How Does Contenental DRIFT WORK?

Answer 1

the continents drift, DUH!

Answer 2

The reason that the Theory of Continental Drift fell into disrepute is due to the fact that it had no mechanism explaining how it worked. The evidence behind it, i.e. similar lithologies on reconstructed continental assemblies, was strong, but that is not enough for Science, there must be a mechanism. In the 1970's, the Theory of Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics came into being, and it had a mechanism: mantle convection. The idea is that the thin continental plates ride on a "conveyor belt" of the convecting mantle, which is a major part of the bulk of the Earth. Think of it a placing wood chips on top of a boiling pot of water. They will not stay put, but will move about. If you had put them in a pot of cold water, they wouldn't move, at least not due to the convection of the water.

Answer 3

Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other.

Frank Bursley Taylor had proposed the concept in a Geological Society of America meeting in 1908 and published his work in the GSA Bulletin in June 1910.[1] Abraham Ortelius, Francis Bacon, Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, Benjamin Franklin, and others had noted earlier that the shapes of continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean (most notably, Africa and South America) seem to fit together. The similarity of southern continent fossil faunae and some geological formations had led a small number of Southern hemisphere geologists to conjecture as early as 1900[citation needed] that all the continents had once been joined into a supercontinent known as Pangaea. Frank Bursley Taylor suggested that the continents were dragged towards the equator by increased lunar gravity during the Cretaceous, thus forming the Himalaya and Alps on the southern faces.

Alfred Wegener was the first to formally publish the hypothesis that the continents had somehow "drifted" apart. However, he was unable to provide a convincing explanation for the physical processes which might have caused this drift. His suggestion that the continents had been pulled apart by the centrifugal pseudoforce of the Earth's rotation was considered unrealistic by the scientific community.[2]

The hypothesis received support through the controversial years from South African geologist Alexander Du Toit as well as from Arthur Holmes. The idea of continental drift did not become widely accepted even as theory until the late 1950s. By the 1960s, geological research conducted by Robert S. Dietz, Bruce Heezen, and Harry Hess, along with a rekindling of the theory including a mechanism by J. Tuzo Wilson led to widespread acceptance of the theory among geologists.

The hypothesis of continental drift became part of the larger theory of plate tectonics. This article deals mainly with the historical development of the continental drift hypothesis before 1950. See: plate tectonics for information on current ideas underlying concepts of continental drift.

Answer 4

when the Mantle rotates it causes magma to flow in random directions, this flow causes a fluid wave movement underneath the plates. Some plates are forced together, and when they do three things can happen. One goes under. They both go up, or they sit side by side and rub until one of the last two happens. If they are forced apart then large abysses are formed. Mountains are made, islands are formed, earthquakes brought on, and the plates keep moving with the flow

Answer 5

Continental drift is caused by convection currents in the mantle. The Earth's crust is broken into plates which float ontop of the astenosphere (the top of the mantle).

The heat from the core heats the mantle, causing currents through out the mantle. These currents push the plates around.

Answer 6

The plates are made of rock and drift all over the globe; they move both horizontally and vertically. Over long periods of time, the plates also change in size as their margins are added to, crushed together, or pushed back into the Earth's mantel. The plates are from 50 - 250 miles thick.

Answer 7

simply put the earth's sea floor is growing all the time, very slowly by our standpoint. this is happening in the Atlantic.
as it grows it pushes the America and Eurasia continents apart, and the pacific ocean shrinks. this is called Continental drift. it is part of plate tectonics. it's all part of having a geologically active planet. this is the easy way of putting it.

Answer 8

It doesn't...but it was the forerunner to modern tectonic plate theory. It included the idea that all the earths continents were once together (true), but didn't explain fully why they broke apart and moved...Wegener..it's author, felt things were just "drifting" randomly..and this turned out not to be true.

Answer 9

Upwelling of magma near the mid-ocean ridges push the plates apart, and form new ocean bottom between them. As the magma cools, the earth's magnetic field is trapped, and gives a history of the changes in magnetism over time.

Answer 10

Hi. Plates of rock float on the molten layers and shift about like broken pieces. The molten layer has currents (slow currents, but currents) upon which the broken plates ride.

Answer 11

The continents float on top of the liquid magma.