LESSON 1 .1 : THE THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS

20TH CENTURY

many scientists explained the physical attributes of earth in the early _____.

RAISIN THEORY

during early 20th century, a theory rises in which earth is compared to a grape that contracted into a raisin due to the cooling caused the contraction and pressure that allowed some parts of the crust to rise and form mountains.

CLARENCE EDWARD DUTTON

he is an american seismologist and geologist that propposed the term "isostasy."

1889

when was the term "isostasy" proposed?

ISOSTASY

this term was proposed in 1889 to explain the concept of a contracting earth.

ISOSTASY

according to this, wherever equilibrium exists on the Earth's surface, equal mass must underpin equal surface areas, implying that a large continental mass must be composed of lighter materials than those thought to constitute the ocean floor.

TECTONIC

it is derived from the greek word "tekton."

CARPENTER OR BUILDER

the greek word, "tekton," meaning.

TECTONIC PLATES

scientists have used this to describe the movement of the lithosphere.

TECTONIC

this term, however, is now commonly used to describe the physical plates themselves rather than their movement.

LITHOSPEHERIC PLATES

tectonic plates are also known as?

TECTONIC PLATES

these are massive slabs of solid rock that surround the earth surface.

TECTONIC PLATE THEORY

according to this theory, the earth's outermost later is divide into a dozen or more large and small solid plates.

LESSS THAN 1 CM TO MORE THAN 15 CM

tectonic plates fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces, with annual movement ranging from what cm's?

PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

this was developed from earlier hypotheses and data collected about the rocks of the ocean floor.

THEATRUM ORBIS TERRARUM

one of the foundational works that gave rise to the plate tectonics theory is the first world atlas.

ABRAHAM ORTELIUS

who published "theatrum orbis terrarum"?

JANUARY 1, 1596

when was "theatrum orbis terrarum" published?

AFRICA, EUROPE, AND THE ARMERICA

ortelius noted the similarity between the coastlines of three continents, what continents are these?

PLATO'S STORY OF THE DEMISE OF ATLANTIS

ortelius adopted his story of the demise of what?

ABRAHAM ORTELIUS

he suggested that america was originally connected to europe and africa and that the projecting parts of the two continents would fit the recesses of america.

ALFRED WEGENER

a german climatologist that proposed the continental drift theory.

THE ORIGINS OF CONTINENTS AND OCEAN

alfred wegener book where he proposed the continental drift theory.

1915

when was continental drift theory proposed in alfred wegener's book?

ALFRED WEGENER

he expanded his theory and presented evidence that pangaea had really existed during the permian period.

PANGAEA

this means "all earth."

PANGAEA

the land mass that wegener claims to be existed during the permian period.

ALFRED WEGENER

he explained that about 1,100 million years ago, a supercontinent existed before pangaea.

RONDINIA

a supercontinent that wegener claims to exist even before pangaea.

TRIASSIC PERIOD

during this period, pangaea began to split into two small supercontinents.

PERMIAN PERIOD

during this period, pangaea existed according to wegener.

LAURASIA AND GONDWANALAND

two supercontinents that formed part of the pangaea supercontinent that moved to the planet's northern and southern poles, respectively.

LAURASIA

this supercontinent from pangaea began to drift southward aroung 514 Ma.

GONDWANALAND

this supercontinent was crashed by laurasia around 425 Ma.

PANTHALASSA

it is a vast ocean that surrounded pangaea, formed around 356 Ma.

TETHYS SEA

this is sea seperated laurasia and gondwanaland 251 to 65.5 Ma.

NORTH AMERICA

during the formation of pangaea, this collided with northwestern africa, forming a massive mountain range.

APPALACHIANS

mountain ranges can still be found on a belt that stretches from the southern united states to northern europe, including this range.

PANTHALASSA

after creating ranges from the southern us to northen europe, pangaea contined northward and collided with what ocean floor, forming a chain of mountain ranges that stretches from alaska to southern south america.

200 Ma

when did pangaea began to break apart forming the valley that is now known as the atlantic ocean.

CONTINENTAL DRIFTING

this continued throughout the jurassic period, resulting in the continents we know today by the end of the cretaceous period.

JURASSIC PERIOD

continental drifting continued till this period.

CRETACEOUS PERIOD

by this period the continents we see now is the resulting continents of continental drift theory.

65 Ma

when was all of the current continents and oceans had formed?

INDIA

what country was heading north, eventually colliding with southern asia?

HIMALAYAS, THE KARAAKORAM RANGE, AND THE HINDU KUSH

these are shaped by such movement and plate interactions.

CRUSTAL PLATES

according to scientists, these plates are still drifting.

250-300 MILLION YEARS

after how many million years will the seven continents realign, reforming the historical pangaea?

58 CRUSTAL PLATES

how many plates is earth generally composed of?

15 MAJOR PLATES

how many major plates are identified by scientists?

AFRICAN
EURASIAN
INDO-AUSTRALIAN
NORTH AMERICAN
PACIFIC
AND THE SOUTH AMERICAN
WITH THE NAZCA PLATE

major plates around the world.

ARABIAN
CARIBBEAN
COCOS
INDIAN
JUAN DE DUCA
PHILIPPINE SEA
SCOTIA
SOMETIMES NAZCA PLATE

secondary plates around the world.

TERTIARY PLATES

these are smaller parts of primary or secondary plated that have broken off and continue being broken up over time.

PRIMARY PLATES

it can be noted that these kind of plates comprise the majority of the world's major continents' landmass along with most of the surface area of earth's oceans.

CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE
OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE

two basic types of lithospheric plates.

CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE

this lithosphere which is associated with the continental crust is the solid ground on which you stand.

CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE

it is made up of more denser materials, it is lighter than the oceanic lithosphere or the oceanic crust.

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

this create continental crusts.

CONTINENTAL CRUSTS

this kind of crust has several deposits that vary in age forming the foundation of earth's crust.

BASEMENT ROCK

this is the oldest foundation which is estimated to be four billion years old.

BASEMENT ROCK

it is comprised of a mixture of granite and volcanic rocks.

PLATFORMS

after basement rocks are these.

PLATFORMS

this is the younger layer of continental crust, which is made of sedimentary rocks.

CRATONS

when platforms are connected with basement rocks, they are called _____?

CRATONS

this often survive the cycles of merging and rifting of continents and are generally found in the interiors of tectonic plates.

CONTINENTAL MARGINS

this can be found at the edges of cratons, composed of sedimentary rocks.

CONTINENTAL MARGINS

when these are moved by tectonic plates, natural landforms such as mountain ranges are created.

HEAVIER BASALT AND GABBRO ROCKS

these make up the oceanic crust.

OCEANIC CRUST

this is younger than continental crust.

200 MILLION YEARS OLD

oldest age of oceanic crust.

FOUR BILLION YEARS OLD

oldest age of continental crust.

7KM

oceanic crust is only how many kilometers thick?

10 AND 70KM THICK

continental crust is how many kilometers thick?

OCEANIC CRUST AND CONTINENTAL CRUST

these crusts are formed by magma from volcanic eruptions that occurred underwater.