II: Plate tectonics shows the features and movement of the Earth. The theory of plate tectonics says that the outer shell of the earth is broken down into pieces often called plates (Korenaga). These plates hover over the mantle creating movement (Marshak). With plate tectonics you can determine the earth’s features without actually seeing it.
Early scientist believed that one huge supercontinent existed over two hundred million years ago. The name for this supercontinent is Pangaea. Pangaea was broken in to several pieces, and each piece was a part of the lithosphere. They believed that the pieces of Pangaea formed the continents that we know of in present day geology. When Pangaea existed, the rest of the Earth was covered by an ocean called Panthalassa. Eventually, Pangaea split into two land masses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwanaland to the south. The theory of plate tectonics does in fact have an explanation for the movement of
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)
The Theory of the Continental Drift was made by Alfred Wegener and started to be more convincing when people heard about tectonic plates. Wegener thought that since the world would rotate, the continents would shift into each other or apart from each other. But since we have better technology, we now know that the continents move because they sit on top of plate tectonics, which constantly move around, moving the continents on top of them. What are plate tectonics?
The concept of plate tectonics is that the lithosphere, which is the higher layers of the Earth’s surface, is separated into a number of plates that float independently over the mantle and along the boundaries that initiate the development of new crust, the building of mountains, and the seismic movement that triggers earthquakes (Geosystems 340). Scientists have discovered that the landforms and geographic regions we know and live on today were formed when plate tectonics shift and create movement on the Earth, forming many land structures. In 1977 two scientists created the most elaborate and detailed picture of the earth that has ever been designed, called the Tharp-Heezen map of the seafloor (National Geographic, PT). Because of this map, the theory of plate tectonics and continental drift was accepted widely across the world and still known today.
There are many similarities and differences between continental drift, seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. All three of these theories have yet to be proved correct. But the evidence is sound so therefore it is regarded as the truth. Plate tectonics is a more recent and detailed theory than continental drift. Seafloor spreading is caused mostly because of what occurs in the other two theories. All three theories work together to help us understand the Earth.
For instance, in the stations A-H we found out that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge has moved the Earth’s crust apart which eventually created an ocean, the lead to the tectonic plates moving. Another piece of evidence, is the science notebook on pg 35 (Scientific Revolution), the patterns in the rocks, when the divergent plate boundary came through it pulled the rock's father away, and the farther away they were the older the rocks became. Lastly, we found out about earthquakes from the data also in stations A-H. Earthquakes could have caused the plates to split apart because in
There are many historical disasters associated with past earthquakes. The greatest Southern California earthquake in modern history was the Fort Tejon Earthquake on January 9, 1857 that measured 8.0 on the Richter Scale. Damage was not nearly as serious as it would be today, mostly because Southern California was sparsely populated. The effects of the quake were quite dramatic, even frightening. If the Fort Tejon shock were to happen today, the damage would easily run into billions of dollars, and the loss of life would be substantial (County of Los Angeles). There were also earthquakes in China, Shansi on January 23, 1556 with damage of about 270 miles away and 830,000 in deaths, Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004 with 227,898 in deaths from the earthquake and tsunami, and in January 12, 2010 in Haiti with 222,570 deaths and
When I was younger I was standing on a wide field with my friends that is near a Tibetan cultural center. We were having a playdate. My younger friends were playing some game. My older friends were talking about plate tectonics. Some of them looked confused. One of my confused looking friends came up to me and asked me question.
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.
1. Evidence that supports that continents have moved is the evidence of Pangaea. Some evidence from continents are matching rocks,fossils,glaciers,and structural relations, proving that at one point and time all the continents were all connected. With the discovery of tectonic plates and how they function help in the understanding of continents moving over time. As from what Pangaea was to how the continents look now and are currently moving apart but at a really slow rate.
My hypothesis was that it was due to the amount of earthquakes that were constantly shifting the Earth. I thought it was the Earth knocking into one another to create tension. I also though that the tension must have taken a great amount of time. I felt like it had a great amount of influence on the formation on landmasses. My hypothesis was very much accurate to what my research informed me. The shift that I was talking about was the collision of tectonic plates. When I thought about Pangea I thought it happened a very long time ago,and It happened close to 500-200 million years ago. The collision very much formed the way the entire world looks. I was also right about it maybe happening again in the future. I think that first the world rejects the theories and research of scientists and their hard work. The world is scared of new ideas and discovery's,but later enjoys them. I feel like that is exactly what happened to Wegener. I feel like my hypothesis was not excatly right but very close, and to the best of my abilites of not really knowing what
Geoprocesses move our continents 2-3 cm a year. At a time in our world all our continents were connected. Geoprocesses modifies our surface such as plate tectonics, mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes. Mountains, volcanoes and mountain ranges are some of the best sites people see and all those sceneries are made by geoprocesses.
From ocean trenches to mountain ranges, plate tectonics theory explains the features and movement of the Earth’s surface in the past and present. 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. These plates are like a hard shell over the mantle , and the most outer layer is called the lithosphere. Plate tectonic theory was developed in the 1950’s through the 1970’s. The origins of this theory comes from the continental drift theory, which was introduced in 1912 by German scientist Alfred Wegener.
Plate tectonics, plate tectonics are a theory explaining the structure of the earth and rarely resulting in the interaction of stiff lithospheric plates that move slowly over the lurking mantle below. Plate tectonics has been around for about 3.2 million years, and still continues now. What does it do? Well plate tectonics are several plates that skim the top of the mantle´s bumpy interior layer on top of the core. The plates act like a solid and stiff frame in comparison to earth's mantle. The outer layer of the earth is called the lithosphere; the lithosphere is the strongest, toughest layer of the earth. Plate tectonics are a stylish way of continental drift. Continental drift is an assumption of the continents once moving around earth created by Alfred Wegener. Although we don't physically observe plate tectonics happening, it has definitely affected many things, created many things, and destroyed many things. Over time we see what plate tectonics have done. I am going to be explaining how plate tectonics have shaped volcanoes, how plate tectonics has shaped mountains and also how it has constructed earthquakes.