Earth's Layers
What is the Earth's innermost layer called?
inner core
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
a. tectonic plates have been slowly moving for billions of years
b. tectonic plates are far apart and fixed in place
c. tectonic plates are far apart but slowly moving closer to one another
d. tectonic plates fit tightly together and are fixed in place.
a. tectonic plates have been slowly moving for billions of years
An earthquake occurs at a ______, which is a fracture, or crack, in Earth's crust.
fault
Which layer of the Earth is responsible for forcing magma upward, resulting in an erupting volcano?
mantle
True or False:
As continents moved apart, their climates changed
True
What are the two types of crust?
continental and oceanic
What three ways can tectonic plates move?
1. Move apart
2. Collide
3. Slide past one another
Scientists use a _______________ to measure earthquakes. It shows jagged up-and-down lines to show the energy of seismic waves.
seismograph
pressure
Pangaea
crust
What is it called when one heavier oceanic tectonic plate slides under a lighter continental plate?
subduction
Scientists use the ______________ to assign numbers that describe the intensity of earthquakes based on the largest seismic wave recorded.
Richter scale
What do geysers, volcanoes, and hot springs have in common?
a. they form along faults
b. scientists know when they will erupt
c. they form both along plate boundaries and above hotspots
d. they only form along plate boundaries
c. they form both along plate boundaries and above hotspots
Which of the following did the continental drift hypothesis NOT explain?
a. long ago, Earth had one huge landmass called Pangaea
b. as continents moved apart, their climates changed
c. drifting continents actually moved due to tectonic plates
d. groups of plants and animals that once lived together were seperated as the continents moved apart
c. drifting continents actually moved due to tectonic plates
Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?
mantle
Which tectonic plate has more than 450 volcanoes lying at it's boundaries?
Pacific Plate
Earthquakes on the ocean floor can result in a _________.
tsunami
What are the three types of volcanoes?
Hint: it has to do with time from last eruption
Active, dormant, and extinct
What was the name of the scientist who developed the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
What are some characteristics of the outer core?
liquid, hot metal
Where do volcanoes and earthquakes happen often?
plate boundaries
True or False: Tsunamis are easy to stop as long as scientists have enough warning.
False.
You can't stop a tsunami, but if scientists have enough warning about when a tsunami starts to form, they can warn people.
What is formed when water drains into openings in the ground above a magma chamber, causing the magma to heat up the water?
Geyser
What clues did scientists observed that led them to believe that the continents had once been together?
rocks and fossils of the same plants and animals were found on different continents