Learning About Plate Tectonics By: Maddy Carroll

Section 1 History of Pangaea In 1912 a man named Alfred Wegener originated the theory of Pangaea, a continent including all landmasses Alfred had an idea of a theory called “super continent” but scientists declined the idea In the late Carboniferous Period, 300 million years ago, Pangaea itself occurred on planet Earth During the time Wegner introduced his Pangaea theory, a contraction theory was also being discussed.

Section 1 cont. Wegner was also involved in astronomy Astronomy helped Wegner relate to his other discoveries because it related to the earth’s movement and gravitational pull Arthor Holmes assisted with the recognition of wegner’s theory Holmes gave ideas to help originate the ideas like: giving more detail and evidence of his idea

Section 2 Convergent Boundaries Convergent Boundary is a tectonic boundary where 2 plates move towards each other, then one plate is dragged under the other one Many hazards of a convergent boundary would be earthquakes, (the shaking of earth resulting from a fault plane),volcanoes (the opening or rupture of the earth’s crust), mountains(a landmass taller than a hill) and land/mudslides The Juan De Fuca plate and the North American plate would be an example of a Convergent Boundary. It is located in the pacific northwest

Section 3 Divergent Boundary A Divergent Boundary is where continental or oceanic plates move AWAY from each other A hazard of a Divergent Boundary would be earthquakes and volcanoes and trenches( a large ditch) The Mid-Atlantic ridge is an example of a Divergent Boundary. It includes the African Plate and the South American plate

Section 4 Transform Boundary A Transform Boundary is when one plate slides horizontally past one another A Boundary the line or limit something can go Two main hazards of a Divergent Boundary are mudslides(a large mass of mud sliding) landslides( a large mass of land sliding) and earthquakes An example of a Transform Boundary would be the San Andres fault zone located between pacific and North American Plate

What about our real world connections? We live on the North American Plate 3 main plates the boarder the North American Plate would be the: Juan De Fuca Plate, Coco’s Plate and the Caribbean Plate We are not in any danger of hazards related to plate tectonics. California is the state that has the highest risks of those hazards I personally do believe that as our continent starts to erode the future human beings living on this continent will experience more earthquakes and hazards.