Geology Exam #1 Questions With Answers
Who proposed the theory of Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener.
In which ocean are most of the world's convergent plate boundaries located?
Pacific Ocean.
The east coast of North America is a what boundary? The West coast of South America is what
boundary?
Not a plate boundary.
A convergent plate boundary.
What is associated with a divergent plate boundary? Name a divergent plate boundary.
Earthquakes, volcanicm and rifting.
The mid-atlantic Ridge.
At what type of boundary do the deepest earthquakes occur?
Convergent, divergent and transform boundaries.
Approximately how deep (below sea level) are the deepest deep-sea trenches?
10km.
What is associated with convergent plate boundaries? Name a type of convergent boundary.
Earthquakes, deep-sea trenches and volcanoes.
Subduction Zone.
What concept was developed earliest?
Continental Drift.
What mountain range formed as a result of ocean-continent convergence?
The Andes.
When a deep-sea trench is located next to a continent, where would you expect to find active
volcanoes?
On the continent side of the trench.
What plate is subducting beneath southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States?
The Juan de Fuca Plate.
What is an example of a transform plate boundary?
The San Andreas Fault.
What type of boundary is parallel to the direction of plate boundary?
Transform Plate boundary.
, Which of the following mountain ranges is the product of continent-continent convergence?
The Himalayas.
The North American plate is bounded by ______ plate boundaries.
Convergent, divergent and transform.
What can be used to determine the rates of plate motion?
Astronomical positioning, seafloor magnetic anomalies, and global positioning system.
How old are the fossils of the reptile Mesosaurus found in Africa and South America that suggest the
continents were once together?
About 300 million years old.
"Normal" magnetized crust at the spreading center formed during the _______epoch.
Brunhes.
Modern seafloor spreading rates range from____________.
2 to 15 centimeters per year.
What two scientists related the positive and negative magnetic bands on the seafloor to seafloor
spreading?
F.J. Vine and D.H. Mathews.
What is used to determine the age of seafloor samples recovered by the deep-sea drilling project?
Foraminifera Fossils.
What plate is moving the fastest? What drives plate tectonics and what is the most important force?
The Pacific Plate.
Mantle convection.
The pulling force of a sinking lithospheric slab, a plate sliding off a mid-ocean ridge and the suction
force of a retreating subduction zone.
What are isochrons? Isochrons on the seafloor are roughtly_______the ridge axis along which they
were created.
On a map of the seafloor, the boundaries between normally magnetixed oceanic crust and reversed.
Parallel to and symmetric about.
When was the supercontinent of Pangea assembled? When was the theory of plate tectonics
developed?
Approximately 250 million years ago.
1960s.
How old are the oldest rocks on the ocean floor? The oldest continental rocks are________than the
oldes oceanic rocks.
Who proposed the theory of Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener.
In which ocean are most of the world's convergent plate boundaries located?
Pacific Ocean.
The east coast of North America is a what boundary? The West coast of South America is what
boundary?
Not a plate boundary.
A convergent plate boundary.
What is associated with a divergent plate boundary? Name a divergent plate boundary.
Earthquakes, volcanicm and rifting.
The mid-atlantic Ridge.
At what type of boundary do the deepest earthquakes occur?
Convergent, divergent and transform boundaries.
Approximately how deep (below sea level) are the deepest deep-sea trenches?
10km.
What is associated with convergent plate boundaries? Name a type of convergent boundary.
Earthquakes, deep-sea trenches and volcanoes.
Subduction Zone.
What concept was developed earliest?
Continental Drift.
What mountain range formed as a result of ocean-continent convergence?
The Andes.
When a deep-sea trench is located next to a continent, where would you expect to find active
volcanoes?
On the continent side of the trench.
What plate is subducting beneath southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States?
The Juan de Fuca Plate.
What is an example of a transform plate boundary?
The San Andreas Fault.
What type of boundary is parallel to the direction of plate boundary?
Transform Plate boundary.
, Which of the following mountain ranges is the product of continent-continent convergence?
The Himalayas.
The North American plate is bounded by ______ plate boundaries.
Convergent, divergent and transform.
What can be used to determine the rates of plate motion?
Astronomical positioning, seafloor magnetic anomalies, and global positioning system.
How old are the fossils of the reptile Mesosaurus found in Africa and South America that suggest the
continents were once together?
About 300 million years old.
"Normal" magnetized crust at the spreading center formed during the _______epoch.
Brunhes.
Modern seafloor spreading rates range from____________.
2 to 15 centimeters per year.
What two scientists related the positive and negative magnetic bands on the seafloor to seafloor
spreading?
F.J. Vine and D.H. Mathews.
What is used to determine the age of seafloor samples recovered by the deep-sea drilling project?
Foraminifera Fossils.
What plate is moving the fastest? What drives plate tectonics and what is the most important force?
The Pacific Plate.
Mantle convection.
The pulling force of a sinking lithospheric slab, a plate sliding off a mid-ocean ridge and the suction
force of a retreating subduction zone.
What are isochrons? Isochrons on the seafloor are roughtly_______the ridge axis along which they
were created.
On a map of the seafloor, the boundaries between normally magnetixed oceanic crust and reversed.
Parallel to and symmetric about.
When was the supercontinent of Pangea assembled? When was the theory of plate tectonics
developed?
Approximately 250 million years ago.
1960s.
How old are the oldest rocks on the ocean floor? The oldest continental rocks are________than the
oldes oceanic rocks.
