Tectonic Plate Movement
So tectonic plate movement, it seems kind of scary right? Well, don't be scared because know what? I will give you all the information you need to know from convergent plate boundaries to the super continent Pangaea. The picture to the left of the text is a picture of the plate boundaries. (Hint, hint you will be learning about this to!) Learning about plate movement was my favorite part of the whole science unit! I hope you learn lots and have fun.
Pangaea
One scientist who searched for answers about the Earth was a German meteorologist name Alfred Wegener. Like other scientists before him, Wegener noticed interesting things about the shapes of the continents. He noticed that the continents pieced together almost fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
He suggested that the continents were all once joined together in one super continent called Pangaea. He said that Pangaea had broken apart 200 million years ago, he called his theory "The Theory of Continental Drift", the continents change position very slowly, moving the crust a couple of centimeters each year.
Wegener could not explain how the continents moved, but he collected as much evidence as he could to support is theory. He collected samples from fossils and rocks, and also studied clues about climate change to prove his theory right. Some evidence from fossils include the fossils of the reptile Mesosaurus. These have been found in South America and Africa. Mesosaurus lived in fresh water and on land and probably couldn't swim between the continents. Wegener had thought that this reptile lived on both continents when they were joined. The evidence from the rocks is the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern North America are made of the same kind of rock as the mountain range in Britain and Norway. There are similarities between rocks in Quebec and northern Britain. The climate change evidence is that the fossil plant Glossopteris grew in a temperate climate. Glossopteris fossils have been found in Africa, Australia, India, South America, and Antarctica.
He suggested that the continents were all once joined together in one super continent called Pangaea. He said that Pangaea had broken apart 200 million years ago, he called his theory "The Theory of Continental Drift", the continents change position very slowly, moving the crust a couple of centimeters each year.
Wegener could not explain how the continents moved, but he collected as much evidence as he could to support is theory. He collected samples from fossils and rocks, and also studied clues about climate change to prove his theory right. Some evidence from fossils include the fossils of the reptile Mesosaurus. These have been found in South America and Africa. Mesosaurus lived in fresh water and on land and probably couldn't swim between the continents. Wegener had thought that this reptile lived on both continents when they were joined. The evidence from the rocks is the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern North America are made of the same kind of rock as the mountain range in Britain and Norway. There are similarities between rocks in Quebec and northern Britain. The climate change evidence is that the fossil plant Glossopteris grew in a temperate climate. Glossopteris fossils have been found in Africa, Australia, India, South America, and Antarctica.