Plate Tectonics
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed 200 million years ago?
Pangaea
What process occurs when an oceanic plate sinks beneath a continental plate?
Subduction
What is molten rock beneath the Earth’s surface called?
Magma
What is the point inside the Earth where an earthquake begins?
Focus
Name a case study where a volcano provided significant geothermal energy.
Iceland
Name the type of current in the mantle that causes plates to move.
Convection Currents
The San Andreas Fault is an example of what type of plate boundary?
Transform/Passive/Sliding
Name the opening through which lava erupts.
Vent
What instrument records earthquake tremors?
Seismograph
What is the name of the longest mountain range formed at a divergent boundary?
Mid Atlantic Ridge
Who proposed the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
Name the boundary type associated with mid-ocean ridges.
Constructive
Give one economic benefit of volcanic activity.
Tourism/Geothermal Energy/Fertile Soils/New Land
What scale is used most commonly used to measure earthquakes?
Moment Magnitude Scale
Name a famous volcanic hotspot.
Hawaii or Yelowstone
What is the asthenosphere?
The semi-molten layer of the upper mantle on which plates float
Why do volcanoes NOT form at transform boundaries?
No creation or destruction of crust — no access to magma as plates slide past one another.
Describe the process that leads to volcanic island chains
Plate moves over a stationary hotspot → magma rises → volcano forms; older islands carried away
What is the process through which buildings and cars can sink into the ground during an earthquake?
Liquefaction
Identify two ways humans attempt to predict volcanic activity.
Monitoring gas emissions, seismic activity, ground deformation, thermal imaging.
State two pieces of evidence that support the theory of continental drift.
Matching fossils across oceans, complementary coastlines (S. America/Africa), rock types matching, or glacial deposits in tropical regions.
Explain what happens when two oceanic plates converge.
One subducts beneath the other, forming deep ocean trenches and island arcs
What was the name of the volcano that erupted resulting in 25,000 people losing their lives in Chile.
Nevado del Ruiz
What gas is emitted before an earthquake to help us detect them?
Radon
Explain briefly what sea-floor spreading is.
magma rising at mid-ocean ridges, creating new crust and pushing plates apart?