Getting started on Plate Tectonics Flashcards
Lets get started on the Theory of Continental Drift here!
Who created the theory of Plate Tectonics?
Alfred Wegner
What are 3 types of tectonic boundary?
Convergent, Divergent, and Transform
What is a Convergent boundary?
It’s when 2 plates are pushing against each other, it can cause earthquakes or mountains and volcanoes.
What is a Divergent boundary?
It’s when 2 plates are going away in opposite directions of each other, it can cause earthquakes and tsunamis.
What is a Transform boundary?
It’s when 2 plates are moving sideways in opposite directions, they can cause earthquakes.
What did Alfred Wegner call his new supercontinent?
Pangaea. (All Land)
When did Pangaea exist?
335 million years ago.
Did Pangaea start to break up into 2 continents?
Yes.
What were the 2 continents that broke up from Pangaea called?
Laurasia on the top, and Gondwanaland on the bottom.
What is Pangaea?
Pangaea is the supercontinent that existed 335 million years ago.
When did Pangaea start to break apart?
175 million years ago.
What continents were in Gondwanaland?
Antartica, Africa, South America, Australia, as well as India, Madagascar, and Arabia.
What continents were in Laurasia?
Europe, North America, and Asia.
Glossopteris, a plant 250 million years ago was on Antartica, and the Glossopteris could not have survived the cold. What does this suggest?
That Antartica once was a country with warm climate.
Which 2 continents fit together the most nicely?
South America and Africa.
