ESS 101 LABORATORY 2 PLATE TECTONICS
AND THE ROCK CYCLE COMPREHENSIVE
ASSESSMENT 2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ Rocks with a high content of this mineral are light in color.
Answer: Silica
◉ The volcanic equivalent to granite. Answer: Rhyolite
◉ evidence of plate tectonics: fossils. Answer: patterns across
continents where evolution of same species in two different
locations would be incosistnet with the theory of evolution or could
be explained by migration suggesting the plates were joined
◉ evidence of plate tectonics: continental margins. Answer: coasts of
Africa and South Americ, Europe and North America (extended
continental crust sumberged in oceans) match up and gaps can be
explained by coastal erosion/deposition, rise in sea levels (eustatic
change) or change in land level (isostatic change)
◉ evidence of plate tectonics: ocean bathymetry. Answer: reflects
global time scale of tectonics: reveal triple junction between African,
Indo-Australian and Antarctic plates
, ◉ evidence of plate tectonics: paleomagnetism. Answer: patterns
and stripes of the sea floors magnetism suggest plate tectonics as
rocks formed and "point" toward the current pole meaning the sea
floor must be spreading at a divergent plate boundary
◉ formula for slab depth. Answer: (tan)^-1 (y/x) in km
◉ Two elements that make up the Earth's core. Answer: Iron and
Nickle
◉ Layer in Earth that creates its magnetic field. Answer: Outer
(liquid) core
◉ Earth's mag field protects us from what?. Answer: Solar wind
(ionized solar particles)
◉ Convection currents occur in which layer of Earth?. Answer:
Aesthenosphere
◉ Which layer of Earth makes up the crust?. Answer: Lithosphere
◉ The PNW is on what kind of plate boundary?. Answer: Oceanic-
Continental Convergent boundary (subdcution)
AND THE ROCK CYCLE COMPREHENSIVE
ASSESSMENT 2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ Rocks with a high content of this mineral are light in color.
Answer: Silica
◉ The volcanic equivalent to granite. Answer: Rhyolite
◉ evidence of plate tectonics: fossils. Answer: patterns across
continents where evolution of same species in two different
locations would be incosistnet with the theory of evolution or could
be explained by migration suggesting the plates were joined
◉ evidence of plate tectonics: continental margins. Answer: coasts of
Africa and South Americ, Europe and North America (extended
continental crust sumberged in oceans) match up and gaps can be
explained by coastal erosion/deposition, rise in sea levels (eustatic
change) or change in land level (isostatic change)
◉ evidence of plate tectonics: ocean bathymetry. Answer: reflects
global time scale of tectonics: reveal triple junction between African,
Indo-Australian and Antarctic plates
, ◉ evidence of plate tectonics: paleomagnetism. Answer: patterns
and stripes of the sea floors magnetism suggest plate tectonics as
rocks formed and "point" toward the current pole meaning the sea
floor must be spreading at a divergent plate boundary
◉ formula for slab depth. Answer: (tan)^-1 (y/x) in km
◉ Two elements that make up the Earth's core. Answer: Iron and
Nickle
◉ Layer in Earth that creates its magnetic field. Answer: Outer
(liquid) core
◉ Earth's mag field protects us from what?. Answer: Solar wind
(ionized solar particles)
◉ Convection currents occur in which layer of Earth?. Answer:
Aesthenosphere
◉ Which layer of Earth makes up the crust?. Answer: Lithosphere
◉ The PNW is on what kind of plate boundary?. Answer: Oceanic-
Continental Convergent boundary (subdcution)
