The theory of continental drift suggests that
all the land masses on earth were once part of one supercontinent
. Plate tectonics is the ability to measure the movement of land masses.
Is plate tectonics and continental drift the same?
Plate tectonics explains why Earth’s continents are moving; the theory of continental drift did not provide an explanation. Therefore, the theory of plate tectonics is
more complete
.
What is the major difference between continental drift and plate tectonics 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 of the continents caused them to move.
What is the difference between continental drift seafloor spreading and plate tectonics?
Supporters of continental drift originally theorized that the continents moved (drifted) through unmoving oceans. Seafloor spreading proves that the
ocean itself is a site of tectonic activity
. Seafloor spreading is just one part of plate tectonics. Subduction is another.
How are tectonic plates different from continents?
The Theory of Plate Tectonics builds on Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift. In the Theory of Plate Tectonics, it is tectonic plates, rather than continents, which
are moving
. Tectonic plates are pieces of the lithosphere and crust, which float on the asthenosphere.
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.
What is the most likely result of the movement of these two continental plates?
When two continental plates collide, the edges of the continents fold upward. What happens as a result of this plate movement?
Large mountain ranges will form
. An earthquake occurs, causing a large rift between the plates.
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 the 3 types of continental drift?
There are three kinds of plate tectonic boundaries:
divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries
.
Why do tectonic 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 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
.
Why was Wegener’s continental drift rejected?
Wegener also suggested that India drifted northward into the asian continent thus forming the Himalayas. … This idea was quickly rejected by the scientific community primarily
because the actual forces generated by the rotation of the earth were calculated to be insufficient to move continents
.
How many tectonic plates are there?
how many tectonic plates are there? There are major, minor and micro tectonic plates. There are
seven major plates
: African, Antarctic, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, North American, Pacific and South American.
How fast do tectonic plates move?
They can move at
rates of up to four inches (10 centimeters) per year
, but most move much slower than that. Different parts of a plate move at different speeds. The plates move in different directions, colliding, moving away from, and sliding past one another. Most plates are made of both oceanic and continental crust.
What is plate tectonics in your own words?
Plate tectonics is a theory which states that Earth’s surface is made of plates that move with respect to one another. The word tectonic means
“builder”
and refers to the forces that shape Earth’s crust.
