Benny Anjewierden

Block 3/4

Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Volcanoes, earthquakes, fossil distribution, and the age of rocks all give significant
evidence that indicates that under the earths crust there are many tectonic plates changing and
moving. Tectonic plates are huge slabs of rock under the earths surface.
Earthquakes happen along faults (faults are the places where two tectonic plates come
together) when tectonic plates under the earths crust move and rub against each other. We know
this happens because the tectonic plates are on the edges of the continents and that is where most
of the earthquakes happen. There are two kinds of tectonic plates, Continental and Oceanic.
Continental plates are plates that are under the land, and Oceanic plates are plates that are under
the ocean. Volcanoes usually happen when Oceanic and Continental plates rub together. The
friction between the two plates causes tremendous heat that is so hot; it melts the rock and turns
it into magma. The magma then rises through the earth and bursts out of the crust, making a
volcano. If there were no tectonic plates, there would be no earthquakes, there would be fewer
volcanoes, and the volcanoes would not usually be near the edges of continents because tectonic
plates cause both earthquakes and most volcanoes. Also the way the volcanoes are formed makes
most of them on the edges of land.
Fossils are all around the world. Some of the same fossils are on completely different
continents, but those creatures were not strong enough to swim all the way across the oceans.
Tectonic plates are why these same creatures are on different continents. At one point in time
there was a huge supercontinent named Pangea. Pangea was broken up into many tectonic plates,
taking different animals to different places. If this were not true, we would either be living on a
Benny Anjewierden
Block 3/4

huge supercontinent, or there would be no fossils that are the same between any two continents
unless by some amazing coincidence two species evolved exactly the same.
Did you know that the rock in the middle of the ocean is many years younger than in other
places? In the oceans there are faults, in those faults there are openings in which lava comes up
through the earths surface. When that lava cools, it settles on the bottom of the ocean is brand
new rock. This is one reason why there is land in the middle of the ocean. If what Im saying
about separations on faults not true it would disprove the law of conservation of matter because
the new rock would be coming from nowhere. Matter cannot be created or destroyed in a closed
system.