Plate Tectonics

Part I of Essay
Prior to World War II, humans were conformed with the idea that the Earth and its continents had been basically unchanged since the beginning of time. A German meteorologist, Alfred Wegener observed that the coastlines of the seven continents could be fitted together almos ....

Part II of Essay
.... continents was called continental drift. This was not believable at the time because there was no way the continents could move through the rigid ocean floor. During WWII, people started to explore the ocean floor and discovered evidence that would prove Wegener's ideas about land movement. The most interesting feature of the ocean was the ridges running along the ocean floor. It was discovered that earthquakes were abundant along the ridges that let magma flow from them. The magma would flow out these ridges and push the Earth away from ....