The main difference between plate tectonics and continental drift is that
plate tectonics describes the features and movement of Earth’s surface in the present and in the past
whereas continental drift describes the drifting of Earth’s continents on the ocean bed.
What does the continental drift theory and the plate tectonics theory have in common?
According to the theory of continental drift, the world was made up of a single continent through most of geologic time. … According to the generally accepted plate-tectonics theory, scientists believe that
Earth’s surface is broken into a number of shifting slabs or plates
, which average about 50 miles in thickness.
How does plate tectonics differ from continental drift quizlet?
What are the differences between Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics? Continental drift
believes that the continents moved because the magnetism of the sea floor
. Plate tectonics believes that the lithosphere & the asthenosphere
How did Wegener’s theory of continental drift differ from the current theory of plate tectonics 2 points?
How did Wegener’s theory of continental drift differ from the current theory of plate tectonics? Wegener’s theory did not explain how the continents could move. …
Wegener attempted to explain the movement of continents but could not identify a source of force strong enough
.
What is the difference between continental drift theory and plate tectonics?
Plate tectonics explains
why Earth’s continents are moving
; the theory of continental drift did not provide an explanation.
What is the theory of plate tectonics continental drift quizlet?
theory of continental drift
states that the world was made up of a single continent
. The theory of plate-tectonics, on the other hand, states that earth’s surface is broken into numbers of shifting plates or slabs.
Which is a line of evidence for plate tectonics?
Evidence from
fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines
helps reveal how the plates once fit together. Fossils tell us when and where plants and animals once existed.
What are the 3 theories of plate tectonics?
The three types of plate boundaries are
divergent, convergent, and transform
. They are described in the following three concepts. Most geological activity takes place at plate boundaries.
What are 5 pieces of evidence that support continental drift?
The evidence for continental drift included
the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones
.
What cause the plates to move?
The heat from radioactive processes within the planet’s interior
causes the plates to move, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other. This movement is called plate motion, or tectonic shift.
What are the four evidences of continental drift theory?
They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence:
fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils
.
What are the 6 pieces of evidence for the theory of continental drift?
What are six pieces of evidence for the continental drift theory?
Reptile Fossils
– dinosaurs couldn’t have swam across a vast ocean. Plant Fossils- all these regions were once connected and had similar climates. Tropical plants found in Arctic- tropical plants can’t grow in cold climates.
What are the 4 types of plate tectonics?
- Divergent: extensional; the plates move apart. Spreading ridges, basin-range.
- Convergent: compressional; plates move toward each other. Includes: Subduction zones and mountain building.
- Transform: shearing; plates slide past each other. Strike-slip motion.
Which came first the theory of plate tectonics or the theory of continental drift quizlet?
The theory of plate tectonics evolved out of the theory of continental drift. German
scientist Alfred Wegener
What is continental drift theory explain?
Continental drift describes
one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time
. … He called this movement continental drift. Pangaea. Wegener was convinced that all of Earth’s continents were once part of an enormous, single landmass called Pangaea.
What evidence supports the theory of continental drift quizlet?
Fossils of same creature have been found on different continents that are separated today but were once joined
. For example. a 20 cm Mesosaurus reptile could not have swam 3000 miles across and ocean. It’s more likely the continents were together and over 40 million years it walked.
