Important people Flashcards
Who was Alfred Wegener, and what did he do?
Alfred Wegener was the first person to present the continental drift hypothesis in 1912. he proposed that there was a supercontinent called Pangea after fossil and geological evidence. UNFORTUANATLY, he could not find out how the continents drifted apart.
Who was Abraham Ortelius, and what did he do?
When Abraham Ortelius looked at the continents, it seemed as though they fit together like a puzzle. He hypothesized that the Americas were “torn away from Europe and Africa by earthquakes and floods.” Unfortunately, there was no evidence to support his claims.
Who was Tuzo Wilson, and what did he do?
Tuzo wilson hypothesized that the linear shape of the Hawaiian Island chain resulted from the Pacific Plate moving over a deep, stationary hotspot in the mantle, located beneath the present-day position of the Island of Hawaii.
What is the difference between the compositional and mechanical models of the Earth?
Compositional model show the composition and the components, while mechanical model determines the properties of the Earth and the differences between the rock, nickel, and iron in the Earth.
Compositional layers are chemical, Mechanical layers are physical.
Compositional layers are chemical, Mechanical layers are physical.
What are some common minerals?
Feldspar, Quartz, hornblede, mica, calcite
How is igneous rock formed?
Formed from the cooling of molten rock or magma.
How is metamorphic rock formed?
formed from other types of rock experiencing intense heat and pressure
How are Sedimentary rocks formed?
formed over time by the compression of settled sediment.
Is the oceanic crust thinner, equal in thickness, or thicker than the regular lithosphere?
Thinner because its composition is denser which means it will get subducted beneath continental crust during collision of plates.
What is Seafloor Spreading?
In 1961, scientists theorized that mid-ocean ridges were structurally weak zones of Earth’s crust where the ocean floor was being ripped in two. New magma from deep within the Earth rises easily through these weak zones and eventually erupts along the crest of the ridges to create new oceanic crust.
What are divergent boundaries?
where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other.
What are convergent boundaries?
where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another.
What are Transform boundaries?
is where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other.
What is the Ring of Fire?
Areas with high levels of seismic and volcanic activity.
Continental drift vs Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics explains why Earth’s continents are moving; the theory of continental drift did not provide an explanation - which means that Plate Tectonics are more accepted because it is more complete.
