Plates of the Lithosphere and it's theories part 1

Question 1

What are the huge fractures in the lithosphere called?

Answer 1

plates

Question 2

The plates of the lithosphere in the ocean are:

Answer 2

soft (low in silica)

Question 3

The plates of the lithosphere on continents are:

Answer 3

hard (high in silica)

Question 4

Alfred Wegener hypothesized a giant super continent from the paleozoic and meozoic era known as:

Answer 4

Pangaea

Question 5

Continental Drift was a term coined by?

Answer 5

Alfred Wegener

Question 6

What was Wegener’s four pieces of evidence supporting his idea of continental drift?

Answer 6

Fossils, Fit, Glaciers, and Rock Types

Question 7

The mechanism behind continental drift was found by:

Answer 7

Author Holmes who named the mechanism Thermal Convection.

Question 8

What is the basic theory behind Thermal Convection?

Answer 8

Hot magma rises and cold magma sinks.

Question 9

The huge crack in the Atlantic ocean that is continuously creating new ocean flooring is:

Answer 9

The Mid-Ocean Ridge

Question 10

What type of rock forms from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?

Answer 10

Basaltic igneous rock

Question 11

Mid-Ocean Ridge is:

Answer 11

Large mountainous ridges formed along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Question 12

The crust closer to the mid-Atlantic ridge are what in relevance to the crust closer to continents?
(This proves Hess’s theory of the spreading seafloor)

Answer 12

The crust closer to the ridge is newer(younger) in age than those found further away from the ridge.

Question 13

The explanation of why fossils were where we found them is explained by what theory?

Answer 13

The Plate-Tectonic Theory

Question 14

Define: Plate-Tectonic Theory

Answer 14

The formation, movement, and destruction of lithospheric plates.

Question 15

What is the be way of locating the plate boundaries?

Answer 15

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and mountain ridges mark locations for these.

Question 16

What are the 3 types of plate movement?

Answer 16

Divergent, Convergent, Transform

Question 17

Divergent plate movement is defined as:

Answer 17

tensional forces that result in plates moving apart (away from each other)

Question 18

Pangaea is best described as what type of plate movement?

Answer 18

Divergent Plate Movement

Question 19

When divergent movement happens on a continent, what is the result?

Answer 19

Rift valleys

ex. Colorado Mountains

Question 20

What are the three stages o Divergent boundaries?

Answer 20

(1) Rift Valleys
(2) Small seas
(3) Oceans

Question 21

What place has experienced two of the three divergent boundaries and will experience the third in the future?

Answer 21

Madagascar

Question 22

A lot of fossils are being found in rift valleys, because the Earth’s crust is being ripped apart. What is a famous rift valley where numerous fossils have been found?

Answer 22

The African Rift Valley

Question 23

Convergent plate movement is best defined as:

Answer 23

compressional (squeeze together) forces that result in plates colliding with one another.

Question 24

What are the 3 types of convergent plate boundaries?

Answer 24

Ocean -> Ocean
Ocean -> Continent
Continent -> Continent

Question 25

What happens in Ocean -> Ocean convergence?

Answer 25

friction creates small segments of a magma source and once it burns through the oceanic crust, volcanoes form resulting in "Island Arcs"

Question 26

What happens in Ocean -> Continent convergence?

Answer 26

friction creates a heat source as the oceanic crust is toppled by the continental crust resulting in volcanoes on land.

Question 27

What happens in Continent -> Continent convergence?

Answer 27

all other plates have to adjust to the collision of C -> C

Question 28

What is an example of C -> C convergence?

Answer 28

The Himalayas and India. small oceanic creatures are found in the sedimentary rocks at the very top of the mountain.

Question 29

When continents collide, subduction stops, and then what happens to the colliding plates?

Answer 29

crust piles on top of other crust resulting in a way mountains are made.