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Definition
A hypothesis stating that continents slowly drift parallel to Earth's surface. |
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Term
Evidence
( Contiental Drift )
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Definition
If you were to take away the Atlantic Ocean all of the continents would fit toghether. A fossil of a seed fern called Glossopteris was found in many continents. The seed was to heavy to be transported so that supports the idea that the continents were once toghether. Certain rock types would match up if the continents were put toghether. wegener found the oldest rock types on the edges of Africa and South America. they fit toghether if you were to form Pangea. Some mountain ranges looked as if they were once connected. the Appalachian Mountains are similar to the ones in Greenland, Great Britian and Scandinavia. Evidence shows that Spitzbergen , currently located in the Arctic Circle, used tp be a tropical island. Wegener found rocks made by glaciers in South America, Africa, India and Australia. |
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Term
Seafloor Spreading
Process
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Definition
Molten Material rises from the mantle and erupts. Material spreads out pushing older rock to both sides of a mid ocean ridge ( Undersea mountain ranges where new ocean crust is produced and some are above surface ex. Iceland ). As the molten material cools, it forms a strip of solid rock at the center of the ridge. Evidence from molten material: pillow-shaped rocks form when molten material hardens under water.
Evidence from Magnetic stripes: patterns in rock show that the poles have reversed themselves several times. The last time was 780,000 years ago. Evidence from drilling samples: The farther from the ridge the older the rock. This could be a way the continents moved. |
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Definition
| Large pieces of Earth's lithosphere |
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Definition
| Explains how plates move and cause features and events on Earth's surface. |
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Term
Continental and Oceanic Lithosphere |
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Definition
Continental: made mostly of granite; thicker, less dense than oceanic
Oceanic: mostly basalt; thinner and denser that continental |
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Definition
| Currents in the mantle that help to cause plate movement |
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Definition
| when the force of gravity moves the plates downward and away from the ridge |
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Definition
| when a plate is subducted deep into the mantle |
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Definition
Global Positioning System: satellites that monitor plate movement |
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Definition
Satellite laser Ranging: measures the distance plates have moved. |
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