Unit 1 Chapter 2 Flashcards
How were the Himalayan mountains formed?
The subcontinent of India collided with Asia
Prior to the 1960s, scientists believed that the continents had fixed geographic locations and were of great antiquity. the reversal of this theory is called what?
Scientific revolution
Define continental drift
The idea that all continents began as one “supercontinent” that began to break up about 200, 000,000 years ago into the present smaller continents and drift into their current positions
Why did American geologists have difficulty with the idea of continental drift?
Because most of the data came from South America, Australia, and Africa-continents American geologist were unfamiliar with
Who wrote the book “The Origin of Continents and Oceans” and what hypothesis did it introduce?
Alfred Wegner proposed the hypothesis of continental drift in “The Origin of the Continents and Oceans”
What is a supercontinent?
A large landmass that contained all or nearly all of the current continents
What is Pangea?
The supercontinent proposed by Alfred Wegner in his book “The Origin of the Continents and the Oceans” that began to break apart about 200,000,000 years into the present day continents.
