Paleogeogprahy and Plate Tectonics Flashcards
what is the name of the super continent
Pangea
what did Wegener theorized
he noticed that the eastern coastline of South america and western coastline Africa looked like they were connected
-> he suggested these two continents, and others, were connected and then drifted apart
what was a flaw of Wegener’s theorization in the beginning
there was no convincing evidence for how land masses as big as they are were could move
true or false - below the earth’s surface, it is a uniform mass of rock
false - it is not uniform
what is the outermost layer of the earth
a) mantle
b) crust
c) surface
b
true or false - the mantle is the thinnest
false - the crust is
name the layer beneath the crust
mantle
true or false - the uppermost portion of the mantle is solid
true
what are the two layers of the mantle and describe each one
- lithosphere -> solid, composed of many discrete pieces
- asthenosphere -> viscous and slowly flowing , may be deformed due to the weight about
where is the core and what is it composed of
it is found below the mantle -> iron and nickel
define the main difference between the inner and outer core
outer core is molten liquid
inner core is a solid ball - temperature is about the same as the surface of the sun
explain the convection currents
these currents are created by the extreme heat in the inner layers
-> they affect the plates and cause them to move slowly
what happens if the cool crust is more dense than the below layers
causes the lithosphere plates to slowly sink and melt into the lower layers
the term used to describe the movement of the lithosphere is
plate tectonics
what has provided an explanation for drifting continents
plate tectonics
by the end of what period and start of what period formed Pangea
end of Permian and start of Triassic
what is Panthalassa
single super ocean