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Subjects · Leaving Cert Geography

Leaving Cert Geography: Plate tectonics

How often Plate tectonics comes up on the Geography papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 10 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

OL Asked on 10 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

June 2028 is the first exam on the new Geography course. These come from the 2016–2026 papers, so read them as a guide.

Plate tectonics, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Plate tectonics.

(a)Layer of the Earth directly below the crust?
  1. Outer core
  2. Mantle
  3. Lithosphere
(b)Plate boundary where two plates slide past each other?
  1. Destructive boundary
  2. Constructive boundary
  3. Transform (passive) boundary
(c)Type of mountains formed when two continental plates collide?
  1. Fold mountains
  2. Volcanic mountains
  3. Block mountains
Show the answers

(a) Mantle

(b) Transform (passive) boundary

(c) Fold mountains

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Plate tectonics.

Higher Level

Asked on 10 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026SQ5, Q2C, Q3A
2025SQ1, Q3C
2024Q1C, Q2A, Q3A
2023SQ5, Q3B
2022SQ1, SQ2, Q1B, Q3A
2021SQ2, SQ5, Q3A
2019Q1C, Q3C
2018SQ6, SQ8, Q2A, Q3C
2017SQ1, Q2C
2016SQ1, Q2A, Q3C

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Plate tectonics questions

Plate tectonics, 2 marks

Force created as a cold, dense oceanic plate sinks into the mantle and drags the rest of the plate behind it?

  1. Ridge push
  2. Isostatic rebound
  3. Slab pull
Show the answer

Slab pull

Slab pull is thought to be the strongest force moving plates, which is why plates with long subduction edges, like the Pacific, move fastest.

Plate tectonics, 2 marks

Evidence for sea-floor spreading: ocean-floor rocks get older with distance from what?

  1. The deepest trench
  2. The mid-ocean ridge
  3. The nearest continent
Show the answer

The mid-ocean ridge

New crust forms at the ridge and moves outwards, so the youngest rock is at the ridge and the oldest near the trenches.

Plate tectonics, 2 marks

Mountain-building period that formed the east-west ridges of Munster, such as the Galtees?

  1. The Armorican (Variscan) orogeny
  2. The Caledonian orogeny (Donegal)
  3. The Alpine orogeny (Himalayas)
Show the answer

The Armorican (Variscan) orogeny

About 300 million years ago, compression from the south folded the Old Red Sandstone and limestone of Munster into east-west ridges and valleys.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 10 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026SQ1
2025SQ1, Q3C
2024SQ1, Q2A, Q3A
2023SQ1, Q1C
2022Q1C
2021Q2A
2019SQ4, Q3C
2018Q2A
2017SQ1, Q1C
2016Q1A

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Plate tectonics questions

Plate tectonics, 2 marks

Name given to the large pieces that the Earth's crust is broken into?

  1. Faults
  2. Folds
  3. Plates
Show the answer

Plates

The crust is split into a number of rigid plates that float on the mantle and move slowly, a few centimetres each year.

Plate tectonics, 2 marks

Boundary where two plates move apart and new crust is formed?

  1. A transform (sliding) boundary
  2. A constructive (divergent) boundary
  3. A destructive (convergent) boundary
Show the answer

A constructive (divergent) boundary

Magma rises into the gap as the plates separate and cools to make new crust, as along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Plate tectonics, 2 marks

Boundary where an ocean plate is pushed down under another plate?

  1. A destructive (subduction) boundary
  2. A constructive (divergent) boundary
  3. A transform (sliding) boundary
Show the answer

A destructive (subduction) boundary

The heavier ocean plate sinks into the mantle and melts, which makes deep ocean trenches, strong earthquakes and volcanoes above.

Other Geography topics

All of Leaving Cert Geography