Plate Techtonics

Some early mapmakers thought that the coastline of South America matched the coastline of Asia.

• True

• False

Scientists at the time rejected Wegner's hypothesis of continental drift because he could not explain how or why Earth's continents move.

• True

• False

If two continental plates converge, a subduction zone forms.

• True

• False

The circulation of material caused by differences in density is called convection.

• True

• False

The weight of a subducting plate helps to pull the lithosphere into a subduction zone in a process called ridge push.

• True

• False

The youngest rocks on the ocean floor are located _____.

• near continents

• at mid-ocean ridges

• far from mid-ocean ridges

• near Asia

The crust and upper mantle make up Earth's _____.

• lithosphere

• asthenosphere

• core

• continents

Scientists have observed that the continents move apart or come together at speeds of a few centimeters per _____.

• century

• decade

• day

• year

Plates of the lithosphere float on the ______.

• crust

• asthenosphere

• core

• atmosphere

The result of plate movement can be seen at _____.

• abyssal plains

• ocean margins

• plate centers

• plate boundaries