Oceanography Test 1

Fossil remains of organisms on land and in sediments can be used to:

A) indicate the relative age of the sediments. B) provide evidence for plate movement. C) suggest ancient climate characteristics. D) support the idea that landmasses were joined. E) all of the above.

The first person to advance the idea of mobile continents or continental drift was:

Alfred Wegener

Tectonic plates are pieces of the ________ that float on the more fluid ________ below.

lithosphere; asthenosphere

Wegener used all of the following provide evidence for continental drift except:

seafloor magnetic pattern.

All continents fit together with the least number of overlaps and gaps when the continents are matched along:

contours at around 2,000 meters depth.

Which of the following is characteristic of continental-continental convergent plate boundaries?

uplifted mountain ranges

Evidence for continental drift includes:

A) the fit of the continents. B) matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains. C) past glacial activity. D) the distribution of organisms. E) all of the above.

Satellites are used to map the ocean floor because:

A) they are unaffected by surface weather. B) they can cover areas where ships have not produced surveys. C) they can "see" large areas of the seafloor at one time. D) the shape of the ocean surface itself reflects large features on the seafloor below. E) All of the above statements are correct.

Which of the following statements is true of the lithosphere?

The lithosphere is composed of the crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a:

divergent plate boundary.

The Hawaiian Islands are located where the Pacific plate is:

moving over a hot spot or mantle plume.

The seafloor magnetic pattern is best described as:

parallel to and symmetric about mid-ocean ridges.

Fossils of ancient polar plants are currently found near the equator because the:

plants lived near the poles, but landmasses have drifted to current locations.

Deep ocean trenches are associated with:

subduction zones.

Frederick Vine and Drummond Matthews determined that new ocean floor was being produced at ocean ridges by examining:

the magnetic pattern of rocks on the seafloor.

Which of the following is characteristic of oceanic-oceanic convergent plate boundaries?

volcanic island arcs