Continental Drift

There are three different types of plate boundaries. The first type of plate boundaries is, the spreading boundary. A spreading boundary is when two plates move apart. The spreading boundary is also known as a divergent boundary. The second type of plate boundary is a colliding boundary. A colliding boundary is when two plates come together, or collide. It is also known as convergent boundary. The third is, a sliding boundary. A sliding boundary is when two plates slip past each other moving in opposite directions. It is also known as transform boundary. Those were the three different types of plate

There are three distinct types of plate boundaries existing, which are supported by geological observation, geophysical data, and theoretical considerations. Their names and categories are based on if adjacent plates move apart from each other (divergent plate margins), toward one another (convergent plate margins), or slip past one another in a direction parallel to their common boundary (transform plate margins) (Pitman, W.C., 2007).

Plate tectonics move land masses around, and occasionally, interactions between different plates causes new land to form, and can even join two separate continents together, changing ocean currents and causing climate change. This is evident in the collision of the North and South American continents, which created the Isthmus of Panama, and separated the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 15 million years ago, the North and South American continent was cut off from each other by a seaway about 200 km wide. Over time, the South American plate collided with the Caribbean and Cocos plate, and gradually closed the exchange of the Caribbean and Pacific waters 3-4 million years ago. This resulted in several consequences.

Was pangea real or is it all a mystery,nobody knows if pangea is real because it still remains a mystery I think,let's find out.long long ago the earth wasn't seven continents it was just one big landmass surrounded by a ocean called panthalassa. Alfred winger was the person that found out about Pangea. He figured out that Africa and South America fit together. And also from my own experience I was watching The History Channel then there were two of the same dinosaurs in Africa and South America at the same tip of each continent that's why they know that Pangea is real because dinosaurs cannot swim across a whole ocean .

This diagram was similar to one Alfred Wegener drew to show the distribution of continents 300 million years ago. His theory of continental drift was met with skepticism in the scientific community.

In an expedition to find a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia , explorer Christopher Columbus stumbled upon ‘The New World’ originally mistaking it for Mainland China. The misconception that the earth was flat was still a popular theory in this era of time, in fact many explorers and pioneers initially underestimated the worlds size, calculating that East Asia must lie approximately where North America is geographically located.

Alfred Wegener suggested that the continents have moved about the earth. Wegener carefully compiled evidence for continental drift that eventually became universally accepted in the scientific community. This lab also helped support the theory of continental drift. In this lab, we created a map of Earth 225 million years ago. This map indicates that South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia all used to be a part of a landmass called pangaea.

Have you ever heard of Pangaea? Do you think it is real? Do you need someone to prove it for you? Well,I am here to prove Pangaea’s existence to you.

Another boundary is called a convergent boundary. When the crust expands at the divergent boundary the plate is pushed into another plate where it is either sub-ducted or it buckles. This really depends on the type of lithosphere that is involved in the convergence (Kious). This convergence can occur between two ocean plates, two continental plates or an ocean and continental plates. Two of the features that can be found at a convergence boundary is a volcanic arc and a deep ocean trench. The Volcanic trench can be found over the subduction zone (Trujillo, pg 55).

GEOLOGIC ASSOCIATION, FRANKFURT- Wegener has startled scientists with his discovery of Pangaea. According to him, he believes that all the continents were once joined together as one land mass. Then apparently, it started to “drift” apart as years went on.

For the duration of the late Eighties, Paul Hoffman advised that the 1.8–1.6 GA amalgamation of the carbonic factors of Laurentia may additionally have taken place contemporaneously with the formation of a good large supercontinent. Worldwide reconstructions for this hypothetical supercontinent were not proven in the ones publications even though the time frame of its assembly turned into distinctive. Gower et al. (1990) argued for decent reconstruction of cationic northern Europe against North America that they called Nena. Williams et al. (1991) gave a list of “fictitious” super continental names to be used in describing the foundation of cationic elements of Laurentia. Three of these fictitious supercontinents may be temporally linked to the 1.8–1.6 Ga and encompass “Hudsonland” (1.9–1.8 Ga), “relevant Plainsland”(1.7 Ga) and“Labradorland” (a.okay.a Mazatzaland at 1.6

    A few crucial pieces of evidence that the continents moved are Wegener’s observations. Although scientists disregarded his studies, he did have pieces of substantial evidence that the continents had moved. First is his evidence from fossils. Fossils are important because they give traces of ancient organisms. If Wegener wanted to prove that the continents moved, fossils would have to be included in his analysis. For example, the Lystrosaurus and Mesosaurus

This passage, "Continental Drift", explains what continental drift is, evidence to support it and plate tectonics. Alfred Wegener and Frank Taylor suggested a theory that at one point in time, all the continents were one very large continent called Pangea in 1912. This giant supercontinent was surrounded by one large ocean called Panthalassa.

With the work of other scientists who had theorized about horizontal movement of the continents over the earth’s surface during different periods of geologic time, and based on his own observations from different fields of science, Wegener deduced that about 200 million years ago the supercontinent that he called “Pangaea,” (means “all lands” in Greek) began to break up.

The plate tectonic theory states that rigid plates slowly ride on the molten mantle. The boundaries between the plates are known to serve as an important mineral resource. Three types of tectonic plate exist: convergent, divergent and transform boundaries. A convergent boundary represents two plates moving towards each other mostly forming a subduction. When two plates move away from each other, a divergent boundary is formed. In transform boundaries, the plates move laterally past each other (Mission, 2016).