Is all Crust the Same?

The below chart shows ages of oceanic crust (a part of the lithosphere) in millions of years with different colors. Red is the youngest and purple is the oldest. Use this information to help you answer the questions that follow.
NGSS Phenomena: A world map, showing that the oceanic crust is oldest near the continents, and youngest near the middle of the oceans.

1. Where is the seafloor the oldest in the Atlantic Ocean?

2. How did the author of this chart organize the data to help us interpret the information?

3. What relationship can you see between the ages of the Pacific oceanic crust and the Atlantic oceanic crust?

4. There is only one part of the map that is the color purple. What does this tell you about the future of the oceanic crust in this area?

5. Why is there so little crust in the oceans that is older than 280 million years?

6. Explain how this information provides evidence for the following claim:



"Africa and South America used to be touching and were part of the same continent."

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This multiple choice question aligns to the following standards

  • ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

  • MS-ESS2-3

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

  • Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • MS-ESS2-3

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

  • Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • Patterns

  • MS-ESS2-3

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • MS-ESS2-3

  • Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

  • ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

  • Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • Patterns

  • MS-ESS2-3

This free response question aligns to the following standards

  • MS-ESS2-3

  • Patterns

  • Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

  • ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

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