Plate Tectonics

Question 1

What is the distance to the center of the earth?

Answer 1

About 6,400 kilometers

Question 2

What is the lithosphere?

Answer 2

The lithosphere consists of the crust and upper mantle.

Question 3

What is continental drift?

Answer 3

Continental drift is an idea that the continents were once a single landmass called Pangaea.

Question 4

What is plate tectonics?

Answer 4

Plate tectonics is a theory that the earth’s crust is broken into plates that move.

Question 5

Where is the ring of fire located?

Answer 5

The ring of fire is located in the Pacific ocean or the Pacific belt.

Question 6

Transform boundary

 - type of movement
 - what happens

Answer 6

.Sliding movement

.earthquakes

Question 7

.Divergent boundary

 - type of movement 
 - what happens

Answer 7

. Spreading

. mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes

Question 8

.Convergent boundary

 - type of movement
 - what happens

Answer 8

.Colliding

. Earthquakes and mountains-and volcanoes if oceanic

Question 9

Crust

Answer 9

Solid

Question 10

Mantle

Answer 10

Magma moving in convection currents

Question 11

Outer core

Answer 11

Liquid

Question 12

Inner core

Answer 12

.Solid metal

.Hottest layer

Question 13

Are the size and shape of the continents similar to the size and shape of plates? Explain.

Answer 13

Plates are larger than continents because they include the oceans. They are not the same shape but they are similar.

Question 14

Would hours and minutes be useful in measuring events in earths history? Explain.

Answer 14

Minutes and hours are to small of increments to measure such a big amount of time.

Question 15

Describe three major events that occurred before modern humans and describe the order they occurred.

Answer 15

• dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago
• Pangaea breaks apart 200 million years ago
• oldest rock 500 million years

Question 16

What is subduction?

Answer 16

When 2 crusts collide, one crust moves under the other.

Question 17

In your own words explain the theory of plate tectonics.

Answer 17

Pieces of the earth’s surface both ocean and continents are separated by plates.

Question 18

Explain how earthquakes, volcanoes, and a mountain formation are related to play tectonics. Be specific.

Answer 18

Earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains form when plates either collide spread or slide.

Question 19

Should nuclear waste be stored at a subduction zone? Provide two pieces of evidence why or why not.

Answer 19

Nuclear waste should not be stored at a subduction zone. It would be surrounded in magma which is extremely hot and is not impermeable so if the waste leaked it would be moving in the convection currents all around the mantle. Then it could resurface through an active volcano.

Question 20

What is the approximate age of the earth?

Answer 20

4.5 billion years old.

Question 21

What type of boundary does subduction occur?

Answer 21

Subduction occurs at oceanic convergent boundaries.

Question 22

Why do volcanoes form at divergent boundaries?

Answer 22

When the plates move apart it produces a gap where molten lava fills.