The Wegener Files (Evidence)
This freshwater reptile's fossils were found in South America and Africa, proving they were once connected.
What is a Mesosaurus?
When plates pull apart, this melted rock rises to fill the space so no empty gap forms.
What is magma?
When two continental plates crash, they fold upward to form these.
How to form Mountains?
These giant cracks in the Earth form where plates slide past each other.
What is a fault?
Why don't we see giant "empty gaps" or bottomless holes on the ocean floor when plates pull apart?
The No-Gap Rule / Magma rises instantly to fill the space
This supercontinent existed 250 million years ago and means "All Earth."
This is the name of the long, underwater mountain chain formed where plates pull apart.
What is Mid-Ocean Ridge?
This process occurs when a denser oceanic plate sinks underneath a lighter plate.
What is subduction?
This is the famous fault line in California that is a transform boundary.
What is the San Andreas Fault?
Using the "Passenger Rule," explain why the continents move even though they don't have engines or "flippers."
They are part of the plate and sit on top while the plate moves
If a scientist finds a tropical plant fossil in freezing Antarctica, what is the most likely scientific explanation?
The continent drifted from a warmer climate/The Equator to its current spot
According to seafloor data, this is where the youngest rock is always found.
What is the center of the ridge?
This deep, narrow valley is created in the ocean floor during subduction.
What is an ocean trench?
A sudden release of pressure at a plate boundary causes this energy-releasing event.
What is an Earthquake?
If new seafloor is being created at ridges, why isn't the Earth getting bigger like an inflating balloon?
Surface area is reduced elsewhere through crumpling/mountains and subduction
Wegener found matching mountains in the U.S. and Scotland that had the same rock type and this.
What is Rock Age or rock Sequence?
This rule states that plates are always in contact and new material is added to their edges.
What is the No-Gap rule?
When a plate crumples into mountains, this measurement of the plate's area is reduced.
What is Surface Area?
Magma can well up gradually or it can be projected out suddenly in this type of event.
What is a Volcanic Eruption?
Is the motion of Earth's plates considered a "one-time event" or a continuous process?
Continuous; it has happened for millions of years and is still happening at 3 cm/year
These are "scratches" found in the tropical rocks of Africa that prove it was once covered in ice.
What are Glaciers?
When a continent is split in two, this large feature forms and widens over time.
What is a Ocean Basin?
These are formed on the top plate when a subducting plate melts in the mantle.
How to form Volcanic Arcs?
This is the circular movement of heat in the mantle that acts as the "engine" for plates
What is convection?
Explain how a single mountain range can end up on two different continents across an ocean.
The range formed as one "continuous" piece, then the plate changed direction or split, tearing the range in two