Plate tectonics Core Assignment 2 Answer

1. Bartley Secondary School
Upper Secondary Geography
Core Assignment 2 [Mark Scheme]
- 1 -
Name: ________________________________ ( ) Class: _____ Date: ___________
Marks
Topic: Plate Tectonics
Skills/Knowledge: - Describing distribution reviewed
- Drawing well-labelled diagramswith explanation
- Comparison questions reviewed
Question Overview:
1) With reference to Fig. 1, describe the distribution of the Earth’s plate boundaries. [3]
2) Using a well-labelled diagram, explain why tectonic plates move. [5]
3) Compare between the oceanic crusts and continental crusts. [3]
Teacher’s General Feedback:
Observation Tick and/or Comments
Lack content knowledge or incorrect referencing
Misconception of knowledge
Misinterpretation of question
Mis-analysis of question marks
Awkward expression of answer
Mismanagement of time / effort
Student Reflection:
1 Star (what way you did well)
1 Wish (what you could improve on based on
teacher’s feedback)
This has to do with how you answered. Do not just blindly copy the observation above!
Additional comments from student:
12

2. Bartley Secondary School
Upper Secondary Geography
Core Assignment 2 [Mark Scheme]
- 2 -
1 Study Fig. 1, which shows the distribution of Earth’s major tectonic plates.
Map showing distribution of Earth’s major tectonic plates
Fig. 1
(please refer to page 9 of textbook for a clearer view of the colours)
With reference to Fig. 1, describe the distribution of the Earth’s plate boundaries. [3
]
- Divergent plate boundaries are mainly found on the oceans, such as the eastern part
of the Pacific Ocean and the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
- Convergent plate boundaries are found mostly along or within continents, such as
the western coast of South American plate and south of Indonesia, and the middle
between Indian and Eurasian plate.
- Transform plate boundaries are typically lesser than the other two, and are found
both on oceans, such as the Scotia and South American Plate, and on land, such as
the Anatolian and Eurasian plate.
2 Using a well-labelled diagram, explain why tectonic plates move. [6
]
2 marks max for diagram; 4 marks max for written explanation

3. Bartley Secondary School
Upper Secondary Geography
Core Assignment 2 [Mark Scheme]
- 3 -
- (Convection current) Movements of heat within the mantle due to it being heated by
the core, this causes the mantle material to expand, rise and spread out beneath the
plates
- (Spreading arrow) The spreading causes the plates to be dragged along the current
and move away from each other
- (Downward arrow; Slab-pull force) The mantle material cools slightly and sinks,
pulling the plates along. This is the slab-pull force which pulls the rest of the plate
behind it at a subduction zone when a dense oceanic plate sinks.
- (Completed convection circle) The sinking mantle material heats up again as it nears
the core and the whole process repeats.
3 Compare between the oceanic crusts and continental crusts. [3
]
- Both oceanic crusts and continental crusts are the outermost layers of the earth’s
internal structure.
- Oceanic crusts are mainly found beneath deep oceans while continental crusts are
found beneath the earth’s continental land masses and under shallow seas.
- Oceanic crusts are thinner between 5 and 8 km but denser, while continental crusts
are thicker between 35 and 70 km but lighter