Topic > How continental drift works

Continental drift is a movement of the Earth's continents. Continental drift demonstrated how continents change position on the Earth's surface. It was discovered and developed in the early 20th century. The continents join together to form a single supercontinent. Additionally, continents lie on slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The term “plate” refers to the large rigid blocks of an Earth's surface that move together. The theory of plate tectonics predicts that the Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that form a continuous fluid movement on the mantle. All the plates always remain in motion interacting. Even today, continental drift is continually moving around the world. Evidence for/and arguments against this theory: Some arguments against the theory of continental drift were the lack of interventions on the theory of the mechanism and how it works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay“ Scientists did not accept Wegener's theory of continental drift. One of the missing elements in the theory was the mechanism by which it works: why did the continents drift and what patterns did they follow? (National Geographic). On the other hand, people thought that some of Alfred Wegener's theories were not well thought out or wrong. For example: “Most of Wegener's observations about fossils and rocks were correct, but he was incredibly wrong on a couple of key points. Wegener, for example, thought that continents could cut through the oceanic crust like icebreakers breaking through ice." (Live Science)Paleomagnetism: The study of the geophysics of the Earth's magnetic field involving magnetism, sediments, and archaeological materials. It gives us the ability to predict the direction of the magnetic field located on the Earth's surface at any time. Furthermore, the discovery of paleomagnetism of rocks was studied in the 1960s. Deformation of Rocks: Rocks deform when the Earth's crust is compressed or stretched. There is compression and tension. Tension occurs when tectonic plates have the ability to pull away from each other, allowing the crust to appear thinner and longer. The rocks fracture and create several rift valleys. Additionally, compression occurs when tectonic plates are forced together and make the crust thicker and shorter creating mountain ranges. Scientists who formulated the theory of continental drift: Alfred Wegener, was a geologist who formulated the theory of continental drift hypothesis. His first hypothesis was presented in 1912. Additionally, Wegener studied stratigraphy on different rock ranges and mountain ranges. Wegener thought that all the continents were once united in one “Urkontinent” before splitting and drifting to their current positions. But geologists firmly denounced Wegener's theory of continental drift after he published the details in a 1915 book titled "The Origin of Continents and Oceans." (Live Science). Another scientist who participated in the theory of continental drift is Frank Taylor. He was an American geologist and contributed to the theory of continental drift together with Alfred Wegener. Plate interactions: The basic boundaries: Divergent plate boundaries: When two tectonic plates begin to separate and move away from each other. A mid-ocean ridge forms from the magma and the sea floor begins to expand. Convergent Plate Boundary: Convergent plate boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move towards each other. When the continental plates and.