Lesson Y9-U04-L02

Y9-U04-L02 Plate Boundaries and Why They Matter Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 16

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U04-L02, Plate Boundaries and Why They Matter: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 16: Year 9: Dynamic Landscapes: Tectonics and Ice, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What are the three main types of plate boundary?

    • Hot, cold and temperate boundaries, which describe the climate of the plate edges.
    • Primary, secondary and tertiary.
    • Coastal, inland and polar boundaries, which describe where the plate edges sit on the map.
    • Constructive, destructive and conservative.

  2. At a constructive boundary, which way do the plates move?

    • They move apart from each other.
    • They slide past each other with no movement apart.
    • They collide and one sinks beneath the other.
    • They stay completely still for millions of years.

  3. What is subduction?

    • When rivers wear away the surface of a plate.
    • When a denser plate is forced down beneath a lighter one.
    • When two plates pull apart and magma cools into a ridge.
    • When two plates slide past each other along a fault.

  4. Which boundary type forms mid-ocean ridges?

    • Conservative.
    • Coastal.
    • Destructive.
    • Constructive.

  5. Which boundary type creates deep ocean trenches?

    • Destructive.
    • Inland.
    • Conservative.
    • Constructive.

  6. Which boundary type causes earthquakes but no volcanoes?

    • Constructive.
    • Conservative.
    • Destructive.
    • Subduction.

  7. What fraction of the world's active volcanoes ring the Pacific Ocean?

    • About 25 percent.
    • About 75 percent.
    • About 5 percent.
    • About 99 percent.

  8. What rises into the gap at a constructive boundary?

    • Sea water, which sinks down into the mantle.
    • Magma, which cools to form new crust.
    • Ice, which fills the gap with cold water.
    • Air, which lifts the plates apart.

  9. Why are eruptions at destructive boundaries often violent?

    • Thin, runny lava forms when ice melts beneath the crust.
    • There is no magma at all at a destructive boundary.
    • The plates only move in winter, so eruptions build up.
    • Thick, gas-rich magma forms when the sinking plate melts.

  10. Why does a deep ocean trench form at a destructive boundary?

    • The sinking plate bends downwards into the mantle.
    • The plates pull apart, leaving a gap in the sea floor.
    • The plates slide past each other and leave a long groove.
    • The sea floor is worn away by rivers flowing into the ocean.

  11. Which real example is a conservative boundary?

    • The San Andreas Fault in California.
    • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge near Iceland.
    • The volcanic hot spot beneath Hawaii.
    • The Andes along the coast of Chile.

  12. Which real example is a constructive boundary?

    • The San Andreas Fault in California.
    • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which splits Iceland.
    • The Nazca plate off the coast of Chile.
    • The Himalayas, formed where plates collide.

  13. Which real example is a destructive boundary?

    • The flat plain of central England.
    • Iceland widening along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is a constructive boundary and not a destructive one.
    • The San Andreas Fault in California.
    • The Andes, formed by the Nazca plate subducting off Chile.

  14. A clue reads 'a widening sea floor and new crust forming'. Which boundary fits, and why?

    • Constructive, because plates collide and magma sinks.
    • Destructive, because plates collide and new crust is destroyed.
    • Constructive, because plates pull apart and magma rises to make new crust.
    • Conservative, because plates slide and no crust is ever made.

  15. Which clue best fits a conservative boundary?

    • A deep trench with a chain of explosive volcanoes, where one plate sinks beneath another.
    • Magma rising into a gap and cooling into a ridge.
    • A mid-ocean ridge with new crust forming along it, as two plates pull steadily apart.
    • Plates slide past, building pressure that suddenly releases as an earthquake.

  16. True or false: conservative boundaries make large volcanoes. Which answer is correct?

    • False: they make earthquakes but no volcanoes, because no magma rises.
    • True: sliding plates always push magma to the top.
    • False: they make neither earthquakes nor volcanoes, ever.
    • True: all plate boundaries make large volcanoes.

  17. Why do volcanoes form at destructive boundaries but not at conservative ones?

    • Conservative boundaries contain more magma than destructive ones, because their plates grind and melt more.
    • Volcanoes form only in deserts, and destructive boundaries lie in deserts, where the rock is dry and hot.
    • Destructive boundaries are colder, so they make more volcanoes.
    • Subducted crust melts and magma rises at destructive boundaries, while plates only slide at conservative ones.

  18. Which type of boundary created the Andes?

    • No boundary, since mountains form only through erosion.
    • Destructive, through the subduction of the Nazca plate.
    • Conservative, through plates sliding past.
    • Constructive, through plates pulling apart.

  19. Why do earthquakes and volcanoes share the same global distribution?

    • Both are caused by plate movement, which happens mainly at the edges of plates.
    • Both are caused by the Sun's energy reaching the crust in deserts.
    • Both are caused only by people digging deep mines.
    • They are unrelated and happen in the same places only by chance.

  20. Which judgement best evaluates whether a destructive boundary is more dangerous than a conservative one?

    • Often yes: destructive boundaries bring quakes, trenches and explosive volcanoes, though conservative quakes hurt too.
    • Neither is ever dangerous, because plates only move very slowly and the rock is too soft to break at all.
    • Yes: destructive boundaries never cause any earthquakes at all, because the plates there only sink quietly.
    • No: conservative boundaries are always more dangerous, because they have no warnings.

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