Plate Tectonics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Plate Tectonics - Essay Example Helens, and the 2011 Fukushima earthquake in Japan. Prior to the description of the tectonic plate theory, scientists lacked any rational explanations for the formation of most of the features evident on the earths surface. Alfred Wegener figured out that the earth was a single mass of land in the past. In his book titled ‘origin of the continents and the oceans’, he highlighted that the earth consisted of land slabs that he named plates. These plates were of lithospheric origin, one of the layers of the earth. Since the earth had the capacity to rotate and had salient equatorial forces, the plates could exhibit motion in three different ways. The different motions included divergence, convergence, and transformation (Oberrecht, 2007). In a bid to support his theory, he highlighted potential evidence that could augment his thinking. Using the example of the evident fit between the South American and African continents, he highlighted that it was obvious that the movement of the plates had separated the two from each other. Moreover, geological evidence that includes the presence of similar rocks in different continents was an additional support to his theory. Fossil records also insinuated that the theory was true because of the observed climate. The Himalayas mountain belt forms the highest mountain array in the globe, registering an estimated 5000 meters in height. Mountain Everesthas been quoted as the most outstanding peak of the mountain belt, and owns a reputation as the highest peak in the globe. The formation of this mountain belt is attributable to the movement of plates according to the tectonic plate movement theory defined By Wegener (Oberrecht, 2007). The pacific ring of fire serves as evidence to the rigorous plate movement. This belt resulted from the convergence of plates in areas in close proximity to plate boundaries. During convergence, plates register a level of