1. Continental Drift and the Theory of Plate Tectonics
Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
(United Streaming Video)
Continents Adrift: An Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics. Rainbow Educational Media (1995). Retrieved April 23, 2008, from unitedstreaming:

2. Theory of Continental Drift
Alfred Wegener stated that the continents move, and over time have come together and moved apart again
(2008). The Earth. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Enchanted Learning Web site:

3. Evidence for Continental Drift
1. Similarities in the coastlines of the continents
Pompa, Plate Tectonics Mini Lecture. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Gateway School District Web site:

4. Evidence for Continental Drift
2. Identical fossil remains found in different continents
Pompa, Plate Tectonics Mini Lecture. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Gateway School District Web site:

5. Evidence for Continental Drift
3. Age and type of rocks in different continents match up
Pompa, Plate Tectonics Mini Lecture. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Gateway School District Web site:

6. Evidence for Continental Drift
4. Evidence of changes in climatic patterns
Pompa, Plate Tectonics Mini Lecture. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Gateway School District Web site:

7. Evidence for Continental Drift
5. Seafloor spreading
(2004, October 4). Geology . Retrieved April 29, 2008, from National Park Service Web site:

8. Lithospheric Plates The earth's surface is made of two types of crust
Thinner, denser oceanic crust, made from mafic lava
Thicker, less dense continental crust, made from felsic lava
These two types of crust make up the earth's lithospheric plates
(2008, January 25). Earthquakes Hazards Program. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from USGS Web site:

9. Lithospheric Plates
Major plates
Minor plates
Ancient Plates
African Plate
Aegean Sea Plate
Mariana Plate
Baltic Plate
Antarctic Plate
Altiplano Plate
Molucca Sea Plate
Bellingshausen Plate
Arabian Plate
Amurian Plate
New Hebrides Plate
Charcot Plate
Australian Plate
Anatolian Plate
Niuafo'ou Plate
Cimmerian Plate
Caribbean Plate
Balmoral Reef Plate
North Andes Plate
Farallon Plate
Cocos Plate
Banda Sea Plate
North Bismarck Plate
Insular Plate
Eurasian Plate
Bird's Head Plate
Okhotsk Plate
Intermontane Plate
Indian Plate
Burma Plate
Okinawa Plate
Izanagi Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
Caroline Plate
Panama Plate
Kula Plate
Nazca Plate
Conway Reef Plate
Rivera Plate
Lhasa Plate
North American Plate
Easter Plate
Sandwich Plate
Moa Plate
Pacific Plate
Futuna Plate
Shetland Plate
Phoenix Plate
Philippine Plate
Galapagos Plate
Solomon Sea Plate
Scotia Plate
Hellenic Plate
Somali Plate
South American Plate
Iranian Plate
South Bismarck Plate
Juan Fernandez Plate
Sunda Plate
Kermadec Plate
Timor Plate
Manus Plate
Tonga Plate
Maoke Plate
Woodlark Plate
Presently, 15 major lithospheric plates and 39 minor lithospheric plates exist. There are 12 others that have been identified, but no longer exist.

10. A. Divergent B. Convergent C. Transform Fault
Lithospheric Plate Boundaries
3 types of plate boundaries:
A. Divergent
B. Convergent
C. Transform Fault
Pompa, Plate Tectonics Mini Lecture. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Gateway School District Web site:

11. Lithospheric Plate Boundaries
Divergent Boundaries
Two plates moving apart
Example: along the Mid-Atlantic ridge
(2005). Plate Boundaries. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Plate Tectonics Web site:

12. Lithospheric Plate Boundaries
Convergent Boundaries
Two plates moving toward each other
Example: Himalaya mountains
Watson, J. M. (1999, May 5). Understanding plate motions. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from USGS Web site:
(2005). Mountain Ranges. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from Plate Tectonics Web site:

13. Lithospheric Plate Boundaries
Transform Fault Boundaries
Two plates grinding past each other
Example: San Andreas Fault, CA
(2006, May 26). Western Earth Surface Processes Team. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from USGS Web site:
Watson, J. M. (1999, May 5). Understanding plate motions. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from USGS Web site:

14. A topography (relief) map showing the world’s mid-ocean ridge system
Lithospheric Plate Boundaries
Seafloor Spreading
Diverging tectonic plates
Oceanic and oceanic crust moving apart
Results in a mid-ocean ridge
“New” crust is created at these boundaries
(2007). Mid-Ocean Ridges. Retrieved April 25, 2008, from Water Encyclopedia Web site:
A topography (relief) map showing the world’s mid-ocean ridge system

15. Convergent Plate Boundaries
Oceanic-oceanic plate convergence =
Island Arc Formation
Old crust is “destroyed” at these boundaries as one plate slides under the other
All photos from: (2005). Plate Boundaries. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from Plate Tectonics Web site:

16. Convergent Plate Boundaries
Oceanic-continental plate convergence =
Volcano Formation (also known as a volcanic arc)
Old crust is “destroyed” at these boundaries as the denser oceanic crust slides under the lighter continental crust
All photos from: (2005). Plate Boundaries. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from Plate Tectonics Web site:

17. Convergent Plate Boundaries
Continental-continental plate convergence =
Mountain Formation
Since both plates are of equal density, they crash into each other and bend and fold upward
All photos from: (2005). Plate Boundaries. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from Plate Tectonics Web site:

18. Convergent Plate Boundaries
Subduction zone
Occurs at convergent plate boundaries
Thinner, denser oceanic crust sliding under oceanic or continental crust
Results in an ocean trench
(2003, April 4). The Mariana Trench. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from The Mariana Trench Web site:
The Ocean Trench. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Think Quest Web site:

19. Subduction zone Oceanic crust sliding under continental crust
Converging tectonic plates
Oceanic crust sliding under continental crust
Results in volcanoes/volcanic arc
Huber, N. K. (1987). The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park . Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Yosemite Web site:

20. Convection within the mantle
Causes of Plate Motion
Convection within the mantle
Said to be the driving force behind plate tectonics
Hot material rises, moves away from the heat source, cools and sinks

21. Relative movement (cm/yr)
Present and future lithospheric plate motion
Plate
Relative movement (cm/yr)
African
2.3
Antarctic
2.9
Arabian
6.2
Australian
8.8
Caribbean
1.1
Cocos
10.0
Eurasian
2.4
Indian
6.4
Nazca
3.7
North American
0.0
Pacific
1.4
South American
0.8
Juan de Fuca
5.4
Philippine
9.4
Listed on the table to the right are the speeds of some of the earth’s lithospheric plates, relative to the North American Plate (as if the N. Am. Plate were still). These speeds were calculated using the Plate Motion Calculator
Predicted plate movement for the future