor Spreading
 Theory of Continental Drift
Questions:
Please complete the answers to the following questions to help you prepare for the test.
1) Name the five branches of earth science and give an example of something that relates to each one.
Branch of Earth Science
Example (The list will vary for each
student!)
Geology
Rocks, Minerals, Plate Tectonics
Meteorology
Weather, Weather Maps, Forecasting
Oceanography
Features of the Ocean Floor,
Currents, Salinity, Sand
Astronomy
Planets, Stars, Moons
Environmental Science
Recycling, Renewable Energy, Water
Testing, Pollution
2) Label the four layers of Earth’s interior.
Crust/Lithosphere
Mantle
Inner Core
Outer Core
Outer Core
3) Which of these four layers is responsible for creating the Earth’s magnetic field? __________________
4) Which of these layers is made of solid rock? _______________________________________________
Crust/Lithosphere
5) Which of these layers is made of solid metal? ______________________________________________
Inner Core
6) Describe what the material that makes the mantle is like. ______________________________________
Partially Melted – like silly putty.
It can behave as both a solid (holds weight) and a liquid (flows).
7) Fill in the chart below with information about the Earth’s crust
Type of Crust
Oceanic
Continental
Density:
high or low
Type of Rock
High
Basalt
Lower
Granite
8) What 2 technologies were used to help scientists discover the theory of seafloor spreading?

______________________________________________________________________________
SONAR

______________________________________________________________________________
magnetometer
9) Answer these questions about seafloor spreading.
a. Where does seafloor spreading occur? __________________________________________________
middle of seafloor; MOR; where plates separate
magma rises and forms new rock
b. What happens when the plates move apart? _____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
new ocean crust / MOR
c. What forms at the center? ___________________________________________________________
d. What happens to the oldest rock? _____________________________________________________
it is pushed to the sides, and eventually subducts
e. Where does that happen? ____________________________________________________________
subducts – is destroyed – at deep-sea trench
10) View the image below and answer these questions.
a. Where are the youngest rocks found?
at “X” – in the center
W
X
Y Z
b. Why are the youngest rocks found in this
location?
this is where the magma rises +
forms the newest crust
c. What do the stripes represent?
the magnetic fields of the past
d. Which letter (labeled on the diagram) has
rocks that are the same as the rocks labeled
W?
“Z” is the same as “W”
the solid, rocky, outermost layer; the crust and upper
11) What is the lithosphere? ________________________________________________________________
mantle
____________________________________________________________________________________
The lower part of the mantle
12) What is the asthenosphere? _____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
13) What takes place in the asthenosphere to cause the plates to move?
____________________________________________________________________________________
convection currents → heated material rises, cools, and sinks back down
____________________________________________________________________________________
14) In the process of subduction which plate will always subduct? Why?
____________________________________________________________________________________
The oceanic plate subducts because it is the one that is MORE DENSE.
Higher density = sinking.
____________________________________________________________________________________
15) Complete the chart below. Look at the images and identify the type of plate boundary present (be
specific) and the landforms created as a result. Then, name a place where each can be found!
Picture
Name of Boundary
+
How the plates are
moving
Divergent
← →
Landforms Created
Here
Place on Earth
where we can see
it.
 Mid-Atlantic
Ridge
(mid-ocean ridge)
MOR
(w/ rift valley)
 Iceland
 Ethiopia
Convergent
O+C
→ ←
 deep-sea
trench
 volcanic
mountains
 Andes
Mountains
 Mt. St.
Helens
 Cascade
Mountains
Convergent
O+O
→ ←
 deep-sea
trench
 volcanic
islands
 Japan
 Indonesia
 Mariana’s
Trench
Picture
Name of Boundary
+
How the plates are
moving
Landforms Created
Here
Place on Earth
where we can see
it.
Convergent
C+C
→ ←
tall, folded
mountains
Himalayas
Transform
“Sliding”
earthquakes
+
faults
San Andreas
Fault
16) Look at the diagram below.
Cooling
Sinking
Cooling
Sinking
Rising
Heating
Heating
What process is it showing? _____________________________________________________________
Convection
In the Asthenosphere (the upper mantle)
Where in the Earth does this happen? _____________________________________________________
Why does this happen? ________________________________________________________________
Differences in temperature create differences in
____________________________________________________________________________________
density.
17) Every year, students get mid-ocean ridges and deep-sea trenches mixed up. To help you remember what
they are, and how they are different, write an answer to this statement:
Explain how mid-ocean ridges and deep-sea trenches are different. Describe their many differences:
how they form, what they look like, their elevations, etc.
____________________________________________________________________________________
MOR = forms when plates move apart = mountains = high elevation (tall)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
DST = forms when plates collide = deep depressions = low elevation
____________________________________________________________________________________
18) Identify at least 3 pieces of evidence Alfred Wegener used to prove his theory?

Fossils (plant and animal)
______________________________________________________________________________

Climate (coal deposits, glacial deposits, glossopteris fossil)
______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Rock Formations
19) Why was Alfred’s Wegener’s Theory rejected at first?
He could not explain how the continents were moving, or what
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
provided the force to move them.
____________________________________________________________________________________