Plate tectonics and continental drift

Front

What is the main idea Alfred Wegener proposed in the “Theory of Continental Drift” that he published in 1915?

Back

The continents were once a single landmass that drifted apart.

Front

What observation did Alfred Wegener make that led him to develop the theory of continental drift?

Back

Continents appear to have once fit together.

Front

How was Alfred Wegeners’ theory accepted in his time?

Back

It was not accepted, there was not a way to explain how the continents moved.

Front

How does the fossil record support the continental drift theory?

Back

Fossils of the same type are found on continents that were once together.

Front

What does the “striping” of the sea floor indicate about Earth?

Back

The magnetic pole has switched from north to south poles.

Front

What shows magnetic reversals on each side of a ridge as lava hardens?

Back

magnetic striping

Front

Where do the majority of volcanoes and earthquakes occur?

Back

Tectonic Plate Boundaries

Front

If you find bands of coal in the geologic record, what type of climate would you expect to have found in that area at one time?

Back

Wet, swampy areas

Front

Why was the invention and use of sonar so important to the plate tectonic theory?

Back

It was used to discover mid-ocean ridges and sea floor spreading.

Front

What was Pangaea?

Back

It was a supercontinent, made of all of the landmasses on Earth.