oceanus midterm

When two pieces of lithosphere collide and grind against each other at a subduction zone, pent up strain energy can be suddenly released as ____.

An earthquake

Wegener's idea was that all the Earth's landmasses had once been a _____ called _____.

supercontinent, Pangea

The Universe has been expanding for about _____

14 billion years

America first appeared by name on a map in ______.

1507

There are basically _____ types of earthquakes.

2

Recent measurements show the European and North American plates to be moving apart at about ____ per year.

2 centimeters

The Earth's atmosphere is now about _____% oxygen.

21

Hawaii was populated by the Polynesians sometime around _____.

450 to 600 AD

Earth is covered by about _____ water

70%

At oceanic spreading centers the crustal plates are ____.

Being formed and spreading apart

The first explorations dedicated exclusively to marine sciences were carried out on the _____.

Challenger Expedition

Our solar system was formed by _____

Coalescing of dust grains into larger and larger piece

Plates come together at _____ boundaries.

Convergent

The Andes Mountains are the result of a _____ boundary.

Convergent

Plates are pulling apart at _____ boundaries.

Divergent

True or False. Earthquakes always occur at plate boundaries.

False (subduction zones)

If spreading centers are creating new seafloor in the center of the ocean basins, then the oldest sediment and rocks will be found on the seafloor ____.

Farthest from the spreading center

The _____ were the first civilization to go beyond the sight of land and into the Atlantic ocean.

Greeks

James Cook discovered _____.

New Zealand and Hawaii

If new seafloor is being created at spreading centers, why don't we find a lot of old oceanic crust on the surface of the Earth? Because oceanic crust is being ____ where it collides with continental plates.

Subducted

Plates slip past each other at _____ boundaries.

Transform

Earth holds the solar system record as the _____ planet

Wettest

A big push for oceanographic research after World War Two was due to our wartime lack of knowledge to support _____.

amphibious landings