History of Plate Tectonics

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History of Plate Tectonics
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1490 Leonardo Da Vinci

• Noticed on early charts that the continents would
  fit together like a jigsaw puzzle

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1620 - Francis Bacon

• Also noticed the fit of the continents

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1885 Edward Suess

• Thought that there was once a single large land
  mass.

Source www.usgs.gov
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1912 Alfred Wegener

• German meteorologist and polar explorer
• Proposed the continental drift theory
• He suggested that all earths land had once been
  joined into a single supercontinent called
  Pangaea.
• Wegener thought Pangaea had broken into pieces
  about 200 million years ago.

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1912-1934

• Most established geologists dismissed Wegeners
  ideas.

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1935 Kiyoo Wadati

• Japanese Scientist
• Speculated that earthquakes and volcanoes near
  Japan might be associated with continental drift

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1940 Hugo Benioff

• Plotted the locations of deep earthquakes at the
  edges of the Pacific ocean.
• Pacific Ring of Fire A circle of violent
  geological activity surrounding much of the
  Pacific Ocean. Found patterns of earthquakes and
  volcanoes

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1960 Harry Hess Robert Dietz

• Harry Hess Princeton
• Robert Dietz Scripps
• Proposed seafloor spreading and the fit of the
  continents

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1965 John Tuzo Wilson

• Toronto
• Ideas of continental drift and seafloor spreading
  were integrated into the overriding concept of
  plate tectonics.
• In this theory, Earths outer layer consists of
  about a dozen separate major lithospheric plates
  floating on the asthenosphere.

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Plate Movement

• Plate movement is slow in human terms, averaging
  about 5 centimeters per year.
• Plates interact at
• Convergent Boundaries
• Divergent Boundaries
• Transform Boundaries

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Plate Boundary Plate Movement Seafloor Events Observed Example Location