Continental Drift
Proposed the hypothesis of continental drift in 1912
Alfred Wegener
Name the 3 main types of plate boundaries
Convergent
Divergent
Transform
the general term for sudden shaking of Earth caused by movement along faults
Earthquakes
Preserved remains of life stuck in rock
Fossils
The idea that continents slowly move across Earth’s surface over time.
Continental Drift
Pangea
Two plates move apart from each other
Divergent Boundary
Name two geological features or events that are commonly found along plate boundaries
Volcano
Mountains
Rift Valleys
Mid Ocean Ridges
Ocean Basins
Concept of older crust being beneath younger crust
A fossil that is used to establish the age of a rock layer because the fossil is distinct, abundant, and widespread and the species that formed the fossil existed for only a short period of time
Index Fossil
1 piece of evidence used by Wegener to support continental drift
Puzzle Pieces
Fossil Evidence
Climate Clues
Matching Rock Layers
Convergent
What forms when two continental plates push into each other?
Mountain Ranges
What kind of ocean-floor feature (long, deep valley) marks a subduction zone and is visible on ocean maps?
Deep ocean trench
The solid, outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle
Lithosphere
Explain why Wegener's idea of continents moving was initially not widely accepted
Could not explain how they were moving
Two plates slide past each other
Transform
What landform appears when 2 continental plates separate from each other?
Rift Valley
How do age patterns of oceanic crust (youngest vs. oldest) support plate tectonics?
Newer crust is on top, showing that new crust is being created
a rock that forms from compressed or cemented layers of sediment
Superposition
Describe how the fit of the continents and fossil evidence together support the theory of continental drift.
Coastlines and fossils on separate coastlines
The edges where 2 tectonic plates meet
Fault Line
What forms when a continental and oceanic plate run into each other?
Volcanic Mountain Ranges
Explain how earthquake distribution maps help scientists locate plate boundaries.
Earthquakes happen along fault lines, where two plates are moving.
a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle
Tectonic Plate