Earth Science Module 10 Reviewer Sem1 q2

Earth Science Module 10: Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift Theory And Its Evidence and Seafloor Spreading
Review – Internal Structure of the Earth
1. CRUST: Oceanic and Continental

- Thinnest layer of the earth composed of solid rocks and minerals
CONTINENTAL CRUST
- Light-colored
- Rock sample: granite
- Less dense
- Thick layer
- 40-70 km
OCEANIC CRUST
- dark-colored
- Rock sample: basalt
- More dense
- Thin layer
- 50 km
1. CRUST: Oceanic and Continental

Lithosphere - the outer part of the solid earth composed of rock, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Asthenosphere - soft weak upper portion of the mantle where the lithosphere plates float and moved around. It is a
layer of the Earth that lies below the lithosphere. It is a layer of solid rock that has so much pressure and heat the
rocks can flow like a liquid.
2. MANTLE
- Representing about 85% of the total weight and mass of our planet, it is the largest part of the Earth
- 2900 km thick
- Circulation of magma happens through the process called convection Upper Mantle extends from the crust to a
depth of about 410 km (255 miles). It is mostly rigid and solid, but its more malleable regions contribute to tectonic
activity. Lower Mantle extends to about 2700km (1678 miles) beneath the earth’s surface. It is hotter and denser
than the upper mantle.
CORE
- is made up of dense metal, specifically, nickel and iron. It is also considered as the center and the hottest part of
the Earth.
Outer Core is a fluid layer about 2300 km (1400 mi) thick and composed of mostly iron and nickel. - has a
temperature of about 4000°C-5000°C. It also gave rise to Earth’s magnetic field.
Inner Core is the Earth’s innermost part and according to seismological studies, it has been believed to be primarily a
solid ball of iron-nickel alloy with a radius of 1220 km (760 miles), which is about 70% of the moon’s radius.
Earth
The seven major world continents are North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.
Continental Drift Theory

In 1912 German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed that in the beginning, the Earth has only one giant
landmass called Pangaea, which means "all land."
He hypothesized that this giant landmass slowly broke into smaller land pieces that eventually drifted away from
each other which made the seven continents that we now know. This is
known as the Continental drift theory.
Evidences:
 Alfred Wegener presented the following pieces of evidence to support his theory:
 The continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. This is most evident in the matching coastlines of South America
and Africa.
 Similar animal and plant fossils were found in different continents. The fossils of the reptile mesosaurus were
found along the coastlines of South America and Africa which are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover,
the fossil of a fernlike plant glossopteris was found distributed in all the continents
 In the matching coastlines of northwestern Africa and eastern Brazil, South America, the rocks are of the same
type and age.
 Geologic features such as mountain ranges are found along matching coastlines like that of the Appalachian
Mountains and Scandinavia.
Coal seams are found in Antarctica.
Coal is produced from organic matter like dead plants and animals. In a very cold place like Antarctica, it would be
impossible for most organisms to survive. The presence of coal indicates that the continent was once inhabited by
many organisms. It also gives a clue that Antarctica was once located near the equator where abundant animal and
plant organisms could be found.
The pieces of evidence supported the continental drift theory; however, the theory was rejected due to lack of
explanation for the force responsible in the continent's movement.
Mid-Oceanic Ridge
Beginning in the 1950s, a wealth of new evidence emerged to revive the debate about Wegener's theories.
Specifically, oceanic exploration greatly expanded. Data gathered led to the discovery that a great mountain range
on the ocean floor virtually encircled the Earth. This underwater mountain chain is called the Mid-Ocean Ridge
Harry Hess
“If the oceans have existed for at least four billion years (as most geologists believed) why is there so little sediment
deposited on the ocean floor?
In 1960, the American geophysicist, Harry Hess, explained how the convection currents in the Earth’s interior make
the seafloor spread. Ocean floors move like conveyor belts, carrying the continents along with them
Seafloor Spreading
1. movement begins at the Mid-Ocean Ridge.
2. Molten material rises from the mantle and erupts along the ridge.
3. The molten material spreads out, pushing older rock to both sides of the ridge.
4. It cools to form a strip of solid rock in the center of the ridge.
5. molten material flows into the crack, splitting apart the solid rock, pushing it aside.
Hess called this process seafloor spreading
Seafloor Spreading Evidences
Several types of evidence from the oceans supported Hess’s theory of seafloor spreading:
1. Evidence from molten material This rock was shaped like pillows, or like toothpaste squeezed from a tube.
These strange formations could only have formed when molten material hardened quickly after erupting
underwater.
2. Magnetic Stripes
Beginning in the 1950s, scientists, using magnetic instruments (magnetometers), began recognizing odd magnetic
variations across the ocean floor. Basalt -- the iron-rich, volcanic rock making up the ocean floor-- contains a strongly
magnetic mineral (magnetite) and can locally distort compass readings. When material that erupted from the Mid-
Ocean Ridge cooled, the iron in the rock lined up in the direction of Earth’s magnetic poles.They discovered evidence
of magnetic reversals in the rock on the ocean floor. Sometimes the iron in the rocks pointed toward the North Pole
and sometimes it pointed toward the South Pole.
When scientists recorded the magnetic memory of the rocks on both sides of the Mid-Ocean Ridge, they discovered
that a stripe of rock that show’s when Earth’s magnetic field pointed north is followed by a parallel strip of rock that
shows when the magnetic field pointed south and the pattern is the same on both sides of the ridge.
3. Drilling Samples
When scientists determined the ages of the rocks they found that the farther away from the ridge the samples were
taken, the older the rocks were.The youngest rocks were always in the center of the ridges.
If new crust is being added to Earth’s surface, is Earth getting bigger?
Subduction
Subduction is a process where the ocean floor sinks back into the mantle at a deep ocean trench
Convection currents under the lithosphere push new oceanic crust that forms at the mid-ocean ridge away from the
ridge and toward a deep ocean trench.
Convection Current
New oceanic crust is hot. As it moves away from the mid-ocean ridge, it cools and becomes more dense. The farther
away the rock is from the mid-ocean ridge, the denser the rock is.Eventually, gravity pulls this dense oceanic crust
back into the mantle.
The Pacific Ocean is getting smaller. More ocean crust is being subducted into deep ocean trenches in the Pacific
than can be created at the mid-ocean ridge. On the other hand, the Atlantic Ocean is expanding. The Atlantic Ocean
only has a few short trenches, so the expanding sea-floor has nowhere to go. Since the continents are attached to
the continental crust, which is attached to the oceanic crust, the continents move apart as the Atlantic Ocean
spreads.

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Earth Science Module 10: Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift Theory And Its Evidence and Seafloor Spreading

Review – Internal Structure of the Earth

1. CRUST: Oceanic and Continental

1. CRUST: Oceanic and Continental

Continental Drift Theory

Coal seams are found in Antarctica.

If new crust is being added to Earth’s surface, is Earth getting bigger?

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