Fossils And Plate Tectonics

The fossil records have started low and have been increasing throughout the closer the fossils are to know. Fossils are evidence of a species that lived during a certain period. The more fossils found from different species, the higher the variety of animals. Biodiversity is the variety of organisms found on Earth. When we find more fossils we could assume there were more organisms during that period, more organisms means more biodiversity.

By putting the pictures of fossils in chronological order in the activity Using Fossils to Tell “Deep Time”, we discovered that fossils can be a valuable tool in relative dating. Due to the principle of horizontal originality, we know that layers of sediment are deposited horizontally; because of this, we can extrapolate that fossils of the same species will

The scientists discovered that the continents did indeed move, proving Wegner right, because of this seafloor spreading caused by giant convection currents under the crust of the Earth. These currents are pouring magma out of what they named The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and pushing the older crust. Ocean crust is made out of basalt, making it a lot denser than the granite that Continental crust is composed of, is prime evidence to this as basalt is a volcanic rock, and volcanoes are related with

Should the Fixists have accepted Alfred Wegeners’ idea of continental drift more quickly? I personally have more sympathy on Wegeners’ part, having some very sound evidence to support an exceedingly well claim. The idea that Pangea, a supercontinent consisting of all the landmasses on earth, existed 300 million years ago, was all Wegeners’. In this essay, I will give evidence to support Wegeners’ claim such as plate boundaries, glacial scratches, mountain ranges, and fossil evidence.

The theory of plate tectonics was first developed by Alfred Wegener. He concluded that the continents seem to have a similar shape and could potentially fit together. This suggested that they were at one time joined together as part of 2 super continents called Gondwanaland and Laurasia was in the north. This theory was said to be proven by the discovery of fossilised remains of a mesosaurus that were found on the coasts of Brazil and Gabon. Sea floor spreading is another theory that supports the idea of plate tectonics; this theory discovered that rock is being formed under the ocean as a new sea floor. Sea floor spreading was shown in the Atlantic, where it is believed the Eurasian and North American plates are moving apart on a

Fossils Tell of Long Ago uses accessible language and illustrations to aid all students in vocabulary and new concept growth. Explicit instructions, reading the book allowed to the class, and allowing conversation among individual students as they work through learning new words will aid ELL students in expanding their word knowledge. Furthermore, having ELL students translate new word to into their native language will help them activate their previous knowledge. Encouraging all students to be actively engage in learning words will ensure that ELL students and all students will gain knowledge and make connections to new words.

Alfred Wegener was a meteorologist and astronomer. He was the first scientist to introduce the theory of the continental drift. Wegener theorized that at one time the continents were one large landmass or Pangaea that had drifted apart. His ideas were initially rejected by other scientists. It was not until long after Wegener’s death that proof was obtained and his theory verified.

Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that attempts to explain the movements of the Earth's lithosphere that have formed the landscape features we see across the globe today” (Briney). Geology defines “plate” as a large slab of solid rock, and “tectonics” is part of the Greek root word for “to build.” Together the words define how the Earth’s surface is built up of moving plates. The theory of plate tectonics dictates that individual plates, broken down into large and small sections of rock, form Earth’s lithosphere. These fragmented bodies of rock move along each other atop the Earth’s liquid lower mantle to create the plate boundaries that have shaped Earth’s landscape. Plate tectonics originated from meteorologist Alfred Wegener’s theory, developed in the early 20th century. In 1912, he realized that the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa appeared to piece together like a jigsaw puzzle. He further examined the globe and deduced that all of Earth’s continents could somehow be assembled together and proposed the idea that the continents had once been linked in a single supercontinent called Pangaea. To explain today’s position of the continents, Wegener theorized that they began to drift apart approximately 300 million years ago. This theory

Volcanic and Seismic events are major pieces of evidence towards proving that plate tectonics theory is valid (40 marks)

Refer to the images above. Discuss in detail the two pieces of additional evidence that supported Wegener’s theory, now known as the theory of plate tectonics.

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 .

The breaking apart of this supercontinent was due to the movement of the Earth's Tectonic Plates. Tectonic Plates are large masses of the lithosphere or outer layer of the Earth's surface. The layers included in the Lithosphere are the Crust up to the upper layer of the Mantle. The Oceanic Crust is thinner and denser than the Continental Crust and can be found underneath the ocean. It is also more active than the Continental Crust that stretches 200 km below the Earth's surface. This crust drifts and moves either horizontally or vertically causing geological phenomenons such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. The major tectonic plates are North American, Caribbean, South American, Scotia, Antarctic, Eurasian, Arabian, African, Indian, Philippine, Australian, Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, and Nazca. These plates move an estimate of 1 to 10 cm per year causing interaction at plate boundaries. When two plates are colliding or moving toward each other it is in Convergent boundaries. If these two plates are Oceanic Crusts, they are in Subduction zones wherein the denser plate in forced beneath the less dense plate and would eventually melt or destroy. On the other hand, when two plates move away from each other it is in Divergent boundaries. New crust material from molten magma formed below may fill the space between these plates or become ocean basins.

The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s outer shell is divided into plates. The crust and upper mantle is broken into plates that move around on the mantle, changing in size throughout time. The lithosphere makes up the crust and upper mantle and the asthenosphere a plastic like layer beneath the lithosphere. There are three types of plate boundaries. Divergent boundaries where two plates move away from each other. The ocean widens and new crust forms at the mid-oceanic ridge. Convergent boundaries has three types of converging, moving two plates towards each other. First we have an ocean floor plate that collides with a less dense continental plate. Next an ocean floor plate collides with another ocean floor plate. Finally a continental plate collides with another continental plate. Transform boundaries were two plates slide past one another. The resulting effects of plate tectonics is landforms such as rift valleys,

Fossil evidence is very important for our understanding of plate tectonics theory. Similar animal fossils have been found on the South American and African continents. These fossils suggest that the continents were once joined together. Fossils of an extinct reptile, named a Mesosaurus, have been found in southern Africa and South America. Scientists believe that the only explanation for this fossil being found on these two continents is that they were once joined and have become separated due to plate movements. Plant fossils, such as a fossil of the Glossopteris tree have been found in several countries across the Southern Hemisphere such as India, Australia and even Antarctica. The discovery of these fossils prompted scientists to conclude that these countries must once have been joined in one large land mass. The discovery of such fossils as this in Antarctica gives additional weight to this theory as vegetation cannot survive the harsh Antarctic environment suggesting that if vegetation has been able to grow previously, the positioning of the continent must have been

Through the fossil record, scientists have been able to observe the changes among different homo genus, as they evolved over time becoming what we now know as the modern human (Fossil Record, 2015). The fossil record not only organizes the sequential generations that have changed over time to adapt better to their environments, but it also provides a time line to how homo sapiens came to exist (Fossil Record, 2015). Through careful analysis of the human fossil record, characteristics in the skull such as the brow ridge, brain size, cranial capacity, dentition, nasal cavity, eye sockets, mandible, and the cranial base are all characterizes, that both connect the three specimens Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and modern human, as well as, set them apart.