Which statements best describe how the Great Rift Valley in Africa formed check all that apply?
Explanation: The statement that best describes how the Great Rift Valley in Africa formed is that they formed when the crust pulled apart. This is geologically known as divergence. The Arabian plate and the Nubian/Somali plate are divergent plates.
Which evidence shows that land masses have different climates millions of years ago and supports the theory of continental drift?
The proof of locations of folded mountains in Africa and South America confirms the phenomena of continental shifts. Wegener suggested that it is probable that the rotation of the Earth is responsible affected the continents to shift towards each other and apart from each other.
Which feature do all new rocks formed near an oceanic ridge share?
The mid oceanic ridge suggests the spreading of the sea floor and the rocks present at this ridge are younger than the rocks that are away from the ridge. This rocks are comprised of the molten iron material that are present in the mantle and suggest the magnetic field of the earth during the time of eruptions.
How did Wegener explain why fossils of land animals were found on continents that are across oceans from one another quizlet?
How did Wegener explain similar fossils on different continents? Since neither reptile could have swum great distances across salt water he inferred that they once lived on a single landmass that has since split apart.
What causes the continents to move?
Today, we know that the continents rest on massive slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The plates are always moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics. The continents are still moving today. As the seafloor grows wider, the continents on opposite sides of the ridge move away from each other.
Which two continents contain fossils of Mesosaurus?
Remains of Mesosaurus, a freshwater crocodile-like reptile that lived during the early Permian (between 286 and 258 million years ago), are found solely in Southern Africa and Eastern South America. It would have been physiologically impossible for Mesosaurus to swim between the continents.
Which continents used to be connected?
This tells us that South America and Africa were connected at one time! Today these two continents are separated by the Atlantic Ocean which is over 2000 miles wide! About 135 million years ago Laurasia was still moving, and as it moved it broke up into the continents of North America, Europe and Asia (Eurasian plate).
Which two pieces of fossils evidence support the idea of continental drift?
One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record. Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined.
Which two continents have the most obvious fit?
Which 2 continents have the most obvious fit of the coastlines? South America and Africa has the most obvious fit of the coastlines.
Which two continents have the most obvious fit Pangea?
Answer Expert Verified The East coastline of South America and the west coastline of Africa share the most obvious fit, it gave Wegener the first idea as evidence for the continental drift.
What is the evidence of Pangea?
Glacial deposits, specifically till, of the same age and structure are found on many separate continents that would have been together in the continent of Pangaea. Fossil evidence for Pangaea includes the presence of similar and identical species on continents that are now great distances apart.
How did the continents fit together?
The continents fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once united into a single supercontinent named Pangaea, meaning all earth in ancient Greek. He suggested that Pangaea broke up long ago and that the continents then moved to their current positions.
Why did Pangea break up?
During the Triassic Period, the immense Pangea landmass began breaking apart as a result of continental rifting. A rift zone running the width of the supercontinent began to open up an ocean that would eventually separate the landmass into two enormous continents.
Will Pangea happen again?
The last supercontinent, Pangea, formed around 310 million years ago, and started breaking up around 180 million years ago. It has been suggested that the next supercontinent will form in 200-250 million years, so we are currently about halfway through the scattered phase of the current supercontinent cycle.
What will happen when oceanic crust converges with each other?
If the two plates that meet at a convergent plate boundary both are of oceanic crust, the older, denser plate will subduct beneath the less dense plate. The older plate subducts into a trench, resulting in earthquakes. Melting of mantle material creates volcanoes at the subduction zone.
What happens when two oceanic plates collide quizlet?
When two oceanic plates collide, the denser plate is subducted and some material rises upward and forms an ISLAND. What happens when two continental plates collide? The continental crust is pushed together and upward to form large MOUNTAIN ranges. Ocean floor is pushed away from a midocean ridge to form new sea floor.
When a continental plate and oceanic plate collide what will most likely happen?
Plates Subduct When an ocean plate collides with another ocean plate or with a plate carrying continents, one plate will bend and slide under the other. This process is called subduction. A deep ocean trench forms at this subduction boundary.
What is the relationship between the crust and the lithosphere?
The crust is dragged by the hot plastic fluid in the uppermost mantle, and the lithosphere is formed as only a weak interface between the lower crust and upper mantle lid above the asthenosphere in seismic earth models.
What happens when two continents collide along a convergent plate boundary?
If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary. Usually, one of the converging plates will move beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The new magma (molten rock) rises and may erupt violently to form volcanoes, often building arcs of islands along the convergent boundary.
Why is it dangerous to live near a convergent boundary?
Occasionally, big eruptions or earthquakes kill large numbers of people. If we choose to live near convergent plate boundaries, we can build buildings that can resist earthquakes, and we can evacuate areas around volcanoes when they threaten to erupt.
Why is it dangerous to live near the divergent plate boundary?
Most of the hazards that characterize a divergent plate boundaries lie under the ocean but on land the hazards are faults, volcanoes , and the most obvious one; earthquakes. These are also known as conservative boundary because the plates grind past one another, not destroying the lithosphere.
What are the three types of convergent boundaries?
There are three types of convergent plate boundaries: oceanic-oceanic boundaries, oceanic-continental boundaries, and continental-continental boundaries.
What are examples of convergent boundaries?
Examples of continent-continent convergent boundaries are the collision of the India Plate with the Eurasian Plate, creating the Himalaya Mountains, and the collision of the African Plate with the Eurasian Plate, creating the series of ranges extending from the Alps in Europe to the Zagros Mountains in Iran.
What are the characteristics of convergent boundaries?
Convergent plate boundaries form where lithospheric plates collide along their boundaries with each other. Such collisions cause extensive deformation at the Earth’s crust, leading to the formation of volcanoes, the lifting of mountain ranges and the creation of deep oceanic trenches.
What happens when there is a divergent boundary?
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Magma rises into and through the other plate, solidifying into granite, the rock that makes up the continents. Thus, at convergent boundaries, continental crust is created and oceanic crust is destroyed.
Where does seafloor spreading occur?
Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries. As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the mantle’s convection currents makes the crust more plastic and less dense. The less-dense material rises, often forming a mountain or elevated area of the seafloor.
What landforms are created by Transform boundaries?
Transform boundaries represent the borders found in the fractured pieces of the Earth’s crust where one tectonic plate slides past another to create an earthquake fault zone. Linear valleys, small ponds, stream beds split in half, deep trenches, and scarps and ridges often mark the location of a transform boundary.