UNIT 3 - PART 1 PLATE TECTONICS QUESTIONS ANSWERED CORRECTLY LATEST UPDATE 2026
Layers of the Earth - Answers crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
Asthenosphere - Answers The soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats.
Lithosphere - Answers the solid, outer layer of the earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper
part of the mantle
seismic waves - Answers vibrations that travel through Earth carrying the energy released during an
earthquake
Tsunami - Answers a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or other
disturbance.
Evidence of the layers of earth - Answers 1.) seismic waves, tell us states of matter due to velocity of
the waves and ability of waves to travel through, or bounce off certain materials. 2.) Volcanic rocks on
Earth's surface 3.) Composition of meteorites 4.) Samples of Rock taken from below Earth's surface 5.)
Electromagnetic Anomalies 6.) Fluctuations in Earth's Gravitational field
tectonic plates - Answers a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part
of the mantle
convergent boundary - Answers A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together,
or crash into each other.
divergent boundary - Answers The boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from
each other
transform boundary - Answers A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite
directions
subduction zone - Answers in tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a
continental plate.
spreading center - Answers The region at the crest of a mid-ocean ridge, where new crust is being
formed by seafloor spreading.
Theory of Plate Tectonics - Answers State that Earth's lithosphere is broken into huge, moving slabs of
rock driven by convection currents in the mantle
Evidence for sea floor spreading - Answers magnetic stripes in ocean-floor rock, earthquake patterns,
and measurements of the ages of ocean floor rocks
Mountain Building - Answers Major geological event that occurs when continental plates of equal
density converge, resulting in mountain chains.
trench - Answers extremely deep areas in the ocean that are created by a subducting oceanic (more
dense) plate
rift valley - Answers A deep valley that forms where two continental plates move apart
Volcanism occurs at: - Answers • Divergent boundaries (i.e., rift zones)
• Convergent - oceanic-continental plates or oceanic-oceanic plates (typically subduction zones)
earthquakes occur - Answers ...along plate boundaries, fault lines and hotspots (Big Island of
Hawaii/Old Faithful in Yosemite)
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) - Answers Continental drift (1915): Hypothesized that the continents
were slowly drifting around the Earth. His hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s, when
numerous discoveries provided conclusive evidence (plate tectonics).
Harry Hess and Robert Dietz - Answers Scientists who developed theory of seafloor spreading in 1960s
volcanic island arc - Answers a chain of volcanic islands generally located a few hundred kilometers
from a trench where there is active subduction of one oceanic plate beneath another
hot spot volcanoes - Answers can arise from the ocean floor, can arise on continents, and may arise in
the interior of lithospheric plates, plates move over the hotspot causing a chain of volcanoes
convection current - Answers a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid,
causes plates to move
outer core composition - Answers liquid iron and nickel
inner core characteristics - Answers depth of 5000-6000 km, consists of solid iron alloy, intense heat
and pressure
Mantle characteristics - Answers semi-solid rock
80% of earths volume
high pressure/ heat
Layers of the Earth - Answers crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
Asthenosphere - Answers The soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats.
Lithosphere - Answers the solid, outer layer of the earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper
part of the mantle
seismic waves - Answers vibrations that travel through Earth carrying the energy released during an
earthquake
Tsunami - Answers a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or other
disturbance.
Evidence of the layers of earth - Answers 1.) seismic waves, tell us states of matter due to velocity of
the waves and ability of waves to travel through, or bounce off certain materials. 2.) Volcanic rocks on
Earth's surface 3.) Composition of meteorites 4.) Samples of Rock taken from below Earth's surface 5.)
Electromagnetic Anomalies 6.) Fluctuations in Earth's Gravitational field
tectonic plates - Answers a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part
of the mantle
convergent boundary - Answers A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together,
or crash into each other.
divergent boundary - Answers The boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from
each other
transform boundary - Answers A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite
directions
subduction zone - Answers in tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a
continental plate.
spreading center - Answers The region at the crest of a mid-ocean ridge, where new crust is being
formed by seafloor spreading.
Theory of Plate Tectonics - Answers State that Earth's lithosphere is broken into huge, moving slabs of
rock driven by convection currents in the mantle
Evidence for sea floor spreading - Answers magnetic stripes in ocean-floor rock, earthquake patterns,
and measurements of the ages of ocean floor rocks
Mountain Building - Answers Major geological event that occurs when continental plates of equal
density converge, resulting in mountain chains.
trench - Answers extremely deep areas in the ocean that are created by a subducting oceanic (more
dense) plate
rift valley - Answers A deep valley that forms where two continental plates move apart
Volcanism occurs at: - Answers • Divergent boundaries (i.e., rift zones)
• Convergent - oceanic-continental plates or oceanic-oceanic plates (typically subduction zones)
earthquakes occur - Answers ...along plate boundaries, fault lines and hotspots (Big Island of
Hawaii/Old Faithful in Yosemite)
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) - Answers Continental drift (1915): Hypothesized that the continents
were slowly drifting around the Earth. His hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s, when
numerous discoveries provided conclusive evidence (plate tectonics).
Harry Hess and Robert Dietz - Answers Scientists who developed theory of seafloor spreading in 1960s
volcanic island arc - Answers a chain of volcanic islands generally located a few hundred kilometers
from a trench where there is active subduction of one oceanic plate beneath another
hot spot volcanoes - Answers can arise from the ocean floor, can arise on continents, and may arise in
the interior of lithospheric plates, plates move over the hotspot causing a chain of volcanoes
convection current - Answers a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid,
causes plates to move
outer core composition - Answers liquid iron and nickel
inner core characteristics - Answers depth of 5000-6000 km, consists of solid iron alloy, intense heat
and pressure
Mantle characteristics - Answers semi-solid rock
80% of earths volume
high pressure/ heat
