Earth’s structure & plate boundaries

1. Which type of crust is denser and thinner, causing it to subduct beneath continental crust: oceanic crust or continental crust?

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

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

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

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

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

8. 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?

9. What do we call the horseshoe-shaped belt around the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanoes occur: the Ring of Fire or the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?

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

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

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