The Theory That Earth 's Outer Shell

The first, would be Land features. Alfred Wegener saw how the coal fields in North America and Europe lined up, he also realized that mountain ranges in North America and Africa lined up. The second, evidence he used were the fossils. There were three types of fossils he found the first was the glossopteris a fern like plant found in Africa, South America, Australia, India, and Antarctica. The second and third were the Mesosaurus and the Lystrosaurus fossils, they were freshwater reptile fossils on continents separated by oceans. The third evidence Alfred Wegener used was, the climate zones. Alfred Wegener looked at the past of the climates and he found scratches in rocks from glaciers in South Africa. Those were the three main evidences Alfred Wegener used to prove Continental Drift

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. Compared to the mantle, the plates are a hard, tough, and rigid shell. California is made up of different types of plates that are unique in the way that they form and move. (LiveScience)

The plate tectonics theory was made by a German named Alfred Wegener. He stated that a single continent existed about 300 million years ago named Pangaea and that it split into two continents of Laurasia in the north and Gondwanaland in the south. Today’s continents were formed by further splitting of the two masses.

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.

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

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

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)

Alfred Wegner was the first person to make the suggestion that all the continents were once one. Because he had no proof, he was disregarded. We now know today that the tectonic plates are in fact moving, and bringing the continents with them and that Pangea did in face exist. One of Wegner’s proofs of Pangea was the jigsaw fit between South America and Africa.

James Hutton was the first scientist to address the Earth was millions of years old, as well as alive and is continuously being formed. Charles Lyell popularized uniformitarianism, and believed the Earth was being shaped by slow moving forces. Alfred Wegener introduced the foundation for the theory of continental drift. Wegener was one of the first to recognize and have an understanding of how the Earth works which required data and information from earth sciences. In the 1960s, the theory for the continental drift became known as the theory of plate tectonics or plate building.

NASA has once again been caught red-handed with a cover-up attempt. A recent flyby of the ISS over the North Pole shows footage that was mysteriously covered up when the craft passed over a certain part of the north pole. This region has long been thought to harbor a UFO hole leading to the center of the Earth.

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.

What is plate techtonics? Plate techtonics is a theory explaning the stucture of earth's crust, which have moved threwout earths history. The plate techonic theory explains how and behind the mountains, volcanoes, and ea

To help prove his theory, he also needed to find evidence that will show that these continents did once broke away for this supercontinent that was Pangea. In that case, Wegener discovered several pieces of evidence that helped him try to prove his theory of continental drift. Wegener documented his evidence in his book called “The Origin of Continents and Oceans,” that he published in 1915 (Wicander, p.

Wegener believed that the continents conformed into a full unit at one point, similar to that of a puzzle. This idea of a single, large continent came to be known as Pangea, which in translation, means ‘all-earth.’ Wegner also brought forth the idea that throughout the Jurassic period, Pangea split into two smaller supercontinents, called Laurasia and Gondwanaland. On the other hand, Wegener did not acquire an explanation for how the continents were capable of moving around the planet. Researchers today, however, are able to explain that. For example, Nicholas van der Elst, a seismologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, explains that the driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in

However, Wegener believed that only the continents were moving and they plowed through the rocks of the ocean basins. (Colliers Encyclopedia, 1996) Harold Jeffreys then argued that it is impossible for continents to break through solid rock without breaking apart. (USGS, 2012) Wegener also claimed that the centrifugal force of the spinning planet had forced the continents sideways, parallel to the equator; tidal pull from the sun and moon had caused lateral movement. (Sant, Joseph, 2012) His orders of magnitude were too weak. Thus, his theory was dismissed. (Lois Van Wagner, 2013)