SEISMIC SHIFTS, CONTINENTAL DRIFTS

A. When looking at a map of the world, it is natural to notice that Africa and
South America seem to be able to 'fit together', as if they are two parts of a
former whole. It was this insight which led Flemish cartographer Abraham
Ortelius in 1596 to put forward for the first time the idea that at one period
the continents were in different places than they are today. It would take
over 300 years for the theory to be fully developed, and fifty years after that
for the mechanism of the phenomenon to be discovered.
B.
It was not until 1915 that German geologist Alfred Wegener proposed
the continental drift theory, which states that the Earth's crust is made up of
many sections that float slowly over the molten mantle and core of the Earth.
Wegener argued that in the past the continents were all stuck together. He
called this supercontinent 'Pangaea', which is Greek for 'all Earth'. Wegener
hypothesized that approximately 200 million years ago, this supercontinent
began to breakup, and the pieces began to move away from each other.
C. Initially, Pangaea divided into two parts, named Laurasia and Gondwana.
Laurasia consisted of what is today North America, Asia and Europe, whilst
Gondwana comprised modern-day South America, Africa and Australia. These
supercontinents eventually split apart further, resulting in today's continental
configuration. It is interesting to note that today's continental alignment is
just that - millions of years in the future the Earth's continents will appear
very different. Given enough time, it is possible that the Earth's land masses
will return to a Pangaea - like unified state.
D.
The evidence for continental drift is plentiful. The most common
evidence is the discovery of the same type of dinosaurs in extremely
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different locations. The same type of dinosaur fossil will be found in

northeastern parts of South America as well as northwestern parts of Africa.
The logical explanation for phenomena such as this is that at one time, these
parts of the world were not only connected, but adjacent.
E.
The evidence for continental drift was discovered long before an
explanation for it was found. It was during the 1960s that the theory of plate
tectonics was developed. This new theory explained fully the nature of the
Earth's curst - that it was broken up into many pieces that tended to smack
into each other and pull apart from each other. In extreme cases, such as the
Indian subcontinent, a plate's movement can be so severe that causes
massive mountains to be formed when the plate hits another. This is
precisely what has happened over the past millions of years with the Indian
Plate colliding with the Eurasian Plate, in the process creating the Himalayas,
which include the tallest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest.
F. Plate Tectonics are not only responsible for mountains and the movement
of the continents; they are also responsible for volcanoes. Volcanoes usually
result from one of two plate configurations: they form in place where the
plates are colliding, or where the plates are pulling apart. In the first case,
the plates come together, pushing against each other causing friction and
heat, which allows some of the crust material to melt, resulting in liquid
magma. Because magma is less dense than the surrounding rock, it ends up
rising to the surface, where it becomes a volcano. An example of this type of
volcano is the famous Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the city of Pompeii in
79 C.E. The second type of volcano comes from divergent plates. These
types tend to be underwater, as in the mid-oceanic ridges. Volcanic islands,
such as Iceland and Hawaii, were formed by underwater volcanic activity
eventually spewing off enough matter to form land above the water.
G.
Of course, there is one final important result of plate tectonics earthquakes. Earthquakes are perhaps the most terrifying of all natural
disasters - they are practically invisible. They happen below the Earth's
surface and have devastating results. Earthquakes happen along fault lines,
places where two plates are colliding, diverging, or slipping past each other.
In the case where the two plates are attempting to slip past each other, the
most devastating earthquakes can occur. This is because friction does not
allow the plates to pass each other until sufficient energy to counteract the
resistance has been built up. So the two plates rub against each other for
centuries or millennia until one day they finally slip. This "slip" is what results
in a sudden catastrophic earthquake. If this slip occurs in the ocean
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underneath the Earth's surface, it can cause a massive tidal wave known as
a tsunami. If this slip occurs directly beneath a major city, massive
destruction will result. There are many such cities risk of these earthquakes,
many of them along what is known as the "ring of fire" surrounding the
Pacific Ocean. These cities include Tokyo, San Francisco, Vancouver and
Santiago. Understanding plate tectonics reveals that it is not a question of
"if" these major cities will get hit by an earthquake, it is only a question of
"when?".
Questions:

20. It took over 350 years for the theory mechanism of continental drift to be fully
developed
21. The earth's crusty shell is made up of the plates which float slowly across the
ocean
22. There is significant evidence that India was once attached to Antarctica
23. Mount Everest is a result of a collision between the Eurasian and Himalayan
plates