The thought that the continents had coastlines that looked like they could fit together like pieces of a puzzle, especially in the case of South America and Africa, has persisted ever since the continents were mapped out (even Magellan took note of this). However, Alfred Wegener was the first to propose the theory of
continental drift formally
. The idea was met with much resistance and controversy in his time because Wegener could not explain the driving force of the plate movement.
The year after Wegener died (1930), Arthur Holmes published his idea that thermal convection in the Earth's mantle could cause continents to move. In the 1960s, Harry Hess offered an additional explanation of plate movement by describing the process of
seafloor spreading
, which carries off older sediment and fossils, and moves the continents as new ocean crust spreads away from the ridges. In this way, he substantiated Wegener's theory of continental drift, and explained how the once-joined continents had separated into the seven that exist today.
Respond to the following:
Name a place on Earth where two plates are converging.
Name a place where two plates are diverging.
Name a place where two plates are sliding past each other.
Must be at least 250-300 in length. APA Format.
Remember, if you provide a quote or information from a source (
e.g.
, your textbook or the Internet), you must include the correct citation and reference in
APA
style.
Make the post engaging, interesting, and long enough to cover the material completely. It is helpful to think of the post as more of a mini-paper than a simple contribution to a discussion.
.
The thought that the continents had coastlines that looked like they.docx
1. The thought that the continents had coastlines that looked like
they could fit together like pieces of a puzzle, especially in the
case of South America and Africa, has persisted ever since the
continents were mapped out (even Magellan took note of this).
However, Alfred Wegener was the first to propose the theory of
continental drift formally
. The idea was met with much resistance and controversy in his
time because Wegener could not explain the driving force of the
plate movement.
The year after Wegener died (1930), Arthur Holmes published
his idea that thermal convection in the Earth's mantle could
cause continents to move. In the 1960s, Harry Hess offered an
additional explanation of plate movement by describing the
process of
seafloor spreading
, which carries off older sediment and fossils, and moves the
continents as new ocean crust spreads away from the ridges. In
this way, he substantiated Wegener's theory of continental drift,
and explained how the once-joined continents had separated into
the seven that exist today.
Respond to the following:
Name a place on Earth where two plates are converging.
Name a place where two plates are diverging.
Name a place where two plates are sliding past each other.
Must be at least 250-300 in length. APA Format.
Remember, if you provide a quote or information from a source
(
e.g.
, your textbook or the Internet), you must include the correct
citation and reference in
APA
style.
Make the post engaging, interesting, and long enough to cover
2. the material completely. It is helpful to think of the post as
more of a mini-paper than a simple contribution to a discussion.
