Continental Drift as proposed by Alfred Wegener
What are the similarities and differences of plate tectonics and continental drift?
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.
How are plate tectonics and continental drift similar?
Plate tectonics is Wegener theory of continental drift reworked. The force
needed to move the continents
is proposed to be convection currents in the mantle. … The continents are seen as part of large plates of crust that are moved by the convection currents in the mantle.
Continental drift
believes that the continents moved because the magnetism of the sea floor
. Plate tectonics believes that the lithosphere & the asthenosphere of the continents caused them to move.
Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes
fractures to occur
in the lithosphere. … At a spreading center, basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new seabed.
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 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.
What causes the continental drift quizlet?
a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid. The earth’s crust and upper mantle are made of huge plates slowly drifting because of
convection currents in the mantle
. The mid ocean ridge is a crack in the earth’s crust where molten rock rises and spreads new sea floor.
What is the continental drift theory quizlet?
What is the theory of continental drift?
Hypothesis that states that continents once formed a single land mass and broke apart and drifted to their current location.
What does continental drift mean quizlet?
The
hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations
. …
What causes the tectonic 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.
How do tectonic plates affect humans?
Plate tectonics affects humans in several important ways. What would Earth be like without plate tectonics? We’d have many fewer
earthquakes
and much less volcanism, fewer mountains, and probably no deep-sea trenches. … In other words, the Earth would be a much different place.
How do the shape of the continents support continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
What are 3 pieces of evidence of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
What are 6 pieces of evidence that support continental drift?
- Fossils.
- Continents fit like Puzzle Pieces. Matching fossils preserved in rocks of the same age but found on different continents. Ex. …
- Matching Rocks. Puzzle – like fit of continental shelves. Ex. …
- Mountain Ranges.
- Glacier Striations.
- Coal Beds.
What does Pangaea mean in Greek?
Pangea was surrounded by a global ocean called Panthalassa, and it was fully assembled by the Early Permian Epoch (some 299 million to 273 million years ago). … Its name is derived from the Greek pangaia, meaning
“all the Earth
.”
