Plate Tectonics Essay

Earth is the only known planet in our solar system that can/does sustain life. About 200 million years ago, each continent formed a super-continent called "Pangea". Pangea split due to the movement of Earth's tectonic plates. "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. This strong outer layer is called the Lithosphere.". Convergent boundaries are one of the three types of plate boundaries that occur on Earth. The other two are: divergent and transform margins. During a divergent margin, two plates are spreading apart. Transform margins show the grinding of two plate in a mostly horizontal motion. One example is the San Andreas Fault Line, where the North America and Pacific plates grind past each other in a horizontal fashion. The major plates are: North American Plate, South American Plate, Pacific Plate, African Plate, and the Eurasian Plate. "Lithospheric plates are regions of Earth's crust and upper mantle that are fractured into plates that move across a deeper plasticine mantle. Earth's crust is fractured into 13 major and approximately 20 total lithospheric plates. Each lithospheric plate is composed of a layer of oceanic crust or continental crust superficial to an outer layer of the mantle. Containing both crust and the upper region of the mantle, lithospheric plates are generally considered to be approximately 60 mi (100 km) thick. Although containing only continental crust or oceanic crust in any one cross-section, lithospheric plates may contain various sections that exclusively contain either oceanic crust or continental crust and therefore lithospheric plates may contain various combinations of oceanic and continental crust. Lithospheric plates move on top of the asthenoshpere (the outer plastically deforming region of

Continental drift is the theory that says the continents are moving around on the Earth’s surface, both in the past and now. A man named Alfred Wegener noticed that South America and Africa looked as though they could fit together. Scientists were convinced that it was once a big landform. Research was conducted to find that North America, South America, and Africa fit together. Since the Earth's crust solidified billions of years ago, plates of its crust have been drifting. The map of the Earth is always changing too. In addition, not only are the underlying plates moving, but the plates change in size. Also, the sea level changes over time (as the temperature on Earth varies and the poles melt or freeze to varied extents), covering or exposing

Plate Tectonics is a scientific theory which study how the Earth’s plates are driven and shaped by geological forces to keep them in constant movement. The theory explains the present-day tectonic behavior of the Earth, particularly the global distribution of mountain building, earthquake activity, and volcanism in a series of linear belt. (Pitman, W.C., 2007)

Ever since the beginning on time, Humans believed the ground is solid and immobile. But this is not true whatsoever. The Earth is every-changing and continually in motion. The stability of the Earth is not at all what we think it is. Thinking about the rotational axis of the Earth, and possibly of what the Earth may become at a certain point in time, has a great influence on understanding all aspects of living things, either in the past, present, or future. The study of Plate tectonics is accredited to most of the creations of Mountain Ranges, the drifting of continents, earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Plate tectonics and mountains also play a big part in the geological features of our planet or any planet for that

First of all, the Earth was made billions of years ago. It all started in this way, asteroids, comets, planets, and moons were created. Earth’s rocky core formed first with heaty elements colliding and binding together. The flow of the mantle beneath the crust causes plate tectonics, the movement of the large plates of rocks on the surface of the earth.

The seven major tectonic plates comprise mostly on continental plates and the Pacific plate. The seven major plates from greatest to least are called: the Pacific Plate stretching 103,300,000 km2, North American Plate being 75,900,000 km2, Eurasian Plate being 67,800,000 km2, African Plate stretching 61,300,000 km2, Antarctic Plate being 60,900,000 km2, Australian Plate being 47,000,000 km2, and the South American Plate being 43,600,000 km2. With different tectonic plates, there are different ways they can move: divergent, convergent, and transform. Divergent plate movement is when both plates moving away from each other, creating a canyon that has magma pushing out from the bottom, forming new ground. Convergent is usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate are moving into one another, causing the oceanic plate to subducts into the mantle. This causes move active volcanos and earthquakes. Even though all of the plates are in the lithosphere, it's only the where Earth is flexible enough to move rather than flow. The lithosphere flexes when loads of weight are placed on it or

Plate tectonics can cause a big impact on humans and could possibly shift its course and our knowledge of the past. This quarter we have been studied plate tonics in the quarter. Pompeii was a city that was affected by plate tonics, its movement caused a massive eruption with terrible consequences.

The theory of plate tectonics evolved out of the theory of continental drift. Alfred Wegener originally proposed the theory that continents move over time in 1912 after observing that many coastlines on opposite sides of the ocean appeared to match up like puzzle pieces. He formed the theory of continental drift based on evidence, such as the fact that fossils of the same species of plant or land animals are found across oceans, on different continents. Unfortunately, Wegener's theory was largely ignored in part because it did not explain how or why the continents moved. Over the next 50 years, however, scientists continued to collect evidence that suggested he may have been right. For example,

Firstly, plate tectonics was not formed exclusively from induction which differentiates “real science … from unscientific superstitions by its reliance on observations, generalization, and repeated confirmation”, however it was crucial in forming the basis of this theory (400). Continental Drift was the precursor to plate tectonics in a sense as it used sensory observations including the examination of how continents appeared to fit together like puzzle pieces and how many plant and animal fossils as well as rock formations were shared among continents that currently have no physical connection. These observations led Alfred Wegner, the man who introduced continental drift, to make a general statement that all of the continents must have been together at one time and have progressively shifted because of some force (Ammon). Although this evidence was circumstantial and did not undeniably prove his theory, more proof was repeatedly found with additional fossils and rock formations that were discovered to be shared between continents. Conversely, flat earth theory uses a single experiment known as the Bedford Level Experiment which incorrectly stated the earth was flat (Cox). This experiment does use sensory observations and a generalization regarding said observations which is part of induction, but leaves out the necessary component of repetition that completes it. In

Have you ever wondered why the Earth looks the way it does today? Well, you are not the only one. Not too long ago was it that scientist asked themselves the same question and were able to come up with an answer. Now, lets take a quick look back at that question. Why do the continents look the way they do? Well, the short answer is basically plate tectonics. What is that you say? Plate tectonics is a theory that describes the formation, movements, and interactions of the Earth's lithosphere with its' asthenosphere. The lithospheric layer of Earth's crust is broken into plates that move on the asthenosphere, the layer located under. This theory is what basically explains how continents, volcanoes, and mountains got where they are today. Now,

Long before plate tectonics were discovered there were a lot of mysteries on how mountain ranges were formed or even how certain fossils came to be discovered in the regions in which they were found. A prime example of one of these mysteries would be the Ural Mountains. The Ural Mountains are located within continental interiors but yet there has been fossilized marine life discovered in the middle of this large landmass. This is proof that the Ural Mountains were not always the range of mountains in which they are today. This is one of the many pieces of evidence that help to support the theory of plate tectonics.

Plate tectonics allows the Earth’s crust to continually change and move. There are seven major plates and many smaller plates making up the Earth’s Lithosphere. I remember from an Astronomy course I took in Muggle school that the major plates roughly correlate to the continents of the world. There major plate names are as follows: North American, South American, African, Antarctic, Australian, the Eurasian (which encompasses both continents of Europe and Asia), and Pacific (which encompasses the entire Pacific Ocean and is actually an oceanic plate whereas the other plates are continental plates). There are three types of boundaries where the different plates meet. The first one is called transform and this is where plates slide past each other. The second one is called divergent and is where plates move away from each other. And the third type of boundary is subduction where an oceanic plate moves under a continental plate. With a subduction boundary the plates continually “bump” into each other causing violent volcanoes and

Our planet has four main layers, which are: the inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. The inner core is the center, or middle, of Earth. The crust is the top layer, and it’s the layer we walk on. Both the mantle’s top area and the entire crust have many pieces in them, kind of like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Plate tectonics are dangerous because they can cause other earthly disasters. Plate tectonics move our continents apart and back again. Plate tectonics was the cause for the super continent Pangea. Our country's coastlines match up with each other. Discovery Education said, “ The plates float on top of the moving mantle and constantly push and pull on each other.” Plate tectonics can cause all different

Earth is in fact an intricate planet that has multiple layers of differing compositions. To be exact the earth has four main layers. The uppermost layer is the one humans come in most contact with, the crust. The crust consists of “thin silicate rock material”(Structure of the). Although the crust is not entirely the same. Actually there are two distinct types of crust, oceanic and continental. “The continental crust is made up of mostly rocks similar to granite while the oceanic crust is much denser and made up of a material similar to basalt”(Structure of the, Rose). The second layer is called the mantle. “The mantle is much denser than the crust and contains similar to the crust mostly solid silicate crust”(Structure of the). “As we travel further down the earth we wind up in the outer core. The outer core is a core of molten nickel and iron. Finally there’s the inner core. The inner is a solid metal core made up of nickel and iron”(Structure of the). All these layers functioning together cast out a magnetic