Plate tectonics and how landforms are made

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card C, maps in words. Map 1 (physical): the Pacific Ocean ringed by mountain chains and deep ocean trenches, 8 to 10 km deep, along its edges; the Himalayas, far to the west, where India meets Asia. Map 2 (hazards): red triangles (volcanoes) and dots (earthquakes) crowd in a band around the Pacific's edge, the Ring of Fire, with the triangles on the continent side of each trench; another band of earthquake dots runs along the Himalayas, with no band of triangles. Card D, notes (USGS and others): the Ring of Fire holds between 750 and 915 active or dormant volcanoes, around two-thirds of the world's total. Around the Pacific, one plate sinks beneath another along a trench, and volcanoes form above the sinking plate, where it helps melt rock. At the Himalayas, two plates carrying continents (India and Asia) push together; neither sinks far, and the crust is squeezed and thickened. Card E: in the middle of the Pacific Plate, far from any plate edge, the Hawaiian volcanoes sit over a hot spot in the mantle; as the plate moves, a chain of islands forms. Card F: the San Andreas Fault in California is a transform boundary, where plates slide past each other; it has earthquakes and no band of volcanoes.

2. 1.

   Both the Pacific edge and the Himalayas have bands of earthquake dots, but only the Pacific has volcano triangles. What explains that, Bo asks?

   • Volcanoes form wherever plates push together, so the Himalayas should have a larger band than the Pacific does, as they are bigger mountains
   • At the Pacific a plate sinks and volcanoes form above it; at the Himalayas neither sinks far, so no volcano band
   • The Himalayas lie far to the west of the Pacific, so volcanoes do not form that far from the ocean
   • Deep trenches, 8 to 10 km, make the volcanoes by themselves, and the Himalayas have no such trench
3. 2.

   The Himalayas and California's San Andreas Fault both have earthquakes and no volcano band. What differs about the two boundaries, Esme asks?

   • The Himalayas are plates pulling apart, and the San Andreas is plates pushing together, with no volcano band for either
   • The Himalayas are a transform boundary like the San Andreas, and the squeezing is a result of the sliding
   • The Himalayas are a collision where crust is squeezed and thickened; the San Andreas is plates sliding past each other
   • There is no difference, since two boundaries that have the same hazards must be the same kind of boundary
4. 3.

   Where on the Pacific maps would Kira expect volcano triangles, using Cards C and D?

   • On the ocean side of each trench, far out where the plate lies flat on the sea floor
   • In the middle of the Pacific Plate, where the plate is thin and rock is closest to the surface
   • On the continent side of a deep ocean trench, above the plate that is sinking
   • Along the Himalayas, since two continents pushing together make the biggest mountains on the map
5. 4.

   Luz's note: 'Earthquakes and volcanoes always occur together at plate edges.' Which fix fits the cards?

   • Quakes occur at many edges, but volcano bands go with a sinking plate; the Himalayas and San Andreas lack them
   • Keep it, since the Ring of Fire has both hazards, and the Ring covers most of the plate edges
   • Change the first word to 'sometimes', since both hazards occur at some edges and the note is otherwise right
   • Change 'volcanoes' to 'mountains', since the Himalayas and the Andes both have mountains with earthquakes along their length
6. 5.

   Hawaii's volcanoes lie far from any plate edge. What does that say about the plate-edge pattern, Milo asks?

   • Hawaii sits on a hidden plate edge, so the pattern holds there too and nothing is an exception
   • Hot spots explain the Ring of Fire too, so plate edges are not needed to explain where volcanoes are
   • The plate-edge pattern is wrong, since volcanoes can form where no plate edge lies in the whole area of the Pacific Plate
   • Most volcano bands follow plate edges, but a hot spot is a second cause, so the pattern is strong with exceptions
7. 6.

   Which claim about the Ring of Fire is best supported by Card D, Noah asks?

   • About two-thirds of the world's earthquakes lie on it as well, since volcanoes and quakes occur together on the same edges
   • The Ring holds two-thirds of the volcanoes of the Pacific alone, since the card is about the Pacific
   • About a third of the world's volcanoes lie on it, since 750 to 915 is a minority of the volcanoes
   • About two-thirds of the world's volcanoes lie on it; for earthquakes the cards show only that dots crowd there
8. 7.

   750 to 915 volcanoes are about two-thirds of the world's total. About how many does that make in the world, Pia asks?

   • About 500 to 600, since two-thirds of 750 to 915 is the world total on the Ring and the rest is smaller
   • About 1,500 to 1,830, since a Ring of two-thirds means the world is twice as many as the Ring holds
   • About 1,100 to 1,400, since 750 and 915 are each about two-thirds, so the total is 1.5 times each
   • About 750 to 915, since the Ring holds the volcanoes of the world and no others are counted
9. 8.

   Tala's note: 'The Hawaiian volcanoes prove plate tectonics is wrong.' Which fix fits Cards D and E?

   • Change 'wrong' to 'incomplete everywhere', since hot spots explain the volcanoes on the whole map
   • Keep it, since volcanoes in the middle of a plate cannot be explained by any plate edge
   • Change 'Hawaiian' to 'Himalayan', since the Himalayas are the one place on the Pacific maps with no volcano band, which is the real puzzle
   • Hawaii shows volcanoes can also form over a hot spot, while edges still explain bands like the Ring of Fire
10. 9.

    Zee's note: 'Every volcano on Earth lies on the Ring of Fire.' Which fix fits Cards D and E?

    • Keep it, since 750 to 915 volcanoes is a very large count and a larger count includes the whole world
    • About two-thirds of the world's volcanoes lie on the Ring, and Hawaii's lie far away, over a hot spot
    • Change the first word to 'Most', since the Ring holds the great majority and the others are small ones
    • Change 'Ring of Fire' to 'plate edges', since volcanoes occur at plate edges and nowhere else
11. 10.

    Ari's note: 'Volcanoes form wherever plates push together.' Which fix fits Cards C and D?

    • Keep it, since the Himalayas are a place where plates push together and they have the biggest mountains
    • Change 'push together' to 'pull apart', since volcanoes form where plates pull apart and new crust is made
    • Volcanoes form where one plate sinks beneath another; the Himalayas, where two continents push together, have none
    • Change 'volcanoes' to 'earthquakes', since quakes occur wherever plates push together or slide past each other on the maps