Continental Drift, Seafloor Spreading, and Plate Tectonics

Earth's crust is made of large, solid pieces that move around on convection currents.

• Plate Tectonic Theory

• Continental Drift Theory

• Survival of the Fittest Theory

• Gene Theory

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Plates that are running into each other.

• convergent boundary

• divergent boundary

• Slip-slide boundary

• mid-oceanic ridge

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Who created the hypothesis of Continental Drift?

• Harry Hess

• Alfred Wegner

• Sir Isaac Newton

• Albert Einstein

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What does the hypothesis of Continental Drift state?

• 200 million years ago, the continents were joined as one and they have remained that way.

• 200 million years ago, the continents were joined as one and they have slowly moved to their current locations.

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What evidence was used to support Continental Drift?

• Continents fitting together like a puzzle

• Fossils of Ferns on Antarctica

• Similar mountain ranges on different continents

• All of the above

Why did no one believe Wegener's hypothesis of Continental Drift?

• He could not explain HOW the continents moved.

• His data was incorrect.

• He did not use the right technology to gather data

In the Atlantic Ocean where is the youngest seafloor located?

• Towards the edges of the eastern and western continents.

• Towards the North and South Pole.

• Along the Mid-Ocean Ridge.

• Young seafloor is located randomly throughout the ocean.

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What two words are BEST used to describe how the seafloor spreads?

• Volcanoes and convection

• Tsunamis and convection

• Earthquakes and convection

• Magma and convection

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How do scientists figure out the age of the seafloor?

• They research it from ancient sea maps that trading vessels used in the 1700s.

• They use seismographs, the depth, and the locations of earthquakes to calculate the age.

• They look at differences in magnetic polarity of the seafloor to determine the age.

• They take drill ships to many locations in the oceans and collect and date the rock samples.

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What is this a picture of?

• Plate Tectonics

• Continental Drift

• Pangea

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