2. Identify all of the different observations Alfred Wegener used to support his theory of continental drift.…
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.…
In 1912, Alfred Wegener published his theory that a single super continent named Pangaea once existed about 300 million years ago. He proposed that Pangaea then later split into two continents of Laurasia in the north and Gondwanaland in the south and that today’s continents were the result of further splitting of these two land masses. Where the plates split are known as plate boundaries. Wegener’s theory of continental drift was supported by both geological and biological evidence that these areas were once joined. The geological evidence included the rock sequences in Northern Scotland closely agreeing with those found in East Canada, indicating that they were laid down under the same conditions in one location as well as the obvious jig saw fitting appearance of today’s continents, in particular, the bulge of south America fitting into the indent below west Africa. The biological evidence comprised of fossil findings linking different continents. Fossil brachiopods found in Indian limestones were comparable with similar fossils in Australia and the fossil remains of Mesosaurus’ were found in both South America and southern Africa. It is unlikely that the same reptile could have developed in both areas or that it could have migrated across the Atlantic. Despite the evidence, Wegener’s theory was unable to explain how continental movement had occurred. However from the 1940’s additional evidence accumulated after the discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge and huge oceanic trenches. Examination of the ocean crust either side of the mid-Atlantic ridge suggested that sea-floor spreading was occurring. Magnetic surveys of the ocean floor in the 1950’s, showed regular patterns of paleomagnetic striping surrounding the ridges. It was discovered that when lava erupts on the ocean floor, magnetic domains within iron rich minerals in the lava are aligned with the…
Pangaea was a supercontinent that formed around 300 million years ago and began to break apart around 200 million years ago, during the times of the Pangaea of the land was on one continent and all of the sea was one giant ocean. This theory was coined during a 1927 symposium discussing Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift, he posed the idea that prior to the breaking up and drifting to their present locations, all of the continents had at one time been a single supercontinent as seen pictured on the right. The breaking and forming of the supercontinents appears to have been cyclical through the Earth’s history. Alfred Wegeners theory talked about how icebergs may behave the same as moving continents, and how therefore plate tectonics caused the movement of continental crust.…
The Plate Tectonic Theory developed in the late 1960’s, when people noticed how continents either side of the Atlantic Ocean seemed to almost fit together. Francis Bacon, an English Philosopher was aware of this as early as 1620. Topographical and geological evidence built up and allowed Alfred Wegener to publish a theory in 1912, suggesting that the continents were once all joined together in a supercontinent he called Pangaea. Wegener proposed that at some time, the land masses had drifted apart until they occupied their current positions on the globe. There was lots of evidence to support his theory including Continental Fit. Sometimes continents, such as the west of Africa and the eastern seaboard of South America, seem to fit together if placed beside each other. This is particularly true is the continental shelves are taken into account as the true edges of the land masses. There is also Geological Evidence where rocks of the same age and type and displaying the same formations, such as in south-east Brazil and South Africa. The trends of the mountains are also similar in eastern USA and North-west Europe. Similar glacial deposits are found in Antarctica, South America and India, which are now many kilometres apart. Climatological Evidence shows that places as far apart as Antarctica, North America and the UK all contain coal deposits of a similar age that were formed in tropical conditions. They are no longer in tropical climate zones and must have drifted apart since the Carboniferous period. Biological Evidence shows that similar fossil formations are found on either side of the Atlantic. Plant remains from humid swamps that later formed coal deposits have been found in India and Antarctica.…
Plate tectonics theory, which is the modern theory of the motions of Earth’s layer, explains how geological features, such as mountain ranges, continents, and bodies of water move and form. An important aspect of plate tectonics theory is that the outer layer of the earth is divided into plates which move across the earth’s surface. “These plates move relative to each other, typically at rates of 2-4 inches per year. As the plates move, they interact along their boundaries” (Plate Tectonics). In other words, the formation of geological features occur at the plate boundaries which is where plates slide and interact. There are four types of plate boundaries: divergent boundaries, convergent boundaries, transform…
The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s lithosphere is broken up into many different pieces separated by jagged cracks. These are called the tectonic plates. They are in slow, constant motion pushed by the convection currents in Earth’s asthenosphere. This theory explains the process of sea floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges, and subduction at deep ocean trenches. It was proposed by J. Tuzo Wilson in 1965. He combined the discoveries of Harry Hess and Alfred Wegner to support this theory. One of the tectonic plates is the Scotia plate. It is an oceanic plate which stretches from the southern tip of South America, to the center of the Atlantic Ocean.…
The plate tectonics theory was put forward by Alfred Wegener suggesting that the continents were at one point all conjoined in one supercontinent known as Pangaea. He then said that Pangaea had drifted apart through the movement of plates to give us the current places of continents we have today. Wegener's theory was linked to a variety of evidence, however it took further research and evidence for this to become a leading theory. This means that although volcanic and seismic events help to prove the plate tectonics theory valid, there is also a range of other factors involved.…
The theory of plate tectonics explains the structure and motion of the Earth’s lithosphere. The theory states that the Earth’s crust is split into large sections called tectonic plates, and these move relative to one another creating boundaries at which the plates converge, diverge or move past each other. These plates are either continental or oceanic and are powered by convection currents, which is the circular movement of magma that comes from within the mantle. These currents are powered by the core, which heats the magma, causing it to rise, cool and fall back down. This circular motion causes the plates, which float on the mantle, to move. In 1912, Alfred Wegener, was the first man to state that the continents were once joined in a continent called Pangaea, but he couldn’t explain why and what happened to cause the plates to move apart so at the time the theory wasn’t believed. He based his theory on the fit of the South American and African continent coastlines. Notably the eastern edge of South America and the western edge of Africa showed very similar geological features suggesting that at some point in the Earth’s history the landmasses were joined together.…
Alfred Wegener is a German meteorologist and geophysicist who developed the first theory of continental drift. Alfred Wegener was born on November 1, 1880 in Berlin, Germany. Wegener had an interest in physical and Earth sciences and studied these subjects at universities in both Germany and Austria. He graduated with a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Berlin in 1905.…
How does the plate tectonics theory help explain the existence of fossilized marine life in rocks atop the Ural Mountains? Be sure to include a description of the specific process(es).’…
Plate tectonics (from the Late Latin tectonicus, from the Greek: τεκτονικός "pertaining to building")[1] is a scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The model builds on the concepts of continental drift, developed during the first few decades of the 20th century. The geoscientific community accepted the theory after the concepts of seafloor spreading were developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s.…
Theory that the land mass of the earth was once held as a single continent which has since split into segments which have drifted apart and into the modern configuration of the continents. Proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, based on observed matches in the shape of continents, their geology and biological history, it was rejected as no satisfactory mechanism could be postulated. Has regained favour, though modified, in plate tectonics theory.…
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was a German scientist in the fields of meteorology, astronomy, and geology. He was one of the first scientists to theorize about the continental drift or continents in motion, which supports the belief that the Earth's continents once were a single land mass. Wegener called this land mass, "Pangaea", because the continents began to break up, and various parts drifted away from one another. According to Wegener, “the eastern shoreline of Africa and the western shoreline of South America fit together like a piece of jigsaw puzzle, and when you align the continents at their continental shelves, their fit is even better” [ (Wegener, 2007) ].…
Plate tectonic is a scientific theory of Earth Science which basically defines the large scale motions of the atmosphere of the Earth. The Plate Tectonic theory is based on the continental drift concept The theory was first developed in the first decades of 20th century.…