what's the difference between plate tectonics theory and continental drift?

Answer 1

Plate tectonics were the main cause of continental drift. But plate tectonics is magma coming up from the ocean and causung plates to move1 Continental drift was when the world used to be in one big land mass called pangea! Then it drifted apart and made up all difrent land masses!

Answer 2

1) no. Continental drift was (wegener's?) theory that the continents were moving, plate tectonics was a newer theory explaining how they moved 2)glaciers, mountains and fossils consistent with each other have been found on seperate continents where the continents match up. Plate tectonics is the movement of plates by the convection currents in the mantle. The tectonic plates are below the continents, and the continents move with them. So yes, tectonics support the continental drift theory.

Answer 3

Alfred Wagner came up with the theory of continental drift, but was ridiculed because he did not know of a mechanism to explain this phenomena. Plate tectonics is a theory that gives a mechanism to explain continental drift. Continental drift has been proven 100% true by GPS satellites, and plate tectonics is one of the most widely accepted theories in the world.

Answer 4

Plate tectonics is not a theory. The continents of the earth rest on plates that move across the earth's crust. Continental drift is the result of that movement.

Answer 5

They are both essentially the same except for how they actually "drift" Al wegner (a meteorolgist) said the they drift on the ocean bottom but couldn't say what made them move and his theory was dismissed by geologists and earth scientists. Plate tectonics say the whole earth is made up of different plates and moves due to convection currents (heat) is the asthenosphere.

Answer 6

Plate tectonics causes the movement of continents through subduction, etc., whereas continental drift was the original explanation for continental movement.

One part of continental drift still holds true. Granite is a lighter rock than basalt. Because of this, our continents FLOAT on top of the subducting basalt layer.

Answer 7

continental drift is a theory by Alfred Wagner that the continents drifted apart randomly. these movements caused folding and faulting to occur in the earths surface, often severe enough to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

Plate tectonics does not explain the movement of the continents as random drift , rather as a process of convection currents in the mantle of the earth.

YTT

Answer 8

Plate tectonics refers to the continents being on plates taht are pushed apart and subducted.

Continental drift was the predecessor to plate tectonics. It was theory that stated that the continents drifted along the ocean floor.
It was first proposed by Alfred Wegner in 1912 after he noticed that the continents fit neatly into one another and after finding exact matches of fossil records on different sides of the ocean.

Answer 9

The outermost part of the Earth's interior is made up of two layers: above is the lithosphere, comprising the crust and the rigid uppermost part of the mantle. Below the lithosphere lies the asthenosphere. Although solid, the asthenosphere has relatively low viscosity and shear strength and can flow like a liquid on geological time scales. The deeper mantle below the asthenosphere is more rigid again.---The lithosphere is broken up into what are called tectonic plates—in the case of Earth, there are seven major and many minor plates (see list below). The lithospheric plates ride on the asthenosphere. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and transform. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates is typically at speeds of 0.66 to 8.50 centimeters per year