MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. How fast are North America and Europe moving today?
a. 3-5 inches/year
b. 1-3 inches/year
c. 1-3 feet/year
d. 1-3 inches/month
e. 3-5 inches/month
feedback
a. These rates are too large
b. Rates in this range are typical for most
places
c. These rates are in the wrong units
d. These rates are in the wrong units
e. This is the wrong rate and the wrong unit.
2. Pangaea
a. Was a continent that existed 250 million
years ago
b. Was an ocean that existed 250 million years ago
c. Was a continent that existed 135 million years ago
d. Was one of several continents that existed 250 million years ago.
e. Was the only continent that existed in the ocean Panthalassa 135
million years ago
feedback
a. Pangaea was the lone super-continent that
existed 250 million years ago.
b. The ocean that surrounded Pangaea was called
Panthalassa
c. Pangaea existed 250 million years ago
d. There was only one continent (Pangaea) that
existed 250 million years ago
e. Pangaea existed 250 million years ago in the
ocean Panthalassa
3. General continental drift occurred in what order?
a. 1) Pangaea, 2) Laurasia and Gondwanaland,
3) Africa and S. America; Indonesia moves NE to Asia, 4) N. America
and Europe separate; Greenland is isolated
b. 1) Laurasia and Gondwanaland, 2) Pangaea, 3) Africa and S.
America; Indonesia moves NE to Asia, 4) N. America and Europe separate;
Greenland is isolated
c. 1) Pangaea, 2) Laurasia and Gondwanaland, 3) N. America and Europe
separate; Greenland is isolated, 4) Africa and S. America;
Indonesia moves NE to Asia
d. 1) Pangaea, 2) Laurasia and Gondwanaland, 3) Africa and S.
America; India moves NE to Asia, 4) N. America and Europe separate;
Greenland is isolated
e. 1) Laurasia and Gondwanaland, 2) Pangaea, 3) N. America and Europe
separate; Greenland is isolated, 4) Africa and S. America; India
moves NE to Asia
4. What provides evidence of continental drift?
a. location of lakes and streams
b. location of major mountain chains
c. grooves carved by glaciers
d. types of rock
e. position of volcanoes
feedback
a. The location of lakes and streams may in some
cases provide evidence of glacial activity, or may follow the path of faults,
but they do not provide evidence of continental drift.
b. The location of major mountain chains can
provide evidence of the location of plate boundaries, but not continental
drift.
c. Grooves carved by glaciers provide us with
evidence of continental drift. World wide patterns of the grooves
can be match up when the continents are placed in historical locations.
d. Different types of rock are created in a variety
of ways. For example, basalt is produced when lava cools. The
type of rock alone does not provide us with evidence of continental drift.
However, rock bands can be matched up in the same way that glacial grooves
can be matched when continents are put in their historical positions.
e. The position of volcanoes often fall along
plate boundaries, but do not in themselves provide evidence for continental
drift.
5. A tectonic plate is:
a. a lava flow
b. a continent
c. a large, flexible slab of rock
d. a conglomerate of many different rock types
e. a large, rigid slab of rock
feedback
a. a lava flow is molten rock that
comes out of a volcano
b. a continent is the part of a tectonic plate
that is above sea level
c. a large, flexible slab of rock. Tectonic
plates are rigid.
d. a conglomerate of many different rock types.
Tectonic plates are composed of basalt.
e. a large, rigid slab of rock. n geologic
terms, a plate is a large, rigid slab of solid rock. The word tectonics
comes from the Greek root "to build." Putting these two words together,
we get the term plate tectonics, which refers to how the Earth's
surface is built of plates.
6. How many tectonic plates exist on the earth today?
a. 7
b. 3
c. 10
d. 12 or more
e. 25 or more
feedback
a. 7 - too few
b. 3 too few
c. 10 too few
d. 12 or more - The theory of plate tectonics
states that the Earth's outermost layer is fragmented into a dozen or more
large and small plates that are moving relative to one another as they
ride atop hotter, more mobile material.
e. 25 or more too many
7. The first 2 large land masses were:
a. Gondwanaland and Laurasia
b. Pangaea and Laurasia
c. Swaziland and Laurasia
d. Pangaea and Gondwanaland
e. Pangaea and Panthalassa
feedback
a. Gondwanaland and Laurasia they formed
when Pangaea broke apart 200 million years ago
b. Pangaea and Laurasia Pangaea was the super-continent
250 million years ago
c. Swaziland and Laurasia Swaziland is a nation
located in Africa
d. Pangaea and Gondwanaland Pangaea and Gondwanaland
did not exist at the same time
e. Pangaea and Panthalassa Panthalassa was
the super-ocean that surrounded Pangaea
8. Wegener developed the theory of continental drift because he was intrigued by:
a. the fit of the South American and African continents
b. matching fossils along the coastlines of South America and Africa
c. dramatic climate changes on some continents
d. glacial deposits in Africa
e. all of the above
9. The force driving the movement of tectonic plates is:
a. the forces of gravity
b. the motion of the hot, soft mantle
c. centripetal force caused by the spin of the earth
d. motion in the lithosphere
e. subduction
feedback
a. the forces of gravity gravity is a force
that pulls towards the center of the earth
b. the motion of the hot, soft mantle.
Scientists generally agree with Harry
Hess' theory
that the plate-driving force is the slow movement of hot, softened
mantle that
lies below the rigid plates
c. centripetal force caused by the spin of the
earth centripetal forces starts the soft mantle moving, then movement
of the mantle carries the lithospheric plates with it
d. motion in the lithosphere the tectonic plates
are in the lithosphere!
e. subduction - this is when a heavier
plate is forced under a lighter one upon collision
10. Mobile rock beneath the earths crust moves:
a. straight up and down from the earths core
b. in a circular motion called a convective
flow
c. in a counter clockwise motion
d. does not move
e. very quickly
feedback
a. straight up and down from the earths core
- movement is circular and does not generally extend al the way to
the earths core
b. in a circular motion called a convective
flow - The mobile rock beneath the rigid plates is believed to be moving
in a circular manner somewhat like a pot of thick soup when heated to boiling.
The heated soup rises to the surface, spreads and begins to cool, and then
sinks back to the bottom of the pot where it is reheated and rises again.
This cycle is repeated over and over to generate what scientists call a
convection cell or convective flow.
c. in a counter clockwise motion the circular
motion can go counterclockwise or clockwise
d. does not move - As J. Tuzo Wilson eloquently
stated in 1968, "The earth, instead of appearing as an inert statue, is
a living, mobile thing." Both the Earth's surface and its interior are
in motion.
e. very quickly - Below the lithospheric plates,
at some depth the mantle is partially molten and can flow, albeit slowly,
in response to steady forces applied for long periods of time.
11. Heat within the earth comes from what source(s)?
a. isotopic clocks
b. radioactive decay
c. residual heat and gravitational energy
d. residual heat
e. radioactive decay and residual heat
feedback
a. isotopic clocks are indicators used in aging
rocks
b. radioactive decay - radioactive decay, a spontaneous
process that is the basis of "isotopic clocks" used to date rocks, involves
the loss of particles from the nucleus of an isotope (the parent) to form
an isotope of a new element (the daughter)
c. residual heat and gravitational energy - residual
heat is gravitational energy left over from the formation of the Earth
d. residual heat - residual heat is gravitational
energy left over from the formation of the Earth
e. radioactive decay and residual heat - convection
cannot take place without a source of heat. Heat within the Earth comes
from two main sources: radioactive decay and residual heat
12. Which planets in out solar system are is/are currently exhibiting tectonic plate activity?
a. Mars, Earth, Mercury
b. Mars, Earth Ganymede
c. Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Io
d. Earth
e. Earth, Moon
feedback
a. Mars, Earth, Mercury - while volcanism played
a major role in the early history of Mars, the Moon, and probably Mercury,
their small sizes relative to Earth resulted in the loss of internal heat
at a much faster rate. They have been inactive globes for the last billion
years or so.
b. Mars, Earth, Ganymede - the surface of Ganymede,
another moon of Jupiter and about the size of Mercury, is broken into many
plate-like blocks, with long narrow depressions between some of them.
These are not tectonic plates.
c. Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Io - the Voyager spacecraft
discovered several volcanic plumes rising many hundreds of kilometers above
the surface of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter and about the size of our
Moon. Scientists speculate that large pools of liquid sulfur may
exist on Io, possibly heated by tidal forces resulting from gravitational
attraction between Io and Jupiter. The thermal energy generated by
such tidal forces may be enough to produce convection in Io's interior,
although no one has clearly recognized any surface feature that may have
formed from such convection.
d. Earth - the Earth may be unique in our
solar system because it appears to be the only planet that is still volcanically
and tectonically active; our planet therefore remains very much alive,
while the others apparently have long ceased activity
e. Earth, Moon see answer for a
13. Critical factors in a planets tectonic activity are:
a. the size of the body
b. the rate of heat loss
c. composition
d. existence of oceans
e. a, b, and c
feedback
a. the size of the body
b. the rate of heat loss
c. composition
d. existence of oceans - a liquid interior, such
as may exist within Ganymede, is more likely to convect and drive plate
tectonics than the "stony" interiors of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars,
but oceans are on the exterior of the planets surface
e. a, b, and c - size is one determining factor:
larger bodies lose heat more slowly and will therefore remain active longer.
Another factor is composition, which influences the ability of a body to
convect. The amount of radioactive elements present in the planet's
composition also affects the likelihood of internal convection, because
the decay of these elements produces heat
14. The youthfulness of the ocean is one of the major scientific developments that helped form the theory of plate tectonics. Which of the following is not?
a. volcanoes and earth quakes centered on ocean trenches
b. sea floor spreading
c. glacial movement
d. reversals of the Earths magnetic field
e. they are all developments that helped form the theory of plate tectonics
feedback
a. volcanoes and earth quakes centered on ocean
trenches
b. sea floor spreading
c. glacial movement glacial movement has nothing
to do with plate tectonic theory
d. reversals of the Earths magnetic field
a, b, and d - In particular, four major scientific
developments spurred the formulation of the plate-tectonics theory: (1)
demonstration of the ruggedness and youth of the ocean floor; (2) confirmation
of repeated reversals of the Earth magnetic field in the geologic past;
(3) emergence of the seafloor-spreading hypothesis and associated recycling
of oceanic crust; and(4) precise documentation that the world's earthquake
and volcanic activity is concentrated along oceanic trenches and submarine
mountain ranges
15. The San Andreas fault is a ___________ fault.
a. pacific
b. creep
c. thrust fault
d. blind thrust fault
e. strike-slip
feedback
a. pacific this is the ocean that the ocean
parallels
b. creep movement along the San Andreas can
occur either in sudden jolts or in a slow, steady motion called creep
c. thrust fault - a thrust fault has a
plane which is inclined to the Earth's surface and one side moves
upward over the other. It is the same as a blind thrust fault
d. blind thrust fault - the Santa Monica Mountains
Thrust Fault is one of several smaller, concealed faults and is called
a blind thrust fault. It lies south of the San Andreas Fault zone
where it bends to the east, roughly paralleling the Transverse Mountain
Range. It is the same as a thrust fault
e. strike-slip - like all transform plate
boundaries, the San Andreas is a strike-slip fault, movement along which
is dominantly horizontal
16. A bathymetric survey is:
a. a study of bathtubs
b. deep-sea line soundings
c. rock core measurements
d. ice core measurements
e. middle ground measurements
feedback
a. NO!
b. deep-sea line soundings - measurements
of ocean depths greatly increased in the 19th century, when deep-sea line
soundings (bathymetric surveys) were routinely made in the Atlantic and
Caribbean
c. rock core measurements
d. ice core measurements
e. middle ground measurements
17. The most prominent topographic feature on the surface of the planet is:
a. the great wall of china
b. the global mid-ocean ridge
c. the Himalayan mountains
d. the Rocky Mountains
e. the Great Lakes
feedback
a. the great wall of china this is a man-made
feature, not a topographic one
b. the global mid-ocean ridge this is a
great mountain range on the ocean floor that virtually encircles the Earth.
It is called the global mid-ocean ridge, and is an immense submarine
mountain chain -- more than 50,000 kilometers (km) long and, in places,
more than 800 km across that zig-zags between the continents, winding
its way around the globe like the seam on a baseball. It rises
an average of about 4,500 meters(m) above the sea floor and overshadows
all the mountains in the United States except for Mount McKinley (Denali)
in Alaska (6,194 m). Though hidden beneath the ocean surface, the global
mid-ocean ridge system is the most prominent topographic feature on the
surface of our planet
c. the Himalayan mountains see answer b
d. the Rocky Mountains see answer b
e. the Great Lakes see answer b
18. Which rock contains a magnetic mineral?
a. basalt
b. magnetite
c. magnetometers
d. sedimentary
e. magma
feedback
a. basalt an iron-rich, volcanic rock making
up the ocean floor-- contains a strongly magnetic mineral called magnetite
and can locally distort compass readings
b. magnetite is a magnetic mineral contained
in basalt
c. magnetometers instruments used to measure
magnetic fields
d. sedimentary this is a type of rock that
has been deposited in layers over millions of years
e. magma when magma (molten rock containing
minerals and gases) cools to form solid volcanic rock, the alignment of
the magnetite grains is "locked in," recording the Earth's magnetic orientation
or polarity (normal or reversed) at the time of cooling
19. Stripes of rock parallel to the mid-oceanic ridge have alternating magnetic polarity. This supports the theory of:
a. plate tectonics
b. sea floor spreading
c. deep sea volcanic activity
d. bathymetry
e. radioactive decay
feedback
a. plate tectonics the theory of moving lithospheric
plates
b. sea floor spreading - alternating stripes
of magnetically different rock were laid out in rows on either side of
the mid-ocean ridge as the sea floor spread. The overall pattern,
defined by these alternating bands of normally and reversely polarized
rock, became known as magnetic striping.
c. deep sea volcanic activity volcanic activity
does not lead to strips of alternatively polarized rock
d. bathymetry - measurements of ocean depths
by deep-sea line soundings
e. radioactive decay - a spontaneous process
that is the basis of "isotopic clocks" used to date rocks, involves the
loss of particles from the nucleus of an isotope (the parent) to form an
isotope of a new element (the daughter)