Unit 2 Exam Study Guide

1. WHY IS PLATE TECTONICS SUCH A WIDELY ACCEPTED THEORY? Multiple forms of evidence support this theory
2. WHAT IS THE BIG BANG THEORY? HOW DID THIS CONTRIBUTE TO EARTH AND ITS UNIQUE FEATURES (IT BEING LIQUID, FOR EXAMPLE)? A giant cosmic explosion that sent particles and dust into the universe. When the particles collided in a giant ball of heat, eventually has the earth rotated and cooled the inner layers remained molten and dense while the less dense materials moved to the surface and cooled
3. IN WHICH OF EARTH’S LAYERS DOES LIQUID METAL MOVE IN AND CAUSE THE MAGNETIC FIELD TO DEVELOP OVERTIME? Outer core
4. REVIEW BOTH OCEANIC AND CONTINENTAL CRUST—COMPARE/CONTRAST CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH. Oceanic crust is made of basalt, younger, and more denser than continental crust which is made of granite, is older, and less dense than oceanic crust.
5. WHERE IS THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF WORLD OCEAN IS FOUND WHERE? The southern hemisphere is 80% ocean
6. REVIEW THE EARH’S STRUCTURE IN TERMS OF BOTH LAYERS AND DENSITY. Most dense: solid inner core (iron-rich), outer core, mantle, crust: least dense
7. REVIEW LITHOSPHERIC PLATES AND MOVEMENTS. WHEN THE PLATES FOLD ON EACH OTHER, WHAT LAND FORMATION OCCURS? Convergent plate boundary, mountain range
8. WHEN CONTINENTAL AND OCEANIC CRUSTS CONVERGE, WHAT HAPPENS AS A RESULT? Subduction: coastal volcanic mountain range and a trench
9. WHAT IS THE THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT? WHAT IS EVIDENCE OF THIS? The theory of continental drift states that the land masses called continents were once closer together \n and have drifted apart over time. Fossil evidence is the strongest evidence for this.
10. WHAT CAUSES AN EARTHQUAKE TO OCCUR? Plates slipping along a fault line
11. THE DIFFERENT LAYERS OF EARTH ARE MADE OF DIFFERENT PROPERTIES AND DENSITIES. WHICH LAYER IS MADE TO BE IN CONSTANT MOTION? mantle
12. OCEANS DEVELOP BETWEEN CONTINENTS AS A RESULT OF WHAT PROCESS? Convection dragging the plates apart slowly also known as sea floor spreading
13. WHAT IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF MOVEMENT AMONGST TECTONIC PLATES? Slab pull
14. WHEN A TECTONIC PLATE MOVES OVER A HOT SPOT, WHAT GEOLOGICAL FEATURE FORMS? islands
15. AT THE END OF A SUBDUCTION ZONE WHERE CONTINENTAL AND OCEANIC CRUST COLLIDE, WHAT FEATURE WILL FORM? trench
16. WHEN CRUSTS MOVE ALONG SHEAR BOUNDARIES, WHAT GEOLOGICAL EVENT OCCURS? earthquake
17. WHAT IS A MID-OCEAN RIDGE? DESCRIBE ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW IT FORMS. Earthquakes and volcanoes, The rock on the sea floor is older as one moves away from them, Sea-floor spreading
18. WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE EVIDENCE OF PLATE TECTONICS? magnetic anomalies, seafloor spreading, and existence of sea-floor mid-ocean ridges, fossils
19. REVIEW THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTIVE/PASSIVE CONTINENTAL MARGINS. Active: steep rocky coastlines, narrow continental shelves. Passive: wide continental shelves and little to no geologic activity. 
20. REVIEW FEATURES OF OCEAN FLOOR AS THEY PERTAIN TO CONTINENTAL MARGINS. Coastline to deep Ocean. Continental Shelf, Continental Slope, Continental Rise, Abyssal Plain
21. THE PART OF THE OCEAN THAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST BIOLOGICALLY DIVERSE IS? Continental Shelf
22. HOW DO BLACK SMOKER STACKS (COLUMNS) FORM? Minerals from inside the earth mixing with seawater when it is released
23. REVIEW THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLATE BOUNDARIES DISCUSSED IN CLASS. 

Divergent Plate Boundaries: Mid-Ocean Ridges (Seafloor Spreading)

Convergent Plate Boundaries: Subduction: Ocean to Ocean = trench and island arc; Ocean to continental crust: trench and a coastal mountain range

Continental to Continental mountain range 

Shear Boundaries: earthquakes

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