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 3 things support the theory of plate tectonics?
There is variety of evidence that supports the claims that plate tectonics accounts for (1) the distribution of fossils on different continents , (2) the occurrence of earthquakes, and (3) continental and ocean floor features including mountains, volcanoes, faults, and trenches.
Which of the following supports the plate tectonics concept?
Earthquakes and volcanic activity are also evidence of plate tectonics.
Is the theory of plate tectonics supported by research?
Plate tectonics theory then became widely accepted among scientists because it relied on hard evidence and could explain most of the modern geological structures such as ocean basins, mountain ranges, and rifts.
What evidence best supports the theory of continental drift?
Fossil Evidence
One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record . Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined.
What is plate tectonics in your own words?
Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s outer shell is divided into large slabs of solid rock , called “plates,” that glide over Earth’s mantle, the rocky inner layer above Earth’s core. ... It lubricates the undersides of Earth’s tectonic plates, allowing the lithosphere to move around.
How and why do the plates 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 evidence supports the theory of plate tectonics?
Modern continents hold clues to their distant past. 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. Some life “rode” on diverging plates, became isolated, and evolved into new species.
How does the plate tectonics theory affect people’s lives?
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.
What is plate tectonics theory class 9?
Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core . The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to Earth’s mantle. ... The earth’s lithosphere is composed of seven or eight major plates and many minor plates.
Why is plate tectonic a theory?
Plate tectonics is a theory because it provides an explanation of why and how segments of the earth move and cause earthquakes and mountains and volcanos .
What is the importance of understanding the concepts of the plate tectonics theory?
Plate tectonics explains why and where earthquakes occur . This makes it possible to make predictions about earthquakes. Plate tectonics explains why and where mountains are formed. The oceans according to plate tectonics are formed by divergent boundaries.
What was the theory before plate tectonics?
Before Alfred Wegener came along and proposed continental drift , the prevailing wisdom of how the Earth’s topography was created was based on the hypothesis that the Earth had contracted from its original state as a molten blob.
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 is the difference between 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.
What are the 4 evidences of 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 .
