Question

plate tectonics webquest
task one: pangaea and alfred wegener
watch the animated life: pangaea video on the hhmi biointeractive website. as you watch, answer the following questions
tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/yacu99w
full url: http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/animated - life - pangaea

1. what year did wegener make his discovery and idea of continental drift?
2. in what direction did wegener think that the continents moved?
3. what evidence did wegener have to support his theory of plate tectonics?
4. where is wegeners body?
5. the video states that the continental plates dont drift along the ocean floor, as wegener suggested. how do the plates really move?

task two: our dynamic earth interactive
complete the dynamics of earth interactive by annenberg learner. as you use this interactive, follow the directions and answers the questions below.
tiny url: https://tinyurl.com/sddj67o
full url: https://www.learner.org/series/interactive - dynamic - earth/
move your cursor over the structures of the earth and write two facts per structure in the table below.
structure fact 1 fact 2

1. mantle made of hot, semi - solid rock. ~1,800 miles thick
2. crust thinnest layer 20 miles thick
3. lithosphere made of slowly - moving plates (solid rock) holds continents + oceans
4. asthenosphere plates of lithosphere float on the asthenosphere asthenosphere is semi - liquid

Explanation:

1. Wegener first proposed the idea of continental drift around 1912, but started formulating it around 1910.
2. He thought continents moved horizontally.
3. Evidence included the fit of the continents like puzzle - pieces, similar fossils across continents, and matching rock formations.
4. Wegener's body remains in the Arctic where he died during an expedition.
5. Plates move due to convection currents in the mantle and gravity.
6. The mantle is made of hot, semi - solid rock and is about 1,800 miles thick.
7. The crust is the thinnest layer, about 20 miles thick.
8. The lithosphere is made of slowly - moving solid rock plates and holds continents and oceans.
9. The asthenosphere is semi - liquid and the plates of the lithosphere float on it.

Answer:

1. 1910 (or around 1912 when formally proposed)
2. Horizontally
3. Fit of continents, similar fossils, matching rock formations
4. Somewhere in the Arctic
5. Due to convection currents + gravity
6. Made of hot, semi - solid rock; ~1,800 miles thick
7. Thinnest layer; 20 miles thick
8. Made of slowly - moving plates (solid rock); Holds continents + oceans
9. Plates of lithosphere float on the asthenosphere; Asthenosphere is semi - liquid