WHAT IS PLATE TECTONICS?

•Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is

divided into several plates that glide over the
mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. Plate
tectonics explains the features and movement of
Earth's surface in the present and in the past.

• HISTORY PRIMARY AND

Developed from the 1950s through
the 1970s, plate tectonic is the
modern version of continental
drift , a theory first proposed by
Alfred Wegener in 1912. Plate
tectonics is the unifying theory of
geology, said Nicholas van der
Elst , a seismologists in Columbia
University's Lamont - Doherty
Earth Observatory in Palisades,
New York.
•The driving force behind plate
HOW DOES PLATE
TECTONICS WORK?
SECONDARY PLATES
There are 7 primary tectonic plates
in the world ,but there are also 7
secondary plates and 60 tertiary plates
for a grand total of more than 70
Tectonic plates . Each plate is
approximate 60 miles thick and
compose primary of either continental
or oceanic crust .
Primary Plates
•African Plate •Antarctic Plate

tectonic is convection in the •Eurasian Plate •Indo-Australian Plate

mantle. The convection drive
plate tectonics through a
combination of pushing and
spreading apart of mid-ocean
ridges and pulling and sinking
downward of subduction
zones. At subduction zones
,two tectonic plates meet and
one slides beneath the other
back into the mantle .The cold
,sinking plate pulls the crust
behind it downward.
•North and South American Plates
•Pacific Plates
Secondary Plates
•Arabian Plate •Caribbean Plate
•Cocos Plate •Juan de Fuca Plate
•Nazca Plate •Philippine Sea •Scotia
By: Catibog, Mekylla Abigail
Evangelista, Kristen Claire
10- FAITH
 Continental drift was a theory that
explained how continents shift position on
Earth's surface. Continental drift also
explained why look-alike animal and plant
fossils, and similar rock formations, are
HISTORY found on different continents.

• The speculation that continents might
have drifted was first put forward by
Abraham Ortelius in 1596 .The concept
was independently and more fully
developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. But
his hypothesis was rejected because of
lack of any motive mechanism . Arthur
Holmes later proposed mantle
convection for that mechanism .The idea
of continental drift has since been
subsumed by the theory of plate
tectonics.
The main reason that Wegener's
hypothesis was not accepted was
because he suggested no mechanism
for moving the continents. Scientist
argued that there was no way to
explain how solid could plow through
solid oceanic crust. He thought the
force of Earth's spin was sufficient to
cause continents to move but
geologists knew that rocks are too
strong for this to be true.
EVIDENCE Wegener knew that fossil plants
and animals such as Mesosaurs
,a freshwater reptile found only
in South America and Africa
during the Perm Wegenerian
Period, could be found on many
continents . Besides the way the
continents fit together , and his
supporters collected a great
deal of evidence . The
similarities between the
Appalachian and the eastern
Greenland mountains ranges .
Wegener used fossils evidence
to support his continental drift
hypothesis . The fossils of these
organisms are found on land
that are now far apart.
By: Catibog, Mekylla Abigail
Evangelista, Kristen Claire
10- FAITH