大陆漂移历史英文版培训教案.pptVIP

1. Plate Tectonics defined. 3.??Alfred Wegener and Continental Drift. ? Evidence Theory Outcome 2.?? What did Plate Tectonics replace? The History of Continental Drift Plate: The Earth’s crust consists of a number of mobile plates, masses of crust that move independently of adjacent plates. Tectonics: dealing with structural features of the Earth (e.g., mountains, ocean basins). Plate Tectonics: The process that involves the interaction of moving crustal plates and results in major structural features of the Earth. A unifying theory in geology that explains a wide range of geologic phenomena. What did the modern theory replace? Diastrophism: early term for all movement of the Earth’s crust. Thought to result in the formation of mountains, ocean basins, etc. Contracting Earth Theory ? Theory that the Earth contracted or shrank over geologic time. · Shrinking resulted in a reduction in the Earth’s diameter while the circumference remained unchanged due to folding and buckling of the crust (diastrophism). First proposed by Giordano Bruno (16th C) who compared the process to the drying of an apple. Lord Kelvin (19th C) suggested that contraction was due to cooling of the Earth. The problems with this mechanism: Fossils are preserved in rocks that represent organisms that could not withstand the early temperatures. Initial temperatures required for the amount of contraction were too high to be realistic. Other mechanisms of contraction: Extrusion of molten rock from within the Earth (like a tube of toothpaste). The amount of extrusive rock present is not enough to explain the crustal shortening that would be needed. Chemical shrinkage (1920s) a) Decay of elements within the Earth to Helium which then escapes to the atmosphere. b) Combination of elements within the earth to form denser elements. Neither process is known to take place! Contracting Earth Theory: Widely accepted but a scientific house of cards. Continental Dri