***Notes for Science 10
Mountain ranges have a similar sequence of
The Continental Drift Theory
-was a theory that explained how continents
shift position on Earth's surface. Set forth in
1912 by Alfred Wegener, a geophysicist and
meteorologist, continental drift also explained
why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and
similar rock formations, are found on different
continents.
-theorized that continents were once one large
mass 200 million years ago.
-was only accepted in the 1960’s.
PANGEA (Urkontinent)
-came from a greek word meaning “all earth”
-broke off into two supercontinents Laurasia
and Gondwanaland during the Jurassic period
He had no satisfactory mechanism to offer, but
appealed to a less-dense continent “floating”
and “drifting” over a more dense oceanic crust
(like icebergs in the ocean).
Most geologists were highly skeptical and the
idea was NOT widely accepted.
Evidence 1: The continental jigsaw puzzle
The edges of one continent fits the edges of
another.
e.g. South America-Africa
India, Antarctica, Australia
Eurasia-North America
Evidence 2: Fossils
Fossils of the same plants and animals on
different continents now separated by vast
oceans. They could only be found this way if the
continents had once been joined together.
e.g. Glossopteris-an extinct plant found in 250
million years old rocks were located in South
Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica.
Mesosaurus and Lystosaurus are freshwater
reptiles were found in South America and
Africa.
Evidence 3: Rocks
type of rock and age on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean, suggesting they were once part
of the same mountain range.
e.g. Rock formations in Africa have similarities
with that of the mountain ranges in in South
America.
Evidence 4: Coral deposits
Coral beds came from the compaction and
decomposition of swamp plants.
e.g. Coal bed formation seen in Antarctica,
America, Africa, Indian subcontinent and
Southeast Asia are similar.
The Seafloor Spreading
-proposed by Harry Hess and Robert Dietz
(1950-1960) Exploration of the ocean floors
took place. They discovered mid-ocean ridges—
fractured zones. E.g. mid-Atlantic ridge.
Mantle and magma rises material flows
sideways pushes the seafloor away from the
ridge creates a crack magma flows out and
cools down formation of new seafloor new
oceanic crust pushes the old oceanic crust far
from the ridge
e.g. Red sea- from the separation of Africa plate
and Arabian plate.
East Pacific Rise- one of the most active site of
sea floor spreading (14 cm per year).
Subduction Zone- occurs when two oceanic
plates collide or where an oceanic plate and a
continental plate collide.
*The rate of formation of a new seafloor is not
always as fast as the destruction of the old
seafloor at the subduction zone. E.g. The Pacific
Ocean is getting smaller while the Atlantic
Ocean gets wider.
Evidences of Seafloor Spreading
1. Rocks are younger at mid-ocean ridge
 2. Rocks far from the mid-ocean ridge
3. Sediments are thinner at the ridge
4. Rocks at the ocean floor are younger
than those at the continents.
Continental Drift Theory vs Seafloor Spreading
Theory
CDT: Continents move through unmoving
oceans
: Larger and sturdier continents broke the
oceanic crust.
SST: The Ocean is the actual site of tectonic
activity.
Magnetic Reversal
This theory strengthened seafloor spreading
with the discovery of magnetic rocks near the
ridge which follows a pattern. Rocks near the
ridge are younger as compared to those that are
farther.
-Earth has a magnetic field generated by the
flow of molten iron in the outer core.
-This field is what causes a compass needle to
point to the North.
-A magnetic reversal happens when the flow in
the outer core changes, and Earth’s magnetic
field changes direction.
When lava, solidifies, iron- bearing minerals
such as magnetite crystallize these minerals
behave like tiny compasses and align with
Earth’s magnetic field
Magnetic compass-proves that the Earth has a
magnetic field. It points to the N pole which is
actually the south magnetic pole at present.
*The earth has 4-5 reversals per millions of
years.
Plate Tectonic Theory
This theory states that the Earth’s crust is
broken up into several pieces called plates that
move over a layer of hot magma (molten rock)
in the mantle layer of the Earth, below the
crustal plates.
The Earth’s crustal plates move due to
convection currents in the Asthenosphere layer
of the upper mantle.
3 types of plate movements:
a. Divergent
b. Convergent
c. Transform
Convection Current
Heat from the core, causes magma in the upper
mantle to move.
Mechanism:
Magma in the mantle is heated by the core so it
rises towards the crust after it rises the
magma nears the crust begins to cool then
starts to sink where it gets re-heatedHot
magma rises again creating continuous
movement = convection current or cycle of
moving magma in the mantle
The Conveyer belt
The continental and oceanic crust act like a
conveyor belt on top of this moving magma.
Convection currents in the mantle move the
crustal plates
i) towards each other (converging),
ii) away from each other (diverging)
iii) side by side (transforming) past
each other.
-END-
Prepared by:
Ma’am Lo
7-15-2019