Earth’s structure & plate boundaries

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

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

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

9. What type of plate boundary occurs where two plates collide, forming fold mountains or subduction trenches: convergent or transform?

10. 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?

11. What ocean wave can be triggered when a powerful submarine earthquake vertically displaces the seafloor: a tsunami or a spring tide?

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