tectonic plate
Tectonic plates include crust and uppermost mantle. This topic is part of Earth Science within Science & Nature. This page currently draws on 14 supporting questions, with answers and bonus facts available below.
tectonic plate trivia questions
A tectonic plate is a large moving piece of Earth's what?
Answer: Lithosphere
Bonus fact: Tectonic plates include crust and uppermost mantle.
Most earthquakes occur near what?
Answer: Plate boundaries
Bonus fact: Stress builds where plates interact.
What type of plate boundary occurs where two plates move apart?
Answer: Divergent boundary
Bonus fact: Divergent boundaries create new crust at many mid-ocean ridges.
Many deep-sea trenches form where one tectonic plate does what?
Answer: Subducts beneath another
Bonus fact: Subduction bends oceanic lithosphere downward.
The trench formed where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another in what process?
Answer: Subduction
Bonus fact: The Pacific Plate descends beneath the Mariana Plate.
A subduction zone forms when one tectonic plate does what?
Answer: Sinks beneath another
Bonus fact: Dense lithosphere descends into the mantle.
As a tectonic plate moves over a hotspot, what can form?
Answer: Chain of volcanoes
Bonus fact: The Hawaiian-Emperor chain records Pacific Plate motion.
Mid-ocean ridges form along what type of tectonic plate boundary?
Answer: Divergent boundary
Bonus fact: NOAA says new ocean floor is created where tectonic plates spread apart along mid-ocean ridges.
What type of tectonic plate boundary is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
Answer: Divergent boundary
Bonus fact: At divergent boundaries, plates pull apart and new oceanic crust forms by seafloor spreading.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is known for many volcanoes and what?
Answer: Earthquakes
Bonus fact: It follows tectonic plate boundaries around much of the Pacific.
What is a volcanic hotspot in plate-tectonic terms?
Answer: A relatively fixed magma source beneath a moving tectonic plate
Bonus fact: A moving plate over a hotspot can leave a chain of progressively older volcanoes.
Where do most earthquakes occur?
Answer: Along tectonic plate boundaries
Bonus fact: Earthquake patterns are one of the clues scientists use to map plate boundaries.