Continental Drift
What was the name of the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago?
Pangaea
What are the large pieces of Earth's outer shell called?
Tectonic Plates
What are the 3 layers of the Earth from the outside to the inside?
crust, mantle, core
Where are mid ocean ridges usually found?
Under the ocean, where plates move apart
What is the lithosphere?
Where the tectonic plates are
What does the theory of continental drift say?
Continents have moved across Earth's surface over million of years
What are the 3 main types of tectonic plates boundaries?
Divergent. convergent, transform
What is the outermost layer of Earth called?
Crust
What type of plate boundary forms at a mid ocean ridge?
divergent
what is the asthenosphere?
plastic layer under lithosphere
Who proposed the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
What happens when 2 tectonic plates slide past each other?
Transform boundaries
Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?
Mantle
False
What 2 layers of the Earth make up the lithosphere?
crust and mantle
Name 2 pieces of evidence that supports continental drift
Answers may vary
Explain 2 possible effects of tectonic plates colliding
mountain ranges, volcanoes
Iron and nickel
What happens when magma rises and cools at a mid ocean ridge?
seafloor spreading
Where are convection currents located?
mantle
How do matching fossils and rock formations on continents separated by oceans support the theory of continental drift?
They suggest the continents were once connected, allowing similar organisms and geological features to exist across areas that are now separated by oceans
What allows the tectonic plates to move?
asthenosphere
Tell me one difference between oceanic crust and continental crust
continental: less dense, thicker, made of granite
Oceanic: More dense, thinner, made of basalt
What is paleomagnetism?
study of metals in rocks
Explain how convection currents work
colder material is more dense so it sinks, warmer material is less dense so It floats