Moving Continents and Plate Tectonics According to the phenomenon called “Superp

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Moving Continents and Plate Tectonics According to the phenomenon called “Superposition”, layers of rock are deposited in order of time, with the oldest layers on the bottom and the youngest layers on top. However, in the 1880s, scientists observed rock layers that did not seem to fit the “Superposition”. Geologists observed older rock layers on top of younger layers. Scientists studying these formations believed they were due to what geologists called “Thrust faults”, which are areas where one large layer of the earth is pushed up on top of another. At the time, the explanation that the Earth’s crust moves vertically, geosyncline, was widely accepted and believed to be the cause of the “Thrust faults”. Today, the scientific explanation for thrust faults and other natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, is “Plate tectonics”. The plate tectonics is the currently accepted model of large-scale movement of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, the lithosphere. The plate tectonics model explains how major and minor plates of the lithosphere move relative to each other at plate boundaries. Evidence for plate tectonics is plentiful. Supporting evidence, based on decades of research, includes: •Complimentary coastlines of different continents. For example, the coastlines of South America and Africa look like they could fit together. • The distribution of similar rocks and fossils on far-apart continents. For example, rocks found in Scotland and Ireland are very similar to rocks in eastern Canada. • High mountains and deep-sea trenches that occur along plate boundaries. • Earthquake zones near deep-sea trenches and ridges. Although scientific evidence supports plate tectonics, in 2008, over 20% of Americans incorrectly answered a question that asked if continents had been moving for millions of years and if continents would continue to move. It is unclear whether those who got the question wrong did not understand the principles of plate tectonics or believe that the earth is much younger than scientific evidence suggests.

IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING AS EITHER A HYPOTHESIS, AN OBSERVATION, A LAW OR THEORY:

1. Superposition

2. Thrust faults

3. Plate tectonics

4. The coastlines of South America and Africa look like they could fit together.

5. It is unclear whether those who got the question wrong did not understand the principles of plate tectonics or believe that the earth is much younger than scientific evidence suggests.

Explanation / Answer

Superposition comes under the category of law or theory, Thrust faults comes unde the category of a hypothesis, plate techtonics comes under the category of a law or theory, both The coastlines of South America and Africa look like they could fit together and  It is unclear whether those who got the question wrong did not understand the principles of plate tectonics or believe that the earth is much younger than scientific evidence suggests are an observation.

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