Question

Sabrina and Chris are researching underwater mountains called seamounts. Sabrina says that they are formed by divergent plates, because they occur near mid-ocean ridges. Chris says they are formed by meteors that have crashed into the ocean, because he saw it in an action movie. Who has the better scientific claim?

A) Sabrina, because her claim is based on research and logic.
B) Sabrina, because she doesn't watch movies.
C) Chris, because he has considered all the possible explanations.
D) Chris, because there is no data to prove him wrong.

Answer 1

From the given scenario it can be inferred that Sabrina’s claim is scientifically correct, because her claim is based on research and logic.

Explanation:

In the given scenario, Sabarina stated that “Seamounts are formed by divergent plates, because they occur near mid-ocean ridges” which is factually correct.

Seamounts are underwater mountains which rises above hundreds or thousands of feet from the seafloor. Near mid-ocean bridges the divergent plates would spread apart and the gaps are filled by magma.

Answer 2

Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise thousands of feet from the seafloor. These are mostly volcanic in origin and are found on oceanic crusts near mid-ocean ridges. As these seamounts slowly move away from the oceanic ridge due to seafloor spreading, they gradually subside due to their enormous mass.

So according to the question, Sabrina has a better claim because her claim is based on research and logic.

Answer is option A.