A level Plate Tectonics Quiz 1

16 Questions

Quiz Description

A level Plate Tectonics Quiz. Plate tectonics (from the Late Latin: tectonicus, from the Ancient Greek: τεκτονικός, lit. 'pertaining to building') is a scientific theory describing the large-scale motion of seven large plates and the movements of a larger number of smaller plates of Earth's lithosphere, since tectonic processes began on Earth between 3.3 and 3.5 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. The geoscientific community accepted plate-tectonic theory after seafloor spreading was validated in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The lithosphere, which is the rigid outermost shell of a planet (the crust and upper mantle), is broken into tectonic plates. The Earth's lithosphere is composed of seven or eight major plates (depending on how they are defined) and many minor plates. Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of boundary: convergent, divergent, or transform. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along these plate boundaries (or faults). The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero to 100 mm annually.

Tectonic plates are composed of oceanic lithosphere and thicker continental lithosphere, each topped by its own kind of crust. Along convergent boundaries, subduction, or one plate moving under another, carries the lower one down into the mantle; the material lost is roughly balanced by the formation of new (oceanic) crust along divergent margins by seafloor spreading. In this way, the total surface of the lithosphere remains the same. This prediction of plate tectonics is also referred to as the conveyor belt principle. Earlier theories, since disproven, proposed gradual shrinking (contraction) or gradual expansion of the globe.

1:

What is the name of the Mesozoic supercontinent that consisted of all of the present continents?


Correct
  • 1:
    Eurasia
  • 2:
    Laurasia
  • 3:
    Pangaea
  • 4:
    Gondwanaland
2:

When did the supercontinent Pangaea begin to break apart?


Correct
  • 1:
    about 10,000 years ago
  • 2:
    about 10 million years ago
  • 3:
    about 200 million years ago
  • 4:
    about 570 million years ago
3:

What two scientists proposed the theory of seafloor spreading in he early 1960s?


Correct
  • 1:
    Charles Darwin and James Hutton
  • 2:
    Harry Hess and Robert Dietz
  • 3:
    John Butler and Arthur Smite
  • 4:
    F. Vine and D. Mathews
4:

The theory of plate tectonics was widely accepted by __________ .


Correct
  • 1:
    the end of the 19th century
  • 2:
    about 1950
  • 3:
    about 1960
  • 4:
    about 1970
5:

What age are the fossils of the reptile Mesosaurus found in Africa and South America that suggested that the two continents were once together?


Correct
  • 1:
    early Cenozoic
  • 2:
    late Mesozoic
  • 3:
    early Mesozoic
  • 4:
    late Paleozoic
6:

Approximately how many lithospheric plates are there?


Correct
  • 1:
    about 3
  • 2:
    about 6
  • 3:
    about 12
  • 4:
    about 24
7:

Which plate is being subducted beneath western South America?


Correct
  • 1:
    the Nazca plate
  • 2:
    the South Atlantic plate
  • 3:
    the South American plate
  • 4:
    the Pacific plate
8:

How old are the oldest oceanic crustal basalts?


Correct
  • 1:
    about 20 million years old
  • 2:
    about 4.0 billion years old
  • 3:
    about 200 million years old
  • 4:
    about 570 million years old
9:

New oceanic lithosphere forms at __________ .


Correct
  • 1:
    divergent plate boundaries
  • 2:
    convergent plate boundaries
  • 3:
    transform plate boundaries
  • 4:
    all of these are possible
10:

Which of the following is not a divergent plate boundary?


Correct
  • 1:
    the Great Rift Valley of East Africa
  • 2:
    the San Andreas fault
  • 3:
    the East Pacific Rise
  • 4:
    the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
11:

Partial melting and the production of magma takes place at ________ .


Correct
  • 1:
    divergent plate boundaries
  • 2:
    ocean-ocean convergent plate boundaries
  • 3:
    ocean-continent plate boundaries
  • 4:
    all of these
12:

At what type of plate boundary do shallow-focus earthquakes occur?


Correct
  • 1:
    convergent
  • 2:
    divergent
  • 3:
    transform
  • 4:
    all of these
13:

The Hawaiian Islands formed at a _________ .


Correct
  • 1:
    convergent boundary
  • 2:
    divergent boundary
  • 3:
    transform boundary
  • 4:
    none of these
14:

Which of the following are not associated with convergent plate margins?


Correct
  • 1:
    deep-focus earthquakes
  • 2:
    rift valleys
  • 3:
    deep-sea trenches
  • 4:
    island arcs
15:

The North American plate is bounded by _________ plate boundaries


Correct
  • 1:
    convergent
  • 2:
    divergent
  • 3:
    transform
  • 4:
    convergent, divergent, and transform
16:

What are ophiolite suites?


Correct
  • 1:
    fragments of oceanic lithosphere emplaced on a continent
  • 2:
    groups of seafloor magnetic anomalies
  • 3:
    wedge-shaped packages of sediments that form at passive margins
  • 4:
    micro-continents that have traveled a long distance

Feature Image

A level Plate Tectonics Quiz 1