Continental Drift
Who proposed the theory of Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener
What is the thickest layer of the Earth?
The mantle
Which boundary is responsible for most earthquakes?
Transform
What large, gently sloped volcano is mostly made from thin lava flows?
Shield
What is the point on Earth’s surface directly above where an earthquake starts?
Epicenter
What was the name of the supercontinent that existed about 300 million years ago?
Pangea
What happens to the temperature as you go deeper inside Earth?
It increases.
What type of landform forms where two continental plates collide?
Mountains
What type of volcano forms in the middle of a tectonic plate over a stationary source of heat in the mantle?
Hotspot
Which scale is commonly used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake?
Richter
What type of climate evidence supported Wegener’s theory?
Glacial scratches/striations
What process/force causes the tectonic plates in the crust to move?
Convection cycle
What type of boundary creates mid-ocean ridges or rift valleys?
Divergent
What tall, steep, explosive volcano is made from layers of lava and ash?
Composite
What is the fracture or crack in Earth’s crust along which movement occurs during an earthquake?
Fault
Besides climate, name one other type of evidence Wegener used to support his theory.
Fossils, rocks, or puzzle coast.
What is the Earth’s core made mostly of?
Iron and nickel
One plate sinks beneath another into the mantle.
What is this process called?
Subduction
What small, steep volcano is made mostly of ash and loose rock fragments from eruptions?
Cinder cone
What is the name for a fault where rocks slide horizontally past each other?
Strike-slip
Which Canadian scientist later solved Wegener’s problem by explaining how continents move?
Tuzo Wilson
What is the difference between the inner and outer core?
Inner core is solid; outer core is liquid
What feature forms where two oceanic plates converge?
Volcanic island arc and trench
What is the large depression called that forms when a volcano collapses after an eruption?
Caldera
What type of fault occurs when one block is pushed upward relative to the other?