Question

1. which of these statements is not supported by the evidence in figures 1 and 2?

areas of sea floor closer to the continents are much older.
newer rock forms along the boundaries of tectonic plates.
areas along the mid-ocean ridge are made up of newer rock.
the older rock was created exactly 100 million years ago.

Explanation:

To determine which statement is not supported, we analyze each option:

• For "Areas of sea floor closer to the continents are much older": Sea - floor spreading theory (part of plate tectonics) states that new oceanic crust forms at mid - ocean ridges and moves away, so older crust is farther from the ridge (closer to continents in some cases), so this is supported.
• For "Newer rock forms along the boundaries of tectonic plates": At divergent tectonic plate boundaries (like mid - ocean ridges), new rock (oceanic crust) is formed as magma rises, so this is supported.
• For "Areas along the mid - ocean ridge are made up of newer rock": Mid - ocean ridges are where new oceanic crust is formed, so the rock there is new, this is supported.
• For "The older rock was created exactly 100 million years ago": Geological evidence for rock age (like radiometric dating) gives an approximate age range, and it's highly unlikely that all older rock was created "exactly" 100 million years ago. There would be a range of ages for older rocks, so this statement is not supported.

Answer:

D. The older rock was created exactly 100 million years ago.