Paper Summary:

This paper first explains that the plate tectonic theory, which suggests that the Earth is made up of a dozen rigid plates, moving independently of each other, is used to explain the movement of the plates on the Earth's lithosphere. Next, the author relates the history of the development of this theory starting from the work of Alfred Wegener, a German geophysicist and meteorologist, in 1912. The paper examines that the studying ocean floor and earthquake and volcanic activity are commonly used as evidence to support the plate tectonic theory.

From the Paper:

"By scanning the ocean floors with magnetometers, they hypothesized that the oceanic crust constantly reformed at the crest of the mid-ocean ridges. The further you move away from that ridge crest, the sediment would become increasingly older. As they had been able to see evidence of seafloor spreading, it was accepted that the tectonic plates had moved. They also endeavored to determine and document the earthquake and volcano activity across the globe, to see how it related to the oceanic trenches and underwater mountain ranges."

Sample of Sources Used:

• A Lesson in Plate Tectonics. (n.d.). Extreme Science. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://www.extremescience.com/zoom/index.php/plate-tectonics-lesson
• Alfred Wegener - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wegener
• Earth Floor: Plate Tectonics. (n.d.). COTF. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/plates1.html
• Egger, A. E. (n.d.). Plate Tectonics I. Visionlearning. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=65
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge

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