Lisa Thöresson
Sep 21st 2009
Humanities 8B
Ms. Nickell
Theory of Plate Tectonics
Did you know that putting all the
Eurasia
North
America
plate tectonics create one big continent?
Putting everything together creates a
Africa
America
supercontinent called Pangea. Alfred created
this idea with Pangea but it was not accepted
India
until after his death. Even though Alfred’s
idea was not accepted while he was alive it is
now used for many researches. The
South
America
researches try to find out the reason for, mountains forming,
Antarctica
Australia
earthquakes and how the same kind of fossils are found in different
continents.
To begin with I would like to tell you why and how mountains form. When a plate
crashes into another plate the plates break and form a mountain. This does not only happen
on land, it also happens underneath water. There are mountains higher than Mt. Everest
underneath the water’s surface and mountain chains longer than the Himalayas in the
water. The longest mountain chain is not on land but underwater and it is approximately
75639 meters long. This example supports Alfred’s idea about Pangea because the plates
move.
Another example to prove his theory about Pangea and plate tectonics is
earthquakes. For a earthquake to happen two plates have to rub together to make a
earthquake. Earthquakes can affect any place but the place that is damaged more is where
the two plates collide. If two plates collide underneath water it creates tsunamis in the worst
case. When two plates get pulled away from each other it also creates a earthquake, but a
much milder one. The worst ones come when they bump into each other.
Next, I would like to tell you about fossils and how the same fossil can be on two
different continents. This is a really good example for Alfred’s plate tectonics theory because
how come scientists have found matching fossils in South America and Africa. Lands far
apart and with very different climate have the same fossils. There are also marine fossils
found on Mt. Everest which shows that the plate could have been underneath water before
Lisa Thöresson
Sep 21st 2009
Humanities 8B
Ms. Nickell
it became a mountain.
In conclusion, I do believe in Alfred’s theory about tectonic plates because these are three
solid evidence.
Bibliography

Image: http://geology.csupomona.edu/drjessey/class/Gsc101/pangea.gif
Blanchard, Donald. The Basics of Plate Tectonics. 21st September 2009. 21st
September 2009. http://webspinners.com/dlblanc/tectonic/ptbasics.php

Bushell, Tony. Waugh, David. New Interactions. United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
2002.

Egger, Anne E. Plate tectonics. 2003. 22 September 2009.
www.visionlearning.com/libary/module_viewer.php?mid=65

Geo. Plate Tectonics Early Ideas About Continental Drift. 6 November 1999. 21st
September 2009. http://www.geo.ua.edu/intro03/Plate.html

Geo-world. Earthquake. 22 September 2009. 22 September 2009. www.geoworld.org/earthquake/platetectonics.html