Plate Tectonics

The plate tectonic theory was developed in the 1960’s and it is extremely important to have a fond understanding of as it is an explanation of the amazing scientific feats that have happened and are still happening in our world today. For example, it explains why the land we stand on is in its place, how volcanoes, tsunamis and mountains are formed and many more scientific phenomenon. This theory is that the outer shell of Earth is separated into multiple plates, which are floating on the mantle, the Earth’s liquid inner layer made of semi-molten rock which we call magma. The magma is hot and the temperature causes great pressure onto the outer layer of Earth. The force that causes the plates to move is called convection, a process in which hot magma rises toward the surface of the plates and as it cools, spreads and new magma from the bottom, rises to the surface as the cooling magma descends, “Just like a pot boiling on a stove” (Van der Elst). Convection is the cause of the movement of the plates, and there are three different types of boundary movements. Firstly, converging movement, which is a destructive process where the plates collide; secondly, diverging or spreading, where land is created by the plates spreading and finally, transforming movement a process in which no land is formed …show more content…
Alfred Wegner was the creator and main supporter of Continental drift theory; his theory is that approximately 270 million years ago all continents of the world were joined together to form a super continent, called Pangaea. Over the time of 70 million years, the continents broke apart to the locations they are in today. Wegner’s explanation for the separation of Pangaea was that movement occurred due to the Earth’s rotation and the continent split apart due to the force. This theory was not widely accepted, although Alfred had plenty of evidence to support his