GEOLOGY FINAL EXAM 2026 2027 STUDY
GUIDE PHYSICAL GEOLOGY ROCKS AND
MINERALS PLATE TECTONICS PRACTICE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Observations for seafloor spreading - CORRECT
ANSWERS -In this hypothesis, hot buoyant mantle rises
up a mid-ocean ridge, causing the ridge to rise upward. ...
If the oceanic crust reaches a deep sea trench, it sinks into
the trench and is lost into the mantle.
Explain how the oceanic lithosphere changes from the
mid-ocean ridge to subduction zones - CORRECT
,ANSWERS -where hot magma upwells, and then cools to
form plates as the material moves away from the
spreading center. As the plate cools, heat flow decreases
and the seafloor deepens
Contrast lithosphere and asthenosphere - CORRECT
ANSWERS -Lithosphere is made up of Earth's outermost
layer, the crust, and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
In comparison, the asthenosphere is the upper portion of
Earth's mantle (which is also the middle layer of Earth).
The lithosphere lies over the asthenosphere.
Convergent boundaries - CORRECT ANSWERS -Places
where tectonic plates are coming together
,Divergent boundaries - CORRECT ANSWERS -Plate
tectonic boundary where lithospheric plates are moving
apart.
transform boundaries - CORRECT ANSWERS -plates
slide past each other causes earthquakes (ex: San Andreas
Fault)
Characterize the process driving plate motion - CORRECT
ANSWERS -The motion of tectonic plates is driven by
convection in the mantle. In simple terms, convection is
the idea that dense, cold things sink, and buoyant, warm
things rise. In the earth the cold sinking things are slabs
(subducting plates) and the warm things are plumes, or
just rising material from deeper in the mantle.
, Explain the angle between the magnetic field and the
surface of the Earth at a given location - CORRECT
ANSWERS -is a magnetic dipole.
earthquake - CORRECT ANSWERS -a sudden and violent
shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great
destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's
crust or volcanic action.
calculate earthquake magnitude - CORRECT ANSWERS -
The Richter magnitude of an earthquake is determined
from the logarithm of the amplitude of waves recorded by
seismographs. Adjustments are included for the variation
GUIDE PHYSICAL GEOLOGY ROCKS AND
MINERALS PLATE TECTONICS PRACTICE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Observations for seafloor spreading - CORRECT
ANSWERS -In this hypothesis, hot buoyant mantle rises
up a mid-ocean ridge, causing the ridge to rise upward. ...
If the oceanic crust reaches a deep sea trench, it sinks into
the trench and is lost into the mantle.
Explain how the oceanic lithosphere changes from the
mid-ocean ridge to subduction zones - CORRECT
,ANSWERS -where hot magma upwells, and then cools to
form plates as the material moves away from the
spreading center. As the plate cools, heat flow decreases
and the seafloor deepens
Contrast lithosphere and asthenosphere - CORRECT
ANSWERS -Lithosphere is made up of Earth's outermost
layer, the crust, and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
In comparison, the asthenosphere is the upper portion of
Earth's mantle (which is also the middle layer of Earth).
The lithosphere lies over the asthenosphere.
Convergent boundaries - CORRECT ANSWERS -Places
where tectonic plates are coming together
,Divergent boundaries - CORRECT ANSWERS -Plate
tectonic boundary where lithospheric plates are moving
apart.
transform boundaries - CORRECT ANSWERS -plates
slide past each other causes earthquakes (ex: San Andreas
Fault)
Characterize the process driving plate motion - CORRECT
ANSWERS -The motion of tectonic plates is driven by
convection in the mantle. In simple terms, convection is
the idea that dense, cold things sink, and buoyant, warm
things rise. In the earth the cold sinking things are slabs
(subducting plates) and the warm things are plumes, or
just rising material from deeper in the mantle.
, Explain the angle between the magnetic field and the
surface of the Earth at a given location - CORRECT
ANSWERS -is a magnetic dipole.
earthquake - CORRECT ANSWERS -a sudden and violent
shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great
destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's
crust or volcanic action.
calculate earthquake magnitude - CORRECT ANSWERS -
The Richter magnitude of an earthquake is determined
from the logarithm of the amplitude of waves recorded by
seismographs. Adjustments are included for the variation
