Plate Tectonics Quiz

Grade 6 · Science · Quiz

Test your knowledge of tectonic plates, plate boundaries, and Earth's changing surface.

Questions

Tectonic plates move because they float on which layer of Earth?
1. The inner core
2. The outer core
3. The asthenosphere
4. The crust
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Answer: The asthenosphere
The asthenosphere is a partially molten, plastic-like layer in the upper mantle that allows tectonic plates to slowly move.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a divergent plate boundary.
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Answer: True
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a 16,000-km underwater mountain range where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart.
What happens when an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate?
1. Both plates rise to form mountains
2. The oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate
3. The continental plate sinks into the ocean
4. The plates slide past each other
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Answer: The oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate
Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust, so it sinks (subducts) into the mantle, creating a deep trench and often triggering volcanic activity.
The San Andreas Fault in California is a ___ plate boundary.
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Answer: transform
The San Andreas Fault is a right-lateral strike-slip fault where the Pacific Plate slides north past the North American Plate.
What evidence did Wegener use to support continental drift? (Choose the best answer)
1. He observed volcanoes erupting
2. Continents fit together like puzzle pieces and matching fossils were found on separate continents
3. He measured GPS movement of continents
4. He drilled into the ocean floor
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Answer: Continents fit together like puzzle pieces and matching fossils were found on separate continents
Wegener noticed Africa and South America fit together, and identical plant and animal fossils were found on both continents — strong evidence they were once joined.
Tectonic plates move at about the same speed as a speeding car.
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Answer: False
Tectonic plates move 2–10 cm per year — about the rate fingernails grow, far slower than any car.
Which landform is created when two continental plates collide?
1. Ocean trench
2. Mid-ocean ridge
3. Mountain range
4. Rift valley
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Answer: Mountain range
When two continental plates collide, neither subducts — instead the crust crumples upward, forming mountains like the Himalayas or Alps.
New ocean floor is created through a process called seafloor ___.
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Answer: spreading
Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent boundaries where magma rises and solidifies to form new oceanic crust.
The deepest ocean trenches on Earth are formed at which type of boundary?
1. Divergent
2. Transform
3. Convergent (subduction zone)
4. Hot spots
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Answer: Convergent (subduction zone)
As oceanic plates subduct into the mantle, they pull the ocean floor downward, creating deep trenches. The Mariana Trench (11 km deep) formed this way.
Wegener's theory of continental drift was immediately accepted by other scientists in 1912.
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Answer: False
Wegener was largely ridiculed during his lifetime. His theory wasn't accepted until the 1960s when seafloor spreading evidence confirmed it.

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