Wegener suggested that perhaps the rotation of the Earth caused the continents to shift towards and apart from each other. ... Today, we know that the continents rest on massive slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The plates are always moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics.
What does the continental drift theory explain?
Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time . ... In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other.
What explains plate movement?
The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s solid outer crust, the lithosphere, is separated into plates that move over the asthenosphere, the molten upper portion of the mantle. Oceanic and continental plates come together, spread apart, and interact at boundaries all over the planet.
What evidence supports the theory of plate tectonics and continental drift?
Modern continents hold clues to their distant past. Evidence from fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines helps reveal how the plates once fit together.
What are the 3 causes of plate movement?
Mantle dynamics, gravity, and Earth’s rotation taken altogether causes the plate movements. However, convectional currents are the general thought for the motion.
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 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 3 pieces of evidence for Pangea?
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 drives the plate 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 possible causes of plate movement?
The force that causes most of the plate movement is thermal convection , where heat from the Earth’s interior causes currents of hot rising magma and cooler sinking magma to flow, moving the plates of the crust along with them.
What causes and drives the movement of plates?
Geologists have hypothesized that the movement of tectonic plates is related to convection currents in the earth’s mantle . ... Tremendous heat and pressure within the earth cause the hot magma to flow in convection currents. These currents cause the movement of the tectonic plates that make up the earth’s crust.
What are the two main types of tectonic plates?
Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth’s crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The plates are around 100 km (62 mi) thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust (also called sima from silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (sial from silicon and aluminium) .
What are the 2 tectonic plates called?
There are two main types of tectonic plates: oceanic and continental .
What is an example of plate tectonics?
A general discussion of plate tectonics. ... The Pacific Plate , for example, is entirely oceanic, whereas the North American Plate is capped by continental crust in the west (the North American continent) and by oceanic crust in the east and extends under the Atlantic Ocean as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
What are three pieces of evidence that support continental drift?
They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils .
