Earth began as a single landmass or supercontinent called _______ .
Pangaea
The term Pangaea comes from the Greek words pan which means "___" and gaea which means "_____."
All and Earth
Pangaea literally translates to "___ __ _____" or "___ _____."
All of Earth or All lands
Pangaea was surrounded by a vast sea or super ocean called ___________, which means "___ ____."
Panthalassa, All Seas
One of the earliest theories on the changing geography and surface topography of Earth was the ___________ _____, which was proposed in the early twentieth century.
ContractionTheory
This theory suggested that as Earth cooled after it's formation, its surface contracted and wrinkled, with these wrinkles being the mountain ranges on Earth's surface.
ContractionTheory
This theory also assumed that all other features on Earth were formed during a single cooling event and that the planet was relatively static, without any significant change since the cooling (and wrinkling) slowed to a halt.
ContractionTheory
The contraction Theory was superseded by the ______ __ ___________ _____ proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912.
Theory of Continental Drift
The contraction Theory was supersed by the theory of continental drift by ______ _______ in 1912.
Alfred Wegener
The contraction Theory was supersed by the theory of continental drift by Alfred Wegener in ____.
1912
He is an Australian geologist, made an analogy between the wrinkles on the surface of a dried shrunken fruit and the mountains on the surface of a cooling earth.
Eduard Suess
Pangaea would later break into two smaller supercontinents, ________ and ________.
Gondwana and Laurasia
Gondwana is composed of ______, __________, _____ _______, _________, and the subcontinent of _____.
Africa, Antarctica, South America, Australia, India
Laurasia was the precursor to ____, _____ _______, and ______.
Asia, North America, Europe
In 1960's American geologist Harry Hess proposed the ________ ________ ______, which states that the seafloors or ocean floors—not the continents—move and carry the continents along.
Seafloor Spreading Theory
In 1960's American geologist _____ ____ proposed the Seafloor Spreading Theory which states that the seafloors or ocean floors—not the continents—move and carry the continents along.
Harry Hess
In ____'s American geologist Harry Hess proposed the Seafloor Spreading Theory, whiches that the seafloors or ocean floors—not the continents—move and carry the continents along.
1960
The ______ __ _____ _________ incorporates the continental drift theory and the Seafloor spreading theory.
Theory of PlateTectonics
Plate Tectonics explains that Earth's lithosphere is composed of many independent massive slabs of solid rocks called ______, which floats on an inner pliable mantle.
Plates
How many are the major tectonic plates?
15
How many primary plates are in there?
7
How many Secondary Smaller Plates are in there?
8
Enumerate the primary plates.
Eurasian Plate, Australian Plate, Pacific Plate, North American Plate, South American Plate, African Plate, and Antarctic Plate.
Enumerate the secondary plates.
Juan de Fuca Plate, Nazca Plate, Cocos Plate, Carribean Platez Philippine Sea Plate, Arabian Plate, Indian Plate, and Scotia Plate.
He is a professor and geologist from the University of Texas at Arlington, predicts that the continents will reform into a supercontinent.
Christopher Scotese
Christopher Scotese called the supercontinent _______ ______ (meaning "the Last Pangaea") but later decided to change it to _______ _______ ("The Next Pangaea").
Pangaea Ultima, Pangaea Proxima
He believes that the cycle of a supercontinent splitting into small continents and recombining as a single landmass will continue in the next billion of years.