SCIENCE

• Raisin Theory


  The Cooling Process, where cooling caused contraction and pressure that allowed some parts of the crust to rise and form mountains, while others buckled downward and formed ocean basins and other depressions
• Isostasy Theory


  Clarence Edward Dutton proposed the term "Isostasy" in 1889 to explain the concept of a contracting Earth, where equilibrium of the mass is applied
• Continental Drift Theory


  Alfred Wegener proposed it in his book "the Origins of continents and Ocean" in 1915, it is the movement of Plate Tectonics
• Tectonic


  Derived from the Greek word "tekton" which means "carpenter" or "builder"
• Tectonic Plates (also known as litospheric plates)


  • Massive slabs of solid rock that surround the earth's surface
• Theatrum Orbis terrarum


  The first world atlas, developed and published by Abraham Ortelius on January 1, 1596
• Rodinia


  A super continent that existed before Pangaea (meaning All Earth)
• Pangaea


  Began to split into 2 smaller supercontinents: Laurasia and Gondwanaland
• Panthalassa


  A vast ocean that surrounded Pangaea
• Thetys


  The sea that separated the 2 continents
• Continental Plates


  • The solid ground on which you stand, made up of lower-density materials like granitic rock
• Oceanic Plate


  • Heavier basalt and gabbro rocks that make up oceanic crust
• Paleontological Evidence


  Certain fossils on both sides of the Atlantic have a striking similarity that is difficult to explain if the continents were not once connected as one
• Paleontological Evidence


  • Lystrosaurus & Cynognathus - 2 land dwelling reptiles that lived during the Triassic Period
  • Antonio Snider Pellegrini - used identical plant fossils
  • Edward Suess - described how plants in late paleozoic coal beds in india, Australia, south Africa and south America were all similar
  • Glossopteris - seed fern
• Glaciation


  An interval of time within the ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances
• Interglaciation / Interglacial


  Warmer climates within an ice age
• Evidence from Structure and Rock type


  Geographers noticed that the coastlines of several modern continents, would perfectly fit together
• Evidence from Paleoclimates


  Wegener reconstructed and climatic zones using the distribution of specific rock types to determine the distribution of climates in ancient times to demonstrate the apparent shifting of climatic belts over time
• Paleoclimatology


  Study of the extended climatic conditions of past geologic conditions
• Paleomagnetism


  Study of ancient magnetic fields
• Magnetometer


  A sensitive instrument that scientists can determine the direction of the magnetic poles and the magnetic latitude