Earth’s structure & plate boundaries

1. Why are fossils almost always found in sedimentary rock rather than igneous rock: molten magma destroys organic remains, or sedimentary rock forms in volcanoes?

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

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

4. What class of rock forms from the compaction and cementation of deposited layers of sand, silt or shells (e.g. sandstone and limestone): sedimentary or metamorphic?

5. Which thick layer lies directly beneath Earth’s crust and makes up most of Earth’s volume: the mantle or the outer core?

6. Is Earth’s inner core solid or liquid despite its extreme temperature, due to immense pressure?

7. What do we call molten rock while it is still beneath Earth’s surface, before it erupts as lava: magma or shale?

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

9. 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?

10. When slow-cooling magma solidifies deep underground (such as granite), does it form large visible crystals or no crystals?

11. What class of rock forms when existing rock is transformed by high heat and pressure without melting (e.g. limestone becoming marble): metamorphic or igneous?

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