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Item PT027003: Oceanic plate material is pushed downward when it presses against continental plate material.

Two of earth’s plates pressed together for many millions of years. What happened if they pressed together in a place where oceanic plate material meets continental plate material?

  1. The continental plate material was pushed downward.
  2. The oceanic plate material was pushed downward.
  3. The plates were not able to move while they were pressing together and no plate material was pushed upward.
  4. The edges of the plates were not pushed upward but they were broken into small pieces.
Distribution of responses
Answer Choice
Overall
Grades
Gender
Primary Language
 
n = 2464
6–8
n = 791
9–12
n = 1651
Male
n = 1181
Female
n = 1249
English
n = 2225
Other
n = 178
A. The continental plate material was pushed downward. 23% 25% 22% 21% 25% 23% 25%
B. The oceanic plate material was pushed downward. 43% 39% 46% 47% 40% 44% 39%
C. The plates were not able to move while they were pressing together and no plate material was pushed upward. 18% 20% 17% 18% 18% 17% 22%
D. The edges of the plates were not pushed upward but they were broken into small pieces. 16% 16% 15% 14% 17% 16% 15%