Earth’s structure & plate boundaries

1. What drives the slow movement of tectonic plates across Earth’s surface: mantle convection and slab pull, or surface wind patterns?

2. What instrument records the ground vibrations (seismic waves) produced by an earthquake: a seismometer or a barometer?

3. What do we call the rigid outer shell of Earth comprising the crust and uppermost solid mantle: the lithosphere or the stratosphere?

4. What is the point on Earth’s surface directly above the underground focus (hypocentre) of an earthquake called: the epicentre or the crater?

5. What class of rock forms when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies (e.g. basalt and granite): igneous or sedimentary?

6. What is the thin, outermost rocky layer of the Earth called: the crust or the inner core?

7. Which two metallic elements make up most of Earth’s dense core: iron and nickel, or sodium and potassium?

8. Which seismic body waves travel fastest through the Earth and can pass through both solids and liquids: P-waves (primary) or S-waves (secondary)?

9. Which underwater mountain system runs down the centre of the Atlantic Ocean along a divergent boundary: the Mid-Atlantic Ridge or the Mariana Trench?

10. What process breaks rocks down in situ at Earth’s surface through rain, frost and plant roots before erosion transports the fragments: weathering or subduction?

11. What type of tectonic plate boundary occurs where two plates move apart and new oceanic crust forms: divergent or convergent?

12. What type of plate boundary occurs where two plates slide horizontally past each other (such as the San Andreas Fault): transform or divergent?