Plate+Tectonics

Plate Tectonic Theory **& Evidence ** By: Parsa & Prashant


 * During the 1900's, scientists believed that the Earth had cooled down after **** the Big Bang ** **to resemble a ****wrinkled raisin ****.This theory ****implied that the ranges of the Himalayas had been forced up. Howev ****er, German geophysicist, Alfred Wegener wasn't satisfied with this result. He researched some more on this topic and during the process, he realized that the seven continents that we know ****o ** **f today were all clustered together. This cluster of ****continents was called "Pangaea". He gathered fossils from the coast of Africa and South Africa, and they happened **** to match. He so ****on realized that the Appalachian Mountains in North America continued a ** **s t ** **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 113.74%;">he Caledonian Mountains in Northern Europe. He brought the other continents into his research, and concluded with the fact that 250 million yea ** **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 113.74%;">rs ago the earth only had one big continent called Pangaea. People still wonder today what had caused the continents to separate. **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The continents and oceans are still changing now. The Himalayas are getting taller. The Atlantic Ocean is getting bigger but the Pacific Ocean is getting smaller.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 114%;">Expl ****<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 114%;">a ****<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 114%;">nation ** [[image:coastline.gif width="319" height="370" align="left"]] **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 114%;">of the **Plate Tectonic **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 114%;">T ****<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 114%;">heory: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">__ Evidence of __ **Plate Tectonics

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Diverge **** nt Boundaries ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The North American Plate is moving away from the Eurasian and the African Plates in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a divergent boundary called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Convergent Boundary ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The Andes mountain range of South America contains many volcanoes. They were formed at the convergent boundary of the Nazca and the South American Plates.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Collision between p **** lates ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The Himalaya in Asia is forming where the Indo- Australian Plate collides with the Eurasian plate.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Transforming Boundaries ** The Pacific Plate is sliding past the North American Plate, forming the famous San Andreas Fault in California. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Hawaii is moving a rate of about 8.3 cm per year toward Japan. Maryland is moving at a rate of 1.7cm per year away from England.



http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/evidence.html http://www.geologyrocks.co.uk/tutorials/plate_tectonics_evidence http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/geophys/platevid.html
 * Bibliography:**