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The earths Shifting Crust

This article delves into the fascinating concepts of the Earth's shifting crust and plate tectonics. We explore Alfred Wegener's groundbreaking theory of continental drift, proposing that continents once formed a supercontinent named Pangaea approximately 245 million years ago. It discusses how geological processes, influenced by molten rock movements, contribute to the formation and alteration of Earth's landscapes. Discover the dynamics of plate boundaries—convergent, divergent, and transform—and how they shape our planet's geological features, including mountains and ocean trenches.

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The earths Shifting Crust

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  1. The earths Shifting Crust

  2. Fault Line • A line of weakness in the rocks of the earth’s crust

  3. Continental Drift (Pangaea) In early 1915, the German scientist Alfred Wegner developed a theory that the continents once formed a giant supercontinent that he called Pangaea. He speculated that the Earth took this form about 245 million years ago, during the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era. The Mesozoic is the era in which dinosaurs lived. A few years after Wegner proposed his theory, South African geologist Alexander Du Toit further theorized that Pangaea divided into two supercontinents 205 million years ago. Du Toit called the northern supercontinent Laurasia and the southern one Gondwanaland. The scientists used many kinds of evidence to advance their theories. They found similar fossil remains of plants and animals on different present day continents.

  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQHyy2C7dDg

  5. Plate Tectonics • We have learned that plates on the earth’s crust are slowly dragged together, apart, or sideways by the rolling motion of molten rock • Molten rock moves in convection currents.

  6. When the plates move together • As plates move together, land can either move up or down. • If they move up, they form fold mountains • If they move down, they create deep deep trenches as an ocean plate is hauled under a continent.

  7. When Plates move Apart • In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, two plates are moving apart 3cm a year. • Molten rock pours through these cracks and over a long time span, cools and forms underwater mountains.

  8. Plate Boundaries: • ConvergentWhere plates come together • Divergent Where plates move apart/away from each other • Transform Where plates are sliding past each other

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