Plate Tectonics

Have you ever wondered how mountains form? What

about forces of nature such as volcanoes or
earthquakes? The answers to these questions are found
in the layers of Earth and the concept of plate tectonics!

The crust is the top layer of Earth’s surface, and the core
is the center layer. A thick layer of molten rock can be
found between the crust and core. This layer of molten
rock is known as the mantle. The lithosphere is made
up of Earth’s crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.
Cool and rigid, the lithosphere is the outermost layer of lithosphere – consists of the crust
Earth and is broken into large, thick pieces called (light brown) and upper mantle
tectonic plates. These tectonic plates contain different (dark brown)
kinds of crust, oceanic and continental. Both are less
molten – melted; liquefied
dense than the mantle, but oceanic crust is denser than
continental crust. This is one reason why continents are
higher than the ocean floor. However, some continental tectonic plates – the broken pieces
plates are submerged in the ocean, and some oceanic of the lithosphere that move on the
plates, such as the entirety of Iceland, are above the asthenosphere
ocean.

Scientists have given names to Earth’s tectonic plates. This map shows the current major tectonic
plates. Many of these plates are named for the continents or oceans they support. Maps of ancient
land and water patterns show how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and
spread apart.
Earth’s major tectonic
plates include the
African Plate, Antarctic
Plate, Eurasian Plate,
Indian Plate, Australian
Plate, North American
Plate, South American
Plate, and Pacific
Plate.

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How did they discover that the tectonic plates had moved? Was that movement related to Earth
structures such as mountains, valleys, or volcanoes?

Look at the world map and notice the shapes of the continents. Do you see how some continents
appear to fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle? Why do you think this is? Is it just a
coincidence, or do you think it suggests something important about the history of our planet?

Continental Drift
If you noticed that the continents appear to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, you’re not alone. In the
early 20th century, a German scientist named Alfred Wegener noticed this phenomenon. Wegener
hypothesized that at one or more points in Earth’s history, the continents were connected.
Wegener looked for further evidence that the continents might have been connected and might
have moved over time.

Evidence of Continental Movement

Matching geologic structures: Wegener looked for other connections between the matching
coastlines. Where coastlines appeared to fit together, he noticed that certain geologic formations
also appeared to fit together. For example, a mountain range on one coastline appeared to
connect with a mountain chain on the opposite coastline. Several deposits of sediment left behind
by glaciers also lined up along the matching coastlines of continents.

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Matching-fossils evidence: In addition to geological evidence, Wegener found fossil evidence

that the continents may once have been connected.

Fossils of a freshwater reptile called Mesosaurus were found on both the eastern coast of South
America and the western coast of South Africa. It is highly unlikely that these freshwater animals
swam across the entire Atlantic Ocean while they were alive.

Fossils of a land reptile called Lystrosaurus were also found along matching coasts of eastern
Africa, central India, and Antarctica. These land animals also could not have crossed the oceans
separating these continents. Equally unlikely is the possibility that the same species evolved
independently on multiple continents. Instead, Wegener reasoned that the continents must have
been joined at one time. As the continents moved apart, they took mesosaurus and lystrosaurus
fossils with them.

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 Plate Tectonics
Wegener concluded from his findings that the
continents must move over time. Scientists gave the
process its more familiar name: continental drift. At
least once in Earth’s history, the continents were
connected in large landmasses, or supercontinents.
Around 250 million years ago, all the continents were
connected in one giant supercontinent. Wegener
named this supercontinent Pangaea, which means “all
the Earth.” Over millions of years, the continents
moved apart to their present-day positions.

Despite the evidence Wegener collected, he could not provide a

theory explaining how the continents moved over time. Partly for
this reason, his hypothesis was initially rejected by the scientific
community.

Then, in the 1940s, scientists discovered new evidence

concerning seafloor spreading that suggested how continents
Wegener on his drift. Unfortunately, Wegener did not live to see his work
expedition in Greenland, validated. He froze to death on an expedition across the
trying to prove his Greenland ice cap, trying to prove his hypothesis.
hypothesis

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Convection currents move tectonic plates.

Just below the lithosphere is a shallow layer of mantle called the asthenosphere. The partially
molten rock in the asthenosphere flows slowly due to a process called convection. Tectonic plates
of the lithosphere float on top of the asthenosphere, as they are less dense than the material of the
asthenosphere.
Convection is the process by which hot material rises
and cooler material sinks. The molten material of the
mantle found deep within Earth heats up and begins to
rise toward the crust. As the material gets closer to the
crust, it cools down in the asthenosphere, the
uppermost layer of the mantle. As it cools, it sinks back
toward the core. Eventually, the sinking material heats
up and rises again. This produces circular movements
called convection currents. Tectonic plates float on top
of the asthenosphere as it flows. The asthenosphere is
a part of the mantle that is not in the liquid state. The
Red arrows in this diagram represent
asthenosphere is solid, but it has plasticity. Plasticity is
convection currents.
the condition of a solid that allows it to flow like plastic
putty.

Tectonic plates interact at plate boundaries.

Tectonic plates are constantly moving. At
different times, some plates move faster than
others. However, even the fastest plates move
only centimeters every year. Tectonic plate
boundaries are places where the edges of two or
more plates interact. At some boundaries, plates
move apart, such as along the mid-ocean ridge
that passes through the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean and through the middle of Iceland. The
North American Plate moves westward, while
the Eurasian Plate moves in the opposite
direction, splitting that country apart.

As the asthenosphere flows, tectonic plates move with it in different directions. Scientists explain
this process through the theory of plate tectonics.

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Making Pangaea

● Label each continent by name.

● Color the fossils or mountains in the legend and color the symbols on each continent in the
colors used in the legend.
● Cut out the continents and match up the fossil and mountain evidence to recreate Pangaea.
● Glue the continents into
place on your
construction paper.