Download ALFRED WEGENER THEORY OF CONTINENTAL

Plate Tectonics & Continental Drift
Let’s start by reading pages 16-17 in our Atlas
1. What are “plates”
2. What impact can colliding plates have on the earth?
3. Define Subduction
4. What can subduction cause?
5. What causes earthquakes?
6. What happens when plates pull apart?
7. Define Pangea
The World
The Earth is like a peach
CRUST- Thin outer skin
MANTLE- Thick layer of really hot rocks & semi-melted rocks called Magma
CORE- Solid, superhot ball of iron
The earth is sliced into 16 (or so) irregular
shaped piece called PLATES
They float around each other and cause things to happen in our environment
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) Continental Drift Theory
300 million years ago the earth’s land masses formed one “supercontinent”
that he called PANGEA
Continents
“fit together”
like puzzle
pieces
WEGNER’S EVIDENCE- FOSSILS
Same fossils
from same time
period in different
continents
WEGENER’S EVIDENCE
Some mountains on different
continents seem to match
• Ex: ranges in Canada match Norway and
Sweden
• Ex: Appalachian Mtn. match UK mtn
WEGENER’S EVIDENCE- Glaciers
Climatic evidence such as glaciers in areas that are now close to the
Equator
And it’s still happening…
Satellite's can measure the rate of movement of the continental plates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4xVD4 (3:18) ‘Earth 100 Million
Years From Now’