Geology 101 - Plate Tectonics

The major types of rocks are:

Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic

Geologic processes, such as volcanic activity and plate tectonics, are primarily powered by:

hear from radioactive decay within the Earth

Plate tectonics explains how the Earth works. It is based on observations, has passed countless scientific tests, and is agreed on by almost all geologists today. This is an example of a(n):

scientific theory

All scientific discoveries are made using the scientific method.

false

Tectonic plates are part of the outermost layer of the Earth and come in two varieties - oceanic and continental.

true

Tectonic plates move at approximately:

1-10 centimeters a year

The Juan de Fuca Ridge, where the Juan de Fuca Plate is moving away from the Pacific Plate and forming a mid-ocean ridge, is an example of a(n) _____________ plate margin.

divergent

In 1915, Alfred Wegener presented all of the following as evidence in support of continental drift except:

the age of the ocean floor

"The present is the key to the past" summarizes Hutton's principle of:

uniformitarianism

When an oceanic plate converges with a continental plate, the oceanic plate will nearly always subduct beneath continental plate.

true

Which of the following layers of the Earth is primarily made of solid iron (and nickel)?

inner core

At which type of plate boundary would you find deep earthquakes?

ocean-continent convergent