Which one of the following is not a minor plate?
- (a)Cocos Plate
- (b)Nazca Plate
- (c)Caroline Plate
- (d)Antarctic Plate
Correct — D, Antarctic Plate. The Antarctic Plate is one of the seven major (primary) lithospheric plates, carrying the whole continent of Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor. Cocos, Nazca and Caroline are all small minor plates, so the Antarctic Plate is the one that is not a minor plate.
- (a)Cocos Plate — The Cocos Plate is a small oceanic plate off Central America (between the Pacific and North American plates) — a classic minor plate, so it does not fit 'not a minor plate'.
- (b)Nazca Plate — The Nazca Plate is a minor oceanic plate off the west coast of South America; its subduction under the South American Plate builds the Andes.
- (c)Caroline Plate — The Caroline Plate is a small minor plate in the western Pacific near New Guinea; it is a minor plate, not a major one.
The Earth's lithosphere is broken into plates. Standard geography texts recognise seven major plates — the Pacific, North American, South American, Eurasian, African, Indo-Australian and Antarctic plates — plus many minor plates such as the Cocos, Nazca, Arabian, Philippine, Caroline, Juan de Fuca and Scotia plates. Plate boundaries (divergent, convergent, transform) are the sites of earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building.
Three options (Cocos, Nazca, Caroline) are small ocean-floor plates; only the Antarctic plate is continental-scale. Recalling the list of seven major plates immediately marks the Antarctic Plate as the outlier.
- Seven major plates: Pacific, North American, South American, Eurasian, African, Indo-Australian, Antarctic.
- Common minor plates include Cocos, Nazca, Arabian, Philippine, Caroline, Juan de Fuca and Scotia.
- The Nazca Plate's subduction beneath South America raises the Andes.
- The Pacific Plate is the largest of all the plates.
Only the Antarctic Plate is a major plate; the rest are minor plates.
- Assuming an unfamiliar-sounding plate name (Caroline) must be the odd one — the outlier here is the well-known Antarctic Plate.
- Forgetting that the Antarctic Plate is a major plate because Antarctica is remote.
Asked as 'which is (not) a major/minor plate' or by linking a plate boundary to the landform/hazard it produces.
Which of the following are the evidences of the phenomenon of continental drift? I. The belt of ancient rocks from Brazil coast matches with those from Western Africa. II. The gold deposits of Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the two continents lay side by side. III. The Gondwana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere.
- (a) I and II only
- (b) I and III only
- (c) I, II and III
- (d) II and III only
Answer(c) I, II and III — all three are accepted evidences for continental drift.
Same field — continental drift, the theory that underlies plate tectonics and the classification of the Earth's crust into major and minor plates.
Which one of the following is a major plate?
- (a) Pacific Plate
- (b) Cocos Plate
- (c) Arabian Plate
- (d) Philippine Plate
Answer(a) Pacific Plate
Directly complementary — that question asks which IS a major plate, this one asks which is NOT a minor plate; both hinge on the same major/minor plate list.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is the largest tectonic plate?
- (a)Eurasian Plate
- (b)Pacific Plate
- (c)African Plate
- (d)Antarctic Plate
Answer(b) Pacific Plate — it is the largest of the Earth's lithospheric plates.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The subduction of which plate beneath the South American Plate is responsible for the Andes?
- (a)Cocos Plate
- (b)Nazca Plate
- (c)Caribbean Plate
- (d)Scotia Plate
Answer(b) Nazca Plate — its subduction under South America uplifts the Andes.