Chapter 2 - Plate Tectonics Flashcards
The late Paleozoic supercontinent is known as ________.
Pangaea
Which of the following energy sources is thought to drive the lateral motions of Earth’s lithospheric plates?
export of heat from deep in the mantle to the top of the asthenosphere
Pull-apart rift zones are generally associated with a ________ plate boundary.
divergent
New oceanic crust and lithosphere are formed at ________.
divergent boundaries by submarine eruptions and intrusions of basaltic magma
“Cooler, older, oceanic lithosphere sinks into the mantle at ________.”
subduction zones along convergent plate boundaries
Which one of the following is an important fundamental assumption underlying the plate tectonic theory?
Earth’s diameter has been essentially constant over time.
Deep-oceanic trenches are most abundant around the rim of the ________ ocean basin.
Pacific
Deep ocean trenches are surficial evidence for ________.
sinking of oceanic lithosphere into the mantle at a subduction zone
“The ________ is an example of an active, continent-continent collision.”
northward movement of India into Eurasia
A transform plate boundary is characterized by ________.
a deep, vertical fault along which two plates slide past one another in opposite directions
A very long-lived magma source located deep in the mantle is called a ________.
hot spot
Which one of the following most accurately describes the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands?
shield volcanoes fed by a long-lived hot spot below the Pacific lithospheric plate
“Which of the following statements apply to the asthenosphere, but not the lithosphere?”
zone in the upper mantle that deforms by plastic flowage
Today, ________ is in about the same geographic position as during late Paleozoic time.
Antarctica
Earth s surface is protected from solar wind and cosmic radiation by ____________.
Earth s magnetic field
