Plate Tectonics Theory

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. Compared to the mantle, the plates are a hard, tough, and rigid shell. California is made up of different types of plates that are unique in the way that they form and move. (LiveScience)

Although there are other volcanic events that don’t prove that the tectonic theory is valid. For example The "Ring of Fire" is an arc stretching from New Zealand, along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America. The Ring of Fire is composed over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. This huge ring of volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity was noticed and described before the invention of the theory of plate tectonics theory. Also without movement at the boundaries around the Pacific, volcanoes such as Mt St Helens would simply not exist, as they would have no fuel caused by the subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental plate.

II: Plate tectonics shows the features and movement of the Earth. The theory of plate tectonics says that the outer shell of the earth is broken down into pieces often called plates (Korenaga). These plates hover over the mantle creating movement (Marshak). With plate tectonics you can determine the earth’s features without actually seeing it.

The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s lithosphere (top layer of the Earth’s crust) is split up into rigid sections called plates that are moving relative to one another as they move on top of the underlying semi-molten mantle. These plates are either continental, The North American Plate, or oceanic, The Nazca Plate.

But in fact these also proved plate tectonic theory because they showed temporal change ie they were once at plate boundaries but have moved away because of plate movement. All the evidence, sea floor spreading, hot spots and subduction proved the plates moved this knowledge then developed into the understanding that something must be providing energy or a current so that the plates could move; This theory then came about as ‘convection currents’. Convection currents is a liquid in the mantle that moves and the currents come from the subduction zones.

Plate Tectonics is a scientific theory which study how the Earth’s plates are driven and shaped by geological forces to keep them in constant movement. The theory explains the present-day tectonic behavior of the Earth, particularly the global distribution of mountain building, earthquake activity, and volcanism in a series of linear belt. (Pitman, W.C., 2007)

The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s outer shell is divided into plates. The crust and upper mantle is broken into plates that move around on the mantle, changing in size throughout time. The lithosphere makes up the crust and upper mantle and the asthenosphere a plastic like layer beneath the lithosphere. There are three types of plate boundaries. Divergent boundaries where two plates move away from each other. The ocean widens and new crust forms at the mid-oceanic ridge. Convergent boundaries has three types of converging, moving two plates towards each other. First we have an ocean floor plate that collides with a less dense continental plate. Next an ocean floor plate collides with another ocean floor plate. Finally a continental plate collides with another continental plate. Transform boundaries were two plates slide past one another. The resulting effects of plate tectonics is landforms such as rift valleys,

Plate tectonics are very dangerous when they collide,slide,and move apart. They can create mountains like the Appalachian Mountains that used to tower over everything then erosion took place. The Appalachian Mountains were formed by convergent boundaries, convergent boundaries are collide

Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that attempts to explain the movements of the Earth's lithosphere that have formed the landscape features we see across the globe today” (Briney). Geology defines “plate” as a large slab of solid rock, and “tectonics” is part of the Greek root word for “to build.” Together the words define how the Earth’s surface is built up of moving plates. The theory of plate tectonics dictates that individual plates, broken down into large and small sections of rock, form Earth’s lithosphere. These fragmented bodies of rock move along each other atop the Earth’s liquid lower mantle to create the plate boundaries that have shaped Earth’s landscape. Plate tectonics originated from meteorologist Alfred Wegener’s theory, developed in the early 20th century. In 1912, he realized that the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa appeared to piece together like a jigsaw puzzle. He further examined the globe and deduced that all of Earth’s continents could somehow be assembled together and proposed the idea that the continents had once been linked in a single supercontinent called Pangaea. To explain today’s position of the continents, Wegener theorized that they began to drift apart approximately 300 million years ago. This theory

of the effects of plate tectonics acting over geologic time. The story begins with the

Plate tectonics move land masses around, and occasionally, interactions between different plates causes new land to form, and can even join two separate continents together, changing ocean currents and causing climate change. This is evident in the collision of the North and South American continents, which created the Isthmus of Panama, and separated the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 15 million years ago, the North and South American continent was cut off from each other by a seaway about 200 km wide. Over time, the South American plate collided with the Caribbean and Cocos plate, and gradually closed the exchange of the Caribbean and Pacific waters 3-4 million years ago. This resulted in several consequences.

The Plate Tectonic Theory developed in the late 1960’s, when people noticed how continents either side of the Atlantic Ocean seemed to almost fit together. Francis Bacon, an English Philosopher was aware of this as early as 1620. Topographical and geological evidence built up and allowed Alfred Wegener to publish a theory in 1912, suggesting that the continents were once all joined together in a supercontinent he called Pangaea. Wegener proposed that at some time, the land masses had drifted apart until they occupied their current positions on the globe. There was lots of evidence to support his theory including

Refer to the images above. Discuss in detail the two pieces of additional evidence that supported Wegener’s theory, now known as the theory of plate tectonics.

For millions of years the Earth has experienced geologic catastrophes. Since the existence of Theia itself, the Earth’s crust has been formed, deformed, and even demolished. The crust has never been a completed masterpiece due to this. Why is this? The most recent physical changes were caused by the theory of plate tectonics and earth’s crust displacement. Plate tectonics and its movement resulted in our continents drifting across the earth’s surface, and the creation of mountain belts, volcanoes, and the faults of today’s Earth.

The viscosity of this base is a function of the temperature. The study of shifting continental plates is called Plate Tectonics. Plate Tectonics allows scientists to locate regions of geothermal heat emission. Shifting continental plates cause weak spots or gaps between plates where geothermal heat is more likely to seep through the crust. These gaps are called Subduction Zones.