Exam 2: Plate Tectonics: a Scientific Revolution Unfolds

Which factor contributes the most toward plate motion at a convergent boundary?

Where is the top of the asthenosphere closest to Earth's surface?

Even before the proposal of continental drift, paleontologists recognized that some sort of land connection was needed to account for the identical fossil organisms found on multiple continents.Select the correct hypothesis or hypotheses these paleontologists developed.

The lithosphere is composed of the ________ and the rigid part of the ________.

When the continents were assembled and mountain ranges were matched up, mountains in Scandinavia and the British Isles matched up perfectly with which North American mountain range?

The Hawaiian mantle plume has left a chain of volcanic islands and seamounts stretching back for ~70 million years.Although the mantle plume has remained relatively stationary, the Pacific plate above it has moved.Use the figure to answer the following question. What direction was the Pacific plate moving between 65 and 43 million years ago?

Which scientist developed the idea of continental drift?

Which type of convergence will result in a continental volcanic arc?

Which of the following is not one of the major tectonic plates on the Earth's surface?

A convergent boundary is usually associated with which physical features?

The magnetic poles roughly correspond to the locations of the geographic poles.

Although the jigsaw-puzzle fit of the southern continents was noted, opponents of continental drift argued that, even if continental displacement had occurred, a good fit between the continents today would be unlikely.What geologic evidence did they cite to support this claim?

Which two aspects of continental drift were most objectionable to scientists of the early twentieth century? Why?

________ is the name of the process by which new seafloor is generated at mid-ocean ridges.

Scientific research supports the existence of Alfred Wegener's proposed supercontinent, Pangaea, approximately 300 million years ago.Pangaea subsequently broke apart, and the pieces-our modern continents-migrated to the positions they occupy today.Based on your knowledge of the mechanics of tectonic motion, do you think there is a likelihood of another supercontinent forming? If so, where?

Along which tectonic boundary is ridge push going to be most important in helping to drive plate motion?

When continental drift was first proposed in 1912, geologists from one specific continent strongly opposed the idea.Which continent's geologists were against the idea, and why did they have difficulty accepting it? (Think about where the evidence for continental drift is very clear.)