Plate Tectonics Quiz

What is plate tectonics?

• The theory explaining how geologic plates cause mountain building, volcanoes, and earthquakes

• The study of ocean currents

• The study of rocks and minerals

• The study of weather patterns

What is the outermost layer of Earth that is broken into large rocky plates in plate tectonics?

• Mantle

• Core

• Asthenosphere

• Lithosphere

Who proposed the concept of continental drift in 1912?

• John Tuzo Wilson

• Harry Hess

• Georg Gerster

• Alfred Wegener

What did Alfred Wegener suggest about the supercontinent Pangaea?

• It never existed

• It began to break into pieces 200 million years ago

• It is still intact

• It was formed by volcanic eruptions

What did Harry Hess propose about the undersea mountain range in the 1950s?

• It was the result of seafloor spreading

• It was formed by meteorite impacts

• It was formed by a volcanic eruption

• It was created by a massive earthquake

What did John Tuzo Wilson propose in 1963 to explain the formation of volcanic island chains?

• Magma forces its way upward through the moving plate of the sea floor

• Fixed 'hot spots' in the mantle

• Volcanic eruptions from the ocean floor

• Molten rock rising from the asthenosphere

What did magnetic data from the ocean floor support?

• The theory of continental drift

• The existence of Pangaea

• The hypothesis of seafloor spreading

• The formation of ocean trenches

What is responsible for the movement of tectonic plates?

• Solar radiation

• Gravitational pull from the moon

• Magnetic forces from the core

• Convection of the asthenosphere and lithosphere

What is the average rate at which tectonic plates move relative to each other?

• 2 to 15 centimeters per year

• 1 to 6 meters per year

• 10 to 20 kilometers per year

• 5 to 10 millimeters per year

What did the theory of plate tectonics explain?

• Formation of clouds

• Mountain building events

• Formation of comets

• Formation of stars