Category 1: Continental Drift
This German scientist proposed the theory of Continental Drift and named the supercontinent "Pangaea."
Who is Alfred Wegener?
What American geologist revisited Wegener's theory after studying the mid-ocean ridge?
Who is Harry Hess?
According to the theory of plate tectonics, what is the place where two plates move apart or diverge?
What is a divergent boundary?
What deep valley along the ocean floor is through which oceanic crust slowly sinks towards the mantle?
What is a deep-ocean trench?
What is the term for the flow that transfers heat within a fluid in the Earth's asthenosphere?
What is a convection current?
**What evidence did Wegener use to support his theory from landforms?
What are mountain ranges in South Africa lining up with those in Argentina and matching coal fields in Europe and North America?
What is the process that continually adds new material to the ocean floor?
What is Sea-floor spreading?
What geological features form along divergent boundaries on land?
What is a rift valley?
In which Ocean is subduction occurring faster than sea-floor spreading?
What is the Pacific Ocean?
What forces dominate plate motion according to the theory of plate tectonics?
What are convection currents?
According to Wegener's theory, what 2 types of fossils provided evidence from different continents that were once connected? Why was this important?
What are reptile fossils and plant fossils?
These species would not have been able to travel across oceans to a separate continent, so it supports the theory of continental drift that at one time, those continents were connected.
What evidence supports sea-floor spreading, involving the presence of pillow-like rocks?
What is evidence from molten material?
What is the process by which oceanic crust sinks through a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle?
What is subduction?
In the Atlantic Ocean, what is expanding at a faster rate than subduction is occurring?
What is the Atlantic Ocean sea-floor?
Why is Earth the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonic activity?
It is still under investigation! We aren't sure!
Wegener's theory became known as what?
What is Continental Drift?
What forms a pattern on either side of the mid-ocean ridge, supporting sea-floor spreading?
What are magnetized stripes of rock?
What is the theory that states that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant motion?
What is plate tectonics?
What place do earthquakes occur frequently, where two plates slip past each other?
What is a transform boundary?
What are scientists still trying to understand about plate tectonics, regarding earthquakes and volcanoes?
Why they occur far away from plate boundaries
What three kinds of evidence did Alfred Wegener use to support his idea of Continental Drift
What are fossils, landforms, and climate.
Explain the concept of sea-floor spreading using the following terms: molten material, mid-ocean ridge, new rock material, cooling, and magnetic bands.
Sea-floor spreading occurs along mid-ocean ridges, where molten material from the mantle rises and erupts. This molten material spreads out on the ocean floor, pushing older rock to both sides of the ridge. As the new rock material cools, it forms magnetic bands on either side of the mid-ocean ridge, providing evidence for the process of sea-floor spreading.
How do convection currents work in the Earth's asthenosphere?
Think of the Earth's asthenosphere like a pot of boiling soup on the stove. The heat from the bottom of the pot makes the soup rise to the top because it becomes lighter when it's hot. When it reaches the surface, it cools down and gets heavier, so it goes back down to the bottom. This up-and-down movement creates a swirling pattern called convection currents, like how you might see steam rising and moving in the pot of soup. These currents in the Earth's asthenosphere help move the big puzzle pieces of the Earth's surface, called tectonic plates, and make things like earthquakes and volcanoes happen.
Draw 3 pictures of the following: Convergent plates, divergent plate, and transform plates
convergent: --><--
divergent: <-- -->
transform: <----
----->
At a convergent boundary where does the less dense plate go, and where does the more dense plate go?
At a convergent boundary, two tectonic plates come together. The less dense plate rises above the more dense plate because of differences in density and composition. Typically, continental crust, which is less dense than oceanic crust, tends to rise above oceanic crust during a convergent boundary interaction. This rising occurs due to the buoyancy of the less dense continental crust, causing it to override and uplift over the denser oceanic crust during the collision.