Add the notes to your vocabulary Page 39 in your notebooks Add the notes to your vocabulary

Pangaea Long ago, all the Earth’s continents were just one giant continent This giant landmass that broke into our present day continents is called PANGAEA Supercontinent

Have You Ever Noticed How Certain Continents Seem to Fit Together? Look at this picture of the world. Which continents do you think look like they could fit together?

Tectonic Plates These plates are formed from the cracking of the lithosphere.

Under every continent is a gigantic slate made of rock. These are called tectonic plates. As the plates move apart, land masses move as well. Designed by Cody Thomas. 9/3/2011

Continental Drift The theory that the continents moved across the Earth’s surface Theory of Alfred Wegener Very very very slow Inches a year However, this process is VERY slow. Current estimates believe it took over 225 million years to move as far as they have. Continental drift

Theory of plate tectonics A theory stating that the Earth’s Lithosphere is broken into huge plates that move and change size over time

The Earth is constantly changing Uniformitarianism A theory stating that processes shaping the Earth today , such as erosion and deposition also shaped Earth in the past and that these processes cause large changes over geologic time. The Earth is constantly changing

Mid Ocean Ridge HUGE underwater mountain range Found in all of the Earth’s ocean Helps explain continental drift