There is variety of evidence that supports the claims that plate tectonics accounts for (1) the distribution of fossils on different continents, (2) the occurrence of earthquakes, and (3) continental and ocean floor features including mountains, volcanoes, faults, and trenches.
Table of Contents
What are the 5 types of evidence for plate tectonics?
- Shape of continents. From almost the creation of the first true maps of the Earth, people started seeing how continents would be able to fit together.
- Location of mountains and fossils.
- Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
- Hot Spot Volcanoes.
What evidence exists to support the theory of plate tectonics quizlet?
What are the five main pieces of evidence for the Theory of Plate Tectonics? Magnetic striping, Age of the ocean’s crust rocks, Coral islands, The position of ocean trenches and the locations of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Which of the following was early evidence for plate tectonics?
Rock unearthed from a mountain belt in northeastern South Africa has shown the earliest known evidence of plate tectonics, pre-dating their previous known existence by 240 million years, according to researchers.
What is the strongest piece of evidence for plate tectonics?
Stripes of magnetic material in the seafloor provide strong evidence for tectonic theory. The stripes alternate between those with magnetic material orientated toward magnetic north, and those oriented in the opposite direction. Seafloor spreading is the mechanism behind this phenomenon.
What two theories contribute to plate tectonics?
Plate Tectonics Theory The theory of plate tectonics is what brings together continental drift and seafloor spreading.
What best describes the plate tectonics theory?
Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s outer shell is divided into large slabs of solid rock, called “plates,” that glide over Earth’s mantle, the rocky inner layer above Earth’s core. Earth’s solid outer layer, which includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, is called the lithosphere.
What is true about the theory of plate tectonics?
The plate tectonics theory suggested that Earth’s surface is divided into large plates of rigid rock. Each plate moves over Earth’s hot semi-plastic mantle. The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s surface is made of rigid slabs of rock, or plates, that move with respect to each other.
What evidence did scientists use for continental drift?
The four pieces of evidence for the continental drift include continents fitting together like a puzzle, scattering ancient fossils, rocks, mountain ranges, and the old climatic zones’ locations.
What are the 2 pieces of evidence that supported continental drift?
The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones.
How was plate tectonics discovered?
Plate tectonic theory had its beginnings in 1915 when Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of “continental drift.” Wegener proposed that the continents plowed through crust of ocean basins, which would explain why the outlines of many coastlines (like South America and Africa) look like they fit together like a puzzle.
What evidence supports the fact that the continents may have been connected?
Fossil Evidence Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined. For example, fossils of Mesosaurus, a freshwater reptile, have been found both in Brazil and western Africa.
When was the theory of plate tectonics accepted?
By 1967 most scientists in geology accepted the theory of plate tectonics. The root of this was Alfred Wegener’s 1912 publication of his theory of continental drift, which was a controversy in the field through the 1950s.
What early evidence suggested that Earths continents might be moving?
It was difficult for anyone to imagine how entire continents might move. It wasn’t until the mid-twentieth century with the discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and sea floor spreading that the processes causing plate movements began to be understood and led to the science of plate tectonics.
Why is plate tectonics only a theory?
Because Plate Tectonics explains things it is a theory, Because it does not provide a means of calculation precisely when and where the plates will move it is not a law.
What are the 5 evidences of continental drift theory?
They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils.
Which of these provides the best evidence for the continental drift theory?
Q. Which of the following statements about Glossopteris fossils provides the best evidence to support Wegener’s Continental Drift theory? Glossopteris fossils are found in India, South America, Australia, Africa, and Antarctica. This distribution is best explained by tectonic plate movement.
What is the evidence for continental drift quizlet?
Mountain ranges with similar rock types and layers have been found on separate continents today. This means they were once joined together in the past. This is because mountain ranges form when continents crash together.
What is used as evidence for seafloor spreading?
Harry Hess’s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material, seafloor drilling, radiometric age dating and fossil ages, and the magnetic stripes.
What was the first line of evidence that led early investigators to suspect that the continents were once connected?
Wegener’s first piece of evidence was that the coastlines of some continents fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. People noticed the similarities in the coastlines of South America and Africa on the first world maps, and some suggested the continents had been ripped apart [3].
Why was Mesosaurus a significant piece of evidence that supports plate movement?
Mesosaurus was significant in providing evidence for the theory of continental drift, because its remains were found in southern Africa, Whitehill Formation, and eastern South America (Melo Formation, Uruguay and Irati Formation, Brazil), two widely separated regions.
How do scientists find tectonic plate boundaries?
By plotting the locations of earthquakes, scientists have not only been able to locate plate boundaries but have also been able to determine plate characteristics and predict the movement of the plates. In this investigation, you will plot the locations of earthquakes and determine the boundaries of the earth’s plates.
Who proved plate tectonics?
German meteorologist Alfred Wegener is often credited as the first to develop a theory of plate tectonics, in the form of continental drift.
Which of the discoveries supporting plate tectonics listed below was made by Wegener?
Wegener’s idea of continental drift had been developed and refined. Geologists today understand that the Earth’s surface, or crust, is broken up into 8 to 12 large plates and 20 or so smaller ones. These plates move in different directions and at different speeds and are not directly related to the landmasses on them.
What was believed before plate tectonics?
Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.