GEOG Day 24 Practice Questions – Flashcards

The first comprehensive theory of continental drift was propounded by _____. A) Darwin B) Köppen C) Wegener D) Wallace E) Sagan

Wegener's early proposal of continental drift was not taken seriously because of his _____. A) failure to provide a plausible cause B) lack of attention to Earth's species distribution C) lack of scientific research D) training as a meteorologist E) inability to read and write

The current interest in continental drift was started with the notion of sea-floor spreading, which was propounded by Hess and Dietz in the _____. A) 1700s B) 1850s C) 1890s D) 1960s E) 1990s

If you travel away from a midocean ridge you will find _____. A) increasingly older rocks B) increasingly younger rocks C) the seafloor is drifting opposite to your direction of motion D) more and more earthquakes E) little evidence of paleomagnetic reversals of the poles

How long ago did the Atlantic start to form as Pangaea started to rift apart? A) 1 million years B) 20 million years C) 200 million years D) 2.0 billion years E) 4.6 billion years

Currently, the rate of sea-floor spreading in the Atlantic is thought to be _____, A) 0 centimeters per year (stopped) B) less than 1 centimeter per year C) 10 meters per year D) 100 meters per year E) 1 kilometer per year

Research since the 1970s has identified the cause of plate tectonics to be _____. A) diastrophism B) convection C) sun spots D) warping E) uniformitarianism

Which of the following is postulated as the ultimate source of energy causing continental drift? A) gravity B) the Sun C) volcanism D) radioactive decay E) diastrophism

Consider the location of New York City. In terms of crustal plates, New York City is _____. A) not on a plate B) on a convergent boundary C) on a divergent boundary D) not on a plate boundary E) on a transform boundary

A _____ plate boundary is associated with lateral slippage, conservation of existing crust, and the San Andreas fault system. A) convergent B) fault scarp C) divergent D) subducting E) transform

Where is one plate being subducted under another plate? A) the middle of North America B) the middle of the Atlantic Ocean C) the middle of the Arctic Ocean D) along the Aleutian Trench E) along the Hawaiian Islands

Where UNDER the surface of the Earth would one expect a convection current directed towards the surface? A) under continents B) under subduction zones C) in the core D) under midocean ridges E) under plates

Which of the following is NOT closely associated with the large system of ridges on the ocean floors? A) seafloor spreading B) transform faults C) island arcs D) upwelling of magma E) rift zones

The Himalayas were formed by crumpling of plate edges in a _____ zone. A) transcurrent B) divergent C) convergent D) rift E) basalt

The plate boundaries which are _____ are likely to make island arcs. A) divergent between continental plates B) convergent between continental plates C) divergent between oceanic plates D) convergent between oceanic plates E) transducive boundaries between oceanic and continental plates

Where would one find a convergent plate boundary? A) in the middle of North America B) at the midocean ridge of the Atlantic Ocean C) along a transform plate boundary D) in the middle of Antarctica E) along the Pacific coast of South America

The original large continental mass containing all of the present continents prior to separation millions of years ago has been named _____. A) Laurasia B) Gondwanaland C) Pangaea D) Transcurrent E) Subduction

Oceans are being created and removed from the Earth on a cycling time of about _____. A) 1 million years B) 100 million years C) 500 million years D) 2.5 billion years E) 4.6 billion years

"Shortly" BEFORE the existence of Pangaea, _____. A) Earth had formed B) there was a single continent called "Micronesia" C) the supercontinent Rodinia had existed D) there was no continental drift E) the Atlantic Ocean formed

The Pacific "ring of fire" refers to the _____. A) flood basalts B) the Hawaiian Islands C) volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean D) Azores Island E) subduction zones on the ocean floor