The Earth’s Mechanism

The Continental Drift

➢ The Continental Drift Theory states that the continents were once part of a large
landmass called Pangaea which drifted away from each other. The continents
moved away from each other towards their current positions.
➢ In 1912, Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist, proposed this theory that about
200 million years ago, the continents were once one large landmass. He called this
landmass Pangaea, a Greek word which means “All Earth.
➢ This Pangaea started to break into two smaller supercontinent called LAURASIA
and GONDWANALAND during the Jurassic Period.
EARTH’S GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE

Geology
➢ The branch of science that studies Earth.
Seafloor spreading
➢ Seafloor spreading is believed to occur as hot magma rises at the rift in the mid-
ocean ridge. This magma cools down and becomes the new seafloor as it pushes
the former. The old seafloor is destroyed at the subduction zone and melts inside
the mantle. New ocean floor is formed near the mid-ocean ridge and moves
outward.
Subduction
➢ The process in which a slab of rock thrusts / plunges / sinks into the mantle.
Tectonics
➢ A branch of geology that deals with the movements that shape the Earth’s crust.

Plate tectonics
➢ a theory which suggests that Earth’s crust is made up of plates that interact in
various ways, thus producing earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, and other
geologic features.
Asthenosphere
➢ It is a soft, weak upper portion of the mantle where the lithospheric plates float
and move around.
Earthquake
➢ vibration of Earth due to the rapid release of energy.
Plates
➢ rigid sections of the lithosphere that move as a unit.
Fault
➢ a break in a rock along which movement has occurred.
Seismogram
➢ a record made by a seismograph.
Seismograph
➢ a device used to record earthquake waves.
Trench
➢ a depression in the seafloor produced by subduction process.
Volcanic Island arc
➢ a chain of volcanoes that develop parallel to a trench.

Magma
➢ a mass of molten rock formed at depth, including dissolved gases and crystals.
Mid-ocean ridge
➢ a continuous mass of land with long width and height on the ocean floor.
➢ area in the middle of the ocean where a new ocean floor is formed when lava
erupts through the cracks in the Earth’s crust.
Lithospheric Plates
➢ The topmost, solid part of the Earth that is composed of several plates which is
moving, irregularly shaped slabs that fit together to form the surface of the Earth.