01:460:100 Lecture 4: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Geological Sciences
• Course: 01:460:100
• Professor: Mark Feigenson

Document Summary

Chapter 4 - the way the earth work: plate tectonics. The paradigm of how the earth works . Earth"s outer shell is broken into rigid plates that move. Moving plates change the face of planet earth. A case study of a scientific revolution. A powerful idea based on multiple lines of evidence. It allows scientists to predict a geologic event, and reconstruct the geologic past. The tectonic theory evolved in the 1960s. Plate tectonic theory is powerful - it provides a unified mechanism explaining. The origin of continent and ocean basis. The distribution of fossil plants and animals. The genesis and destruction of mountain chains. The lithosphere is made of both crust and the upper mantle. The lithosphere is in motion over the asthenosphere. Floating solids displace water equal to their mass - an iceberg sinks until the mass of water it displaces is equal to the total mass of the iceberg. The lithosphere is fragmented into 20 tectonic plates.