Wegener, Chamberlin and the Rest

Describe how evidence led to the theory of plate tectonics.

10 Responses

  1. Llewellyn Grayhawk says:

    The theory of plate tectonics came around because of many pieces of evidence. First, all of the continents are shaped like puzzle pieces and when put together they make a perfect “super continent”. Secondly; The Continental Drift Theory also had evidence with plant and animal fossils, the remnants of some animals were similar in different parts of the word where the animals themselves had no way of getting there. Same with the plant life, plants with identical features were found in places where the climate could not support them. Finally we have that the tectonic plates move because of the magma under the crust of the earth that cools and melts in a circular motion making the continents move in different ways.

  2. Allison says:

    The evidence that led to the theory of plate tectonics came from the investigating done by many scientist, including Wegener. These scientists found that there were fossils of the same plant and animal species on different continents around the world, thousands of miles apart. They also found that similar age and type mountain ranges and rocks could be found on the other side of the world from each other. Scientists looked at the continents and saw how they have similar edges that could “fit together” supporting the idea that the continents were all once together. Scientist looked for different explanations and eventually found that the land masses we know drifted apart over millions of years due to plate tectonics.

  3. Jenna Banta says:

    The evidence that we found during this project helped us come up with the theory of tectonic plates by, knowing at one point in earth’s existence there was a supercontinent called Pangea. The evidence that told us that Pangea existed was, there are similar mountain ranges similar in size, shape, and age. The continents we have now can fit together like puzzle pieces. And fossil of the same species were found in totality different places in the world. The continents are not floating so the “pole fleeing” theory would not work. So the continents are connected to the surface of the earth and there is a heats source coming from inside the earth I would make sense that it’s magma or lava moving the earth’s crust which would be moving the continents connected to the earth’s crust.

  4. Melissa says:

    The theory of plate tectonics are around here because there is all kinds of evidence out there. The continents are all spreading from each other because when they all spread apart and away from each other, magma comes out and it’s creating new continental crust making some tectonic plates hitting each other and grinding together. They found some species in Antarctica, also found fossils that are identical in west Africa and South America. Can also reconstruct a map or something to see how much of the land mass had changed, drifted over all these years.

  5. Joe says:

    The theory of plate tectonics has been around for centuries people throughout the ages who have observed that the continents looked like they could fit together like puzzle pieces, Alfred Wegener was the man who first put forth the publication of that idea.
    The theory didn’t become accepted by the scientific community until newer technology allowed people to peer at the ridges formed by tectonic plates moving and the movements of the magma underneath the surface of the earth.

  6. Chris says:

    As we researched the theory of plate tectonics, we found different types of evidence like maybe how at one point there was a supercontinent named Pangea which over time was split into the continents we have today by magma flowing underneath the Earth’s crust. Further evidence of Pangea points out to how some mountain ranges in the world are similar in size, shape, age and fossil records of the same species being found in different parts of the world today.

  7. logan says:

    Evidence has led us to the theory of plate tectonics in many ways, similar fossils have been found in different continents across the earth. This supports the idea that the continents were at one time all together as one. Another piece of evidence is mountain ranges. Some of the mountain ranges have a relatively similar age compared to some of the others across the sea providing us with information that they were once connected. Some of the scientists that helped this theory were, Wegener, and Chamberlin. Although they had some ideas that were wrong they helped us get possible ideas for when we had better technology to see how the plates were and are today. All of this evidence leads to the fact that the continents were all connected and how now they are slowly spreading apart.

  8. Darcy says:

    There was a lot of evidence that led to the theory of plate tectonics , one of them was the continent’s were once fit like puzzle pieces, and centrifugal force of the earth caused the continent’s to break apart and move.

  9. Cassie says:

    The theory of plate tectonics originally started out as continental drift. The scientist most credited with this idea, Alfred Wegener a German scientist who was not yet a certified geologist. His idea’s on how the continentes moves from Pangea to the separate continents we have today was due to a pole fleeing force. This explained how fossils, certain mountain ranges, and plant types existed in the same area, as well as how some of the continent ridges match up with each other in a puzzle like manner. However the pole fleeing force has been since disproven, and the theory of plate tectonics took its place. The plates move in a convergent ( →←), divergent (↔), or transformative movement (⇆).

  10. Ayana says:

    The theory of plate tectonics was that continental drift did happen, the scientist we can give credit to is Alfred Wegner. He was a scientist from Germany, but he wasn’t a certified geologist yet. His thoughts about how the continents went from Pangea to our now continents of the planet was due to the force of the fleeing poles. This greatly clarified how several mountain ranges, fossils, and plant types occurred in the same region, and how the ridges of the continents match up with one another.

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