Evidences (PTJC)

• The word 'Tectonics' was derived from the greek word "Tekton"; meaning of carpenter or to build.
• The plates ride on top of what we call the Asthenosphere - the denser, weaker layer beneath the lithosphere.
• The asthenosphere allows the plates to move less than 1 cm to more than 15 cm a year.
• The Theory of Plate Tectonics were derived from earlier hypotheses called "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" by Abraham Ortelius back in 1596.
• In Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Ortelius noted the similarity between the coastlines of Africa and America
• The theory of plate tectonics was also derived from another hypotheses, apart from Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, and is called "Continental Drift Theory" by Alfred Wegener - a german climatologist - in 1915.
• The continents of the earth were once joined together in a single supercontinent named "Pangaea", meaning All Earth.
• What were the four periods where distinct changes took place in the physical features of Pangaea?

  Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods
• The Permian Period was when all the world's landmasses were joined together in a single supercontinent which was Pangaea that reached on both poles.
• What was the ocean that surrounded the Pangaea?

  Panthalassa
• What was the period when the Pangaea began to split into two smaller large continents, Laurasia and Gondwanaland?

  Triassic Period
• What was the sea that separated Laurasia and Gondwanaland?

  Tethys
• What was the Triassic continent that consisted of North America and Eurasia?

  Laurasia
• Gondwanaland consisted of South America, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia.
• In the Jurassic Period, the Pangaea split apart, allowing for the development of what are now the Central Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
• In the Jurassic Period, Gondwanaland began to break up; the eastern portion - Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia - split from the western half, Africa and South America.
• What was the period when most of the present-day continents were separated from each other by expanses of water such as the North and South Atlantic Ocean?

  Cretaceous Period