Interior of Earth - Free MCQ Practice Test with solutions, SSC CGL

The increase in temperature within the Earth's interior is primarily attributed to radioactive disintegration within rocks, external forces like gravitational pull, and chemical reactions. These factors collectively contribute to the rise in temperature as one descends into the Earth.

Tectonic Plates:

• A tectonic plate (also called a lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly-shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere.
• A tectonic plate may be a continental plate or an oceanic plate, depending on which of the two occupies the larger portion of the plate.

The Major and Minor Plates: The Earth’s lithosphere is divided into seven major and some minor plates.

• Young Fold Mountain ridges, oceanic trenches, and/or transform faults surround the major plates. These include:
  • The Antarctic (and the surrounding oceanic) plate. Hence, option 4 is correct.
  • The North American plate (with the western Atlantic floor separated from the South American plate along the Caribbean islands)
  • The South American plate (with the western Atlantic floor separated from the North American plate along the Caribbean islands)
  • The Pacific plate
  • The India-Australia-New Zealand plate
  • Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor plate
  • Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate
• Some important minor plates include:
  • Cocos plate: Between Central America and the Pacific plate
  • Nazca plate: Between South America and the Pacific plate
  • Arabian plate: Mostly the Saudi Arabian landmass
  • Philippine plate: Between the Asiatic and Pacific plate
  • Caroline plate: Between the Philippine and Indian plates (North of New Guinea)
  • Fuji plate: North-east of Australia
  • Juan De Fuca plate: South-East of North American Plate.