Plate Tectonics Worksheet
Marine Science: Introduction to Plate Tectonics
Go to: Plate Tectonics: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/learning/player/lesson01.html
1
: How many earthquakes occur every year around the world?
Over 2000 Earthquakes occur every year.
2: What is the Tectonics Theory? Explain.
The Theory of Plate Tectonics says the surface of the Earth is not fixed, but is always moving, shifting the shapes, sizes, and locations of continents, creating and destroying them, and creating mountains and volcanoes.
3: Where do the Tectonic forces originate?
Below the Crust.
4: What are Earth’s 3 main layers?
CMC
, Core, Mantle, and Crust.
5: Where is Tectonic activity concentrated?
Near the surface, at the upper Mantle and mainly the Crust.
6: What is the Lithosphere? Where is it located?
In the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth.
7: What is the Asthenosphere? Why is it important to plate tectonics?
It is above the Lithosphere, it is important to plate tectonics because Heat from the core makes it move, causing the plates to move, albeit very slowly, and since there are no open spaces in the earth, they interact with one another. This is what causes plate tectonics.
8: How fast do plates move (average?)
They move an average of... as fast as our fingernails, or 36 mm a year.
9: What are the 3 types of plate boundaries?
They are divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.
10: What happens at Divergent Boundaries? Where are these mostly located?
Plates pull apart, forming narrow rift valleys, from which lava spurts and geysers spurt hot water. New crust is formed by hot magma coming up and hardening
11: What kind of rock is Oceanic Crust made of?
Oceanic Crust is chiefly made of types of Basalt.
12: What happens at Convergent Boundaries? What is often formed? Explain.
Two plates collide at these boundaries. Often, one or both plates buckle around the edges and mountain ranges are formed
13: What is Granite? Where is it found?
Granite is a hard type of rock usually formed from magma. It is found in continental Crust.
14: What happens at Transform Boundaries? What is special about transform boundaries?
A type of boundary whose relative motion is predominantly horizontal in either leftward or rightward direction.
They are very special because, as plates hit against each other, earthquakes are formed.
Go to: Plate Tectonics: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/learning/player/lesson01.html
1
: How many earthquakes occur every year around the world?
Over 2000 Earthquakes occur every year.
2: What is the Tectonics Theory? Explain.
The Theory of Plate Tectonics says the surface of the Earth is not fixed, but is always moving, shifting the shapes, sizes, and locations of continents, creating and destroying them, and creating mountains and volcanoes.
3: Where do the Tectonic forces originate?
Below the Crust.
4: What are Earth’s 3 main layers?
CMC
, Core, Mantle, and Crust.
5: Where is Tectonic activity concentrated?
Near the surface, at the upper Mantle and mainly the Crust.
6: What is the Lithosphere? Where is it located?
In the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth.
7: What is the Asthenosphere? Why is it important to plate tectonics?
It is above the Lithosphere, it is important to plate tectonics because Heat from the core makes it move, causing the plates to move, albeit very slowly, and since there are no open spaces in the earth, they interact with one another. This is what causes plate tectonics.
8: How fast do plates move (average?)
They move an average of... as fast as our fingernails, or 36 mm a year.
9: What are the 3 types of plate boundaries?
They are divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.
10: What happens at Divergent Boundaries? Where are these mostly located?
Plates pull apart, forming narrow rift valleys, from which lava spurts and geysers spurt hot water. New crust is formed by hot magma coming up and hardening
11: What kind of rock is Oceanic Crust made of?
Oceanic Crust is chiefly made of types of Basalt.
12: What happens at Convergent Boundaries? What is often formed? Explain.
Two plates collide at these boundaries. Often, one or both plates buckle around the edges and mountain ranges are formed
13: What is Granite? Where is it found?
Granite is a hard type of rock usually formed from magma. It is found in continental Crust.
14: What happens at Transform Boundaries? What is special about transform boundaries?
A type of boundary whose relative motion is predominantly horizontal in either leftward or rightward direction.
They are very special because, as plates hit against each other, earthquakes are formed.