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S4 Geography: Plate Tectonics Practice Paper 4 (10 questions with answers)
S4 Geography: Plate Tectonics Practice Paper 4 (10 questions with answers)
Paper 4 is calculation and comparison: work out plate movement, P-S time difference and spreading rates, then explain the risk gap between Tokyo and Hong Kong and the difference between the Andes and the Himalayas.
Direct answer Convert units first, then substitute; in comparison items name the margin type and where the magma comes from.
01 Paper details (check answers afterwards)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 10 items |
| Suggested time | 20 to 25 minutes |
| Difficulty mix | Foundation 3 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 3 · Error redo 1 |
| Chapter | Chapter: S4 Geography: Plate Tectonics – Tutor Lesson Plan |
| Level | S4 (DSE Geography) |
02 Questions (10 items)
- FoundationPlate margins fall into three types. Which one only slides past the other, neither creating nor destroying crust?
- FoundationWhich two plates collided to form the Himalayas?
- FoundationA plate moves 5 cm per year. How far does it travel in 2 million years?
- IntermediateA station records P waves at 6.0 km/s and S waves at 3.5 km/s from an epicentre 120 km away. What is the arrival-time difference?
- IntermediateMagnetic stripes extend 30 km on each side of a mid-ocean ridge where the crust is 3 million years old. What is the average spreading rate?
- IntermediateA plate moves 4 cm per year. How long does crust take to travel 540 km from a ridge to a trench?
- ChallengeCompare the earthquake risk of Tokyo and Hong Kong, and explain the main reason for the difference.
- ChallengeHow does the viscosity difference between basaltic and rhyolitic magma affect volcano shape and eruption style?
- ChallengeWhy does the Andes have active volcanoes while the Himalayas have almost none?
- Error redoA student wrote that plates move because of the centrifugal force of the Earth’s rotation. What is the correct explanation?
03 Answers and one-line notes
| # | Answer | One-line note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A transform (conservative) margin | At a transform margin the plates slide horizontally, so no crust is added or destroyed, yet stress builds up and produces shallow earthquakes. |
| 2 | The Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate | Two continental plates collided and the crust thickened by folding, so the range is still rising but there is no subduction-zone volcano. |
| 3 | 100 km | 5 cm times 2000000 gives 10000000 cm, which is 100 km. |
| 4 | About 14.3 seconds | P waves take 20.0 s and S waves 34.3 s, so the difference is 14.3 s; a larger gap means a more distant epicentre. |
| 5 | 2 cm per year, using 60 km on both sides together | Both sides give 30 × 2 = 60 km = 6000000 cm, divided by 3 million years gives 2 cm a year; the symmetrical pattern is the evidence for sea-floor spreading. |
| 6 | 13 million years (13,500,000 years) | 540 km is 54000000 cm, and dividing by 4 cm a year gives 13500000 years, that is 13 million years. |
| 7 | Tokyo sits at a convergent boundary of several plates, so shallow, intermediate and deep earthquakes are frequent and tsunamis are a hazard; Hong Kong lies inside the Eurasian Plate, far from any margin, and feels only weak to moderate quakes on South China faults. | Risk depends on distance from a margin and on the margin type; intra-plate settings show far lower frequency and magnitude. |
| 8 | Basaltic magma has low viscosity and lets gas escape, so it flows far and builds broad shield volcanoes with gentle eruptions; rhyolitic magma is viscous and traps gas, building steep composite cones that erupt violently. | Silica content sets viscosity: the more silica, the stiffer the magma and the more explosive the eruption. |
| 9 | The Andes is built by an oceanic plate subducting under a continent, and melting of the hydrated rock supplies magma; the Himalayas result from continent-continent collision with no oceanic lithosphere left to subduct, so there is no magma supply. | Continental collision alone does not make volcanoes; the key is whether oceanic lithosphere is still being subducted. |
| 10 | Mantle convection: heat-driven convection in the asthenosphere drags the overriding lithospheric plates. | Rotation cannot drive plates; heat from radioactive decay and leftover primordial heat drives convection that rises at ridges and sinks at trenches. |
04 What to do after marking
- After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
- Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
- Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.
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Questions and answers are written originally by the TutorZone team and are not taken from any school, publisher or examination authority paper. Every value is checked by computer.
