What does continental drift and plate tectonics have in common?
Continental Drift as proposed by Alfred Wegener was theory that all of the continents had once been connected as part of a super continent he called Pangea. Plate tectonics is Wegener theory of continental drift reworked. The force needed to move the continents is proposed to be convection currents in the mantle.
What is the evidence used to support the plate tectonics theory?
Evidence from fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines helps reveal how the plates once fit together. Fossils tell us when and where plants and animals once existed. Some life “rode” on diverging plates, became isolated, and evolved into new species.
What causes continental drift quizlet?
a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid. The earth’s crust and upper mantle are made of huge plates slowly drifting because of convection currents in the mantle. The mid ocean ridge is a crack in the earth’s crust where molten rock rises and spreads new sea floor.
What is the continental drift quizlet?
What is Continental Drift? the hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up and drifted to their present locations.
What are two observations that supported the theory of continental drift quizlet?
Which observation supported Wegener’s theory of Continental drift? Identical fossils were found on continents that were far apart. Which feature do you usually see when tectonic plates move apart? New ocean ridges and seafloor.
Which scientist developed the idea of continental drift quizlet?
Alfred Wegener
What is the idea of continental drift?
Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth’s surface. Set forth in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a geophysicist and meteorologist, continental drift also explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents.
What is the oldest major tectonic plate?
Identification of the oldest preserved pieces of Earth’s crust in southern Greenland has provided evidence of active plate tectonics as early as 3.8 billion years ago, according to a report by an international team of geoscientists in Science magazine.