Earth Structure And Plate Tectonics Test Bank Docx Ch.2

Investigating Oceanography, 3e (Sverdrup)

Chapter 2 Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics

1) Identify all of the types of plate boundaries that are associated with active volcanism.

A) Divergent

B) Ocean-Ocean Convergent

C) Transform

D) Continent-Continent Convergent

E) Ocean-Continent Convergent

2) Identify all of the different observations Alfred Wegener used to support his theory of continental drift.

A) Seafloor magnetic anomalies

B) Geographic fit of the continents

C) Studies of fossil plants and animals

D) Dipping zones of earthquakes at ocean trenches

E) Patterns of glaciation

F) Shallow earthquakes along transform faults

G) Matching bodies of rock on either side of the Atlantic

H) Alignment of mountain ranges when the Atlantic is closed

J) High heat flow at oceanic ridges

3) Identify all of the different observations used to support Harry Hess's theory of seafloor spreading.

A) Seafloor magnetic anomalies

B) Geographic fit of the continents

C) Studies of fossil plants and animals

D) Dipping zones of earthquakes at ocean trenches

E) Patterns of glaciation

F) Shallow earthquakes along transform faults

G) Matching bodies of rock on either side of the Atlantic

H) Alignment of mountain ranges when the Atlantic is closed

J) High heat flow at oceanic ridges

4) Earth's inner core is liquid whereas its outer core is solid.

5) The refraction and shadow patterns of seismic P-waves and S-waves indicate the dimensions and properties of Earth's layers.

6) Shear waves do not pass through a solid-liquid boundary between Earth's layers. Compressional waves can pass this type of boundary.

7) Oceanic-type crust is more dense than continental-type crust.

8) The continental landmasses are less dense than the mantle and are buoyed up by depressing the underlying mantle.

9) The mid-ocean ridges and rises are spreading centers where new oceanic crust is created.

10) The thickness of deep-sea sediments increases with distance from a spreading center.

11) The largest lithospheric plate is the Pacific Plate.

12) The edge of an active continental margin bordered by a deep-sea trench is wide and shallow with deep deposits of land-derived sediments.

13) Volcanic activity associated with subduction zones is more gentle and less explosive than volcanic activity associated with hot spots and mid-ocean ridges.

14) The steeper profile of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge compared to the East Pacific Rise indicates that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the faster spreading center.

15) The age of the seamounts from Hawaii to Midway Island increases in age from east to west.

16) The North Atlantic Ocean was the first modern ocean to open during the breakup of Pangaea.

17) Isostatic columns of crustal material produce equal pressures deep within the mantle.

18) The San Andreas Fault is an example of a transform fault.

19) Epicenters are points on Earth's surface directly above a hot spot.

20) Deep earthquakes, (below 100 km, or 60 mi) are usually associated with oceanic ridges.

21) The deep mantle below the asthenosphere is called the mesosphere.

22) P waves travel more quickly than S waves.

23) P waves travel only along the surface of the Earth.

24) S waves are able to travel through both solid and liquid.

25) Continental crust is generally thicker and less dense than oceanic crust.

26) The taller a mountain is, the deeper its root will extend into the asthenosphere.

27) Hess's 1960s theory of mantle convection and seafloor spreading was essentially correct.

28) The oldest oceanic crust is generally in the center of the ocean basin near the mid-ocean ridge or rise system.

29) Sediment thickness on the oceanic crust tends to be greatest in the center of ocean basins.

30) Based on the current directions of plate motion, China and the West Coast of the United States are getting closer.

31) Volcanic activity is common at transform plate boundaries.

32) The thickness of oceanic crust increases with age.

33) The deepest earthquakes occur in subduction zones at oceanic-oceanic plate convergent boundaries.

34) California is an example of a passive continental margin.

35) Deposits of sediments are usually thicker along passive continental margins.

36) Spreading at mid-ocean ridges tends to occur in increments rather than continuously.

37) The density of Earth materials ________ as the core is approached.

A) remains the same

B) decreases

C) increases

D) increases then decreases

E) decreases then increases

38) The Moho is located between the ________.

A) lithosphere and the asthenosphere

B) crust and the mantle

C) mantle and the outer core

D) inner and outer cores

E) continental margin and the abyssal plain

39) Which of the following help us believe that Earth's mass is distributed spherically and uniformly around Earth's center?

A) Lack of roughness of Earth's surface

B) Earth's spherical shape

C) Lack of rotational wobble

D) Earth's spherical shape and lack of rotational wobble

E) Lack of roughness of Earth's surface, Earth's spherical shape, and lack of rotational wobble

40) Which of Earth's layers contains the greatest volume of material?

A) Inner core

B) Outer core

C) Mantle

D) Lithosphere

E) Outer crust

41) The deepest portion of the lithosphere is formed from ________.

A) oceanic basalt

B) terrestrial granite

C) a combination of basalt and granite

D) mantle material

E) the Moho

42) The theory of drifting continents was proposed by ________.

A) John Murray

B) Matthew F. Maury

C) Alfred Wegener

D) Charles Darwin

E) Robert Ballard

43) The mechanism causing lithospheric plates to move is thought to be ________.

A) convection in the mantle

B) slab pull caused by a subducting lithosphere

C) tidal forces

D) Earth's rotation

E) a combination of convection in the mantle and slab pull caused by subducting lithosphere

44) Higher seafloor heat flow values are found ________.

A) along coastlines

B) in the middle of ocean basins

C) near ocean ridge systems

D) associated with abyssal hills

E) along the edges of trenches

45) Which of the following are found along subduction zones?

A) Oceanic trenches

B) Active earthquake zones

C) Island arc systems

D) All of these are correct.

E) None of these is correct.

46) Magnetic stripes on the seafloor are created at ________.

A) subduction zones

B) spreading centers

C) abyssal plains

D) subduction zones and spreading centers

E) subduction zones, spreading centers, and abyssal plains

47) Plates move horizontally past each other along ________.

A) transform faults

B) convergent plate boundaries

C) divergent plate boundaries

D) the rift valley

E) hot spots

48) The Pacific Plate is carrying Baja California and the coastal cities of Southern California ________ the continent of North America.

A) away from (west)

B) toward (east)

C) southward along

D) northward along

E) None of these is correct; there is no motion in this region.

49) Thinning of Earth's crust and the resulting faulting is called ________.

A) convection

B) subduction

C) folding

D) rifting

E) trailing

50) The deep-ocean trenches are usually associated with ________.

A) volcanism

B) island arc systems

C) earthquakes

D) All of these are correct.

E) None of these is correct.

51) Seafloor spreading is continuing at a rate of approximately ________.

A) 1 to 10 cm/year

B) 1 to 10 m/year

C) 1 to 10 km/year

D) 1 to 100 cm/year

E) 1 to 100 m/year

52) A fixed volcanic hot spot on Earth tends to produce a ________ on a moving plate.

A) series of volcanic peaks

B) high landmass with a fixed location

C) transform fault system

D) submarine canyon and associated abyssal hills

E) trench

53) The present oceans have been created during the last ________.

A) 2250 million years

B) 225 million years

C) 20 million years

D) 2 million years

E) 2 billion years

54) Which of the following occurred during the Paleozoic era?

A) Landmasses were strung along Earth's equator.

B) Landmasses drifted across the South Pole.

C) Landmasses came together to form Pangaea.

D) All of these are correct.

E) None of these is correct.

55) A program of deep-sea drilling for cores from the ocean's bottom is carried out by the ________.

A) Kon-Tiki

B) Fram

C) JOIDES Resolution

D) Calypso

E) Beagle

56) The oceans' oldest sediments are found ________.

A) adjacent to a rift valley

B) on top of the basalt layer, far from spreading centers

C) adjacent to a transform fault

D) at the surface of sediment layers, far from spreading centers

E) in hot spots

57) During the next magnetic reversal, the magnetic force field surrounding Earth will shift by about ________.

A) 45°

B) 90°

C) 180°

D) 270°

E) 360°

58) The motion between the two sides of a transform fault is greatest ________.

A) outside the adjacent ridge axes

B) north of the adjacent ridge axes

C) between the adjacent ridge axes

D) south of the adjacent ridge axes

E) east or west of the adjacent ridge axes

59) The trailing margin of a continental landmass ________ than its leading margin.

A) is wider

B) shows less tectonic activity

C) is more stable

D) is wider and is more stable

E) All of these choices are correct.

60) Which method is being used to investigate the structure of the mantle?

A) Isostasy

B) Measurement of seafloor heat flow

C) Seismic tomography

D) Subduction

E) Radiometric dating

61) The crust and the mantle are divided into the following layers in order of increasing depth:

A) mesosphere, lithosphere, asthenosphere

B) asthenosphere, lithosphere, mesosphere

C) lithosphere, mesosphere, asthenosphere

D) lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere

E) asthenosphere, mesosphere, lithosphere

62) The east coast of the United States is an example of a(n) ________ continental margin.

A) passive

B) active

C) trailing

D) leading

E) passive and trailing

63) Seafloor spreading can be detected by ________.

A) changes in water temperature

B) changes in water chemistry

C) acoustic monitoring

D) submersible observation of the seafloor

E) All of these are correct.

64) Which of the Earth's layers has the greatest density?

A) Core

B) Mantle

C) Crust

D) Lithosphere

E) Asthenosphere

65) Which layer of the Earth contains the greatest mass?

A) Core

B) Mantle

C) Crust

D) Lithosphere

E) Asthenosphere

66) Which layer is believed to behave most like a liquid?

A) Outer core

B) Mantle

C) Crust

D) Lithosphere

E) Inner core

67) Which statement is true about continental crust?

A) It is composed of granitic-type rock and has a higher density than oceanic crust.

B) It is composed of basaltic-type rock and has a higher density than oceanic crust.

C) It is composed of granitic-type rock and has a lower density than oceanic crust.

D) It is composed of basaltic-type rock and has a lower density than oceanic crust.

E) It is composed of granitic-type rock and has the same density as oceanic crust.

68) When talking about plate tectonics, which of the Earth's layers comprises the plates?

A) Crust

B) Mantle

C) Core

D) Lithosphere

E) Asthenosphere

69) What is the approximate length of the mid-ocean ridge system that extends around the globe through all of the major ocean basins?

A) 6500,000 km

B) 650,000 km

C) 65,000 km

D) 6,500 km

E) 650 km

70) Volcanic activity occurs at all of the following except ________.

A) convergent boundaries between two oceanic plates

B) continental rift valleys

C) convergent boundaries between two continental plates

D) mid-ocean ridges

E) convergent boundary between a continental and oceanic plate

71) Earthquakes occur at all of the following except ________.

A) convergent boundaries between two oceanic plates

B) continental rift valleys

C) convergent boundaries between two continental plates

D) mid-ocean ridges

E) Earthquakes occur at all of the above settings

72) The density of the inner core reaches a maximum of about ________ grams/cm3.

A) 150

B) 70

C) 52

D) 31

E) 16

73) List the following plates in order of largest to smallest:

A) North American, Pacific, Australian, Caribbean, Indian

B) Pacific, Indian, North American, Australian, Caribbean

C) Indian, Pacific, North American, Caribbean, Australian

D) Pacific, North American, Australian, Indian, Caribbean

E) Pacific, Australian, North American, Indian, Caribbean

74) Throughout time, continents break apart and collide and ocean basins open and close. This cyclical process is known as the ________.

A) Wilson cycle

B) Wegener cycle

C) lithospheric cycle

D) Benioff cycle

E) Richter cycle

75) Before Pangaea, there was an earlier supercontinent we call ________.

A) Panthalassa

B) Gorda

C) Rodinia

D) Lefse

E) Neogenia

76) Seismic surface waves travel at about the same speed as ocean waves.

77) Over 170 reversals of Earth's magnetic field have been recorded in the past 80 million years.

78) Why does Earth have dry land?

A) There is not enough water to cover the surface completely.

B) All planets of the solar system have dry land.

C) Earth has continental crust, which rides isostatically higher than oceanic crust because it is relatively thick and less dense.

D) The mid-ocean ridges push up the bottom of the seafloor above sea level. Eventually there will not be any ocean left.

E) All of these are correct.

79) Evidence supporting the theory of continental drift includes ________.

A) the fit of continental margins on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean

B) the presence of similar mountain belts along continental margins across oceanic basins

C) the distribution of fossil organisms

D) the presence of similar glacial patterns across oceanic basins

E) All of these are correct.

80) Fracture zones ________.

A) are characterized by volcanism

B) are characterized by earthquakes

C) separate plates that move in different directions

D) are a source of high heat flux

E) None of these is correct.

81) All of the following statements apply to ocean spreading centers, except ________.

A) they are part of mid-ocean ridge systems

B) they are the location of volcanism

C) they are characterized by deep earthquakes

D) they are a divergent boundary

E) they are typically shallower than surrounding abyssal plains

82) Oceanic-oceanic plate collision ________.

A) results in the newer, denser oceanic plate to subduct under the older, lighter plate

B) results in the older, denser oceanic plate to subduct under the newer, lighter plate

C) exhibits no volcanism whatsoever

D) exhibits no earthquakes whatsoever

E) None of these is correct.

83) With increasing distance away from the mid-ocean ridge ________.

A) the oceanic crust gets older

B) the seafloor gets deeper

C) the sediment layer gets thicker

D) All of these

E) None of these is correct.

84) Which of the following terms consistently describe an oceanic-continental subduction zone?

A) Shallow to deep earthquakes, volcanism, older oceanic crust, ocean trenches

B) Shallow to deep earthquakes, no volcanism, younger oceanic crust, ocean trenches

C) Only shallow earthquakes, volcanism, younger oceanic crust, ocean trenches

D) Only shallow earthquakes, volcanism, older oceanic crust, ocean trenches

E) No earthquakes, volcanism, older oceanic crust, thick sediment

85) The Hawaiian Islands are ________.

A) part of an island arc formed by a subducting plate

B) part of an island arc formed by a passive margin

C) part of an island chain formed by a subducting plate

D) part of an island chain formed by a passive margin

E) part of an island chain formed by a hot spot

86) A hot spot trace typically includes ________.

A) higher islands as one moves away from the hot spot

B) more atolls as one moves toward the hot spot

C) more volcanism as one moves toward the hot spot

D) older seamounts as one moves toward the hot spot

E) an island arc

87) Subduction explains the fact that the oldest oceanic crust is close to 200 million years old, compared to the oldest continental rocks that are ________.

A) 4.4 million years old

B) 140 million years old

C) 1.4 billion years old

D) 4.4 billion years old

E) 14.4 billion years old