Explain Why The Formation Of Panama Isthmus

Short went into depth when talking about the nine main plates of the Earth. The movement of these plates have caused land to separate and changed the location of continents. A great example of the power that these plates hold is when the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate came together.

Plate Tectonics is a scientific theory which study how the Earth’s plates are driven and shaped by geological forces to keep them in constant movement. The theory explains the present-day tectonic behavior of the Earth, particularly the global distribution of mountain building, earthquake activity, and volcanism in a series of linear belt. (Pitman, W.C., 2007)

According to the theory of “Pangaea,” the world was once a single mega-continent that contained all the dry land about 225 million years ago. North America was shaped by the majestic Canadian Shield about 10 million years ago.

Back about 21,00 years ago there was one big continent called Pangia. Then plates started moving, the ice age happened, Land bridge formed then disapered.

The Panama Canal is an important part of Panama and United States history. The Panama Canal was constructed in order to make the journey from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean shorter. This is extremely important because it shortens the journey for cargo ships making them financially more efficient. The Panama Canal was once owned by the United States but is now owned by Panama. The Panama Canal is a perfect example of countries working together for a common goal.

200 million years ago a supercontinent called Gondwana existed. It was made up of South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica. Fossil evidence shows that certain species have lived in multiple places, but these places are far apart. This proves that they lived in one place, but were separated from their ancestors when the plates split, causing earthquakes. In addition,

Plate tectonics move land masses around, and occasionally, interactions between different plates causes new land to form, and can even join two separate continents together, changing ocean currents and causing climate change. This is evident in the collision of the North and South American continents, which created the Isthmus of Panama, and separated the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 15 million years ago, the North and South American continent was cut off from each other by a seaway about 200 km wide. Over time, the South American plate collided with the Caribbean and Cocos plate, and gradually closed the exchange of the Caribbean and Pacific waters 3-4 million years ago. This resulted in several consequences.

Before reading this article, I initially was actually was pretty clueless as to what the purpose behind the Panama Canal was. So to learn that it all was created just to prevent ships from sailing the long distance around South America made a whole lot of sense as to why they would have created the canal in the first place. I would think that this would of had to have made a positive impact on importing and exporting goods between continents. Also, not to mention the canal made it much safer for the men and women who work on these ships. Furthermore, with the amount of ships that travel through the canal, “14,000 ships between the Atlantic and the Pacific each year,” I am surprised to hear that it was a once abandoned constructions project

According to Plate tectonics, millions of years ago, large-scale motion of Earth's lithosphere occurred. Continental drift separated the New Worlds from the Old World by gradually carrying the plate through the ocean. The Old World is the continents known as Eurasia and Africa today. People who lived in the Old World know nothing about other plates outside this Old World. Therefore, when Europeans who were sailing through the Atlantic found a new continent, based on information I found from the website, StudyMode, an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, named the new continent the New World which is now known as America. The separation lasted so long that the New World and Old World evolved and developed in different path. For example, the diversity of crop reflected the

How do we know that continents can move across vast distances over a long enough period of time? It is very hard to imagine what amounts to 150 million kilometers squared of land that we have on the earth moving such an incredible distance. This was the main idea opposing the Continental Shift theory: there were no known forces strong enough to move entire continents against the massive force of friction, and even today many geologists are unsure whether the weaker force of the Earth’s convection causes the shift, or the stronger gravity. Alfred Wegener, a German scientist, proposed that

The theory of continental drift was first put forward by Alfred Wegener, a meteorologist and geologist in Germany. The theory stated that the land on Earth’s crust slowly drifted apart. Alfred Wegener formulated the hypothesis that the modern day continents were once combined about 200 million years ago. He called this supercontinent Pangaea meaning “ all-land”. Then, he claimed that Pangaea began to break up into the continents Gondwanaland and Laurasia due to the parts of Pangaea slowly drifting apart. Millions of years later, the modern day 7 continents were formed. There are 4 main pieces of evidence to support Pangaea’s existence. One piece of evidence would be that the modern continents have a puzzle-like fit. If the continents can fit together, it

The tectonic plates are all over the earth’s surface. Over the years, these plates and their characteristics have become common knowledge. These plates move around 3cm at least every year and they move in different directions due to the convection currents of molten magma that flows beneath them. [Raunekk 2010] A convention current definition is “a current in that a fluid is that a results from convection.” [Earth’s dynamic] Then the movement of these plates are the main forces behind catastrophic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions as well as the development of mountains. In addition, this means that these plates are the main reason why our planet surface looks the way it does today. When processes such as pushing, folding and tilting (as well as other forms of tectonic movement) take place, it shapes our planet [Weather Wizkids 2015] as well as playing its part in heating it to an unbearable degree along with the aids of ocean currents. In comparison to the plates that mainly produce heat through its products the ocean current move the heat all over the earth’s surface.

Have you ever wondered why our continents are in the positions that they are in today? Plate Tectonics can be used to explain the movement of the plates and the landforms they make. These landforms include mountains, volcanoes, rift valleys, and much more that are made by convergent and divergent boundaries. The plates are moved by the convection currents below the surface which is caused by a heat source, the mantle. Another landform that is made is a mid-ocean ridge, at which sea floor spreading is taken place, and allows magma to rise and harden on the ocean floor.

Firstly, plate tectonics was not formed exclusively from induction which differentiates “real science … from unscientific superstitions by its reliance on observations, generalization, and repeated confirmation”, however it was crucial in forming the basis of this theory (400). Continental Drift was the precursor to plate tectonics in a sense as it used sensory observations including the examination of how continents appeared to fit together like puzzle pieces and how many plant and animal fossils as well as rock formations were shared among continents that currently have no physical connection. These observations led Alfred Wegner, the man who introduced continental drift, to make a general statement that all of the continents must have been together at one time and have progressively shifted because of some force (Ammon). Although this evidence was circumstantial and did not undeniably prove his theory, more proof was repeatedly found with additional fossils and rock formations that were discovered to be shared between continents. Conversely, flat earth theory uses a single experiment known as the Bedford Level Experiment which incorrectly stated the earth was flat (Cox). This experiment does use sensory observations and a generalization regarding said observations which is part of induction, but leaves out the necessary component of repetition that completes it. In

How did Pangea occur, how it influenced our landmasses and will it ever happen again? Growing up I had thought that the world was very close together, and you could get anywhere just by driving. When I first starting to learn that you had to use other transport for places that weren't so accessible I was astonished. I wanted to learn more, as I grew up I feel like I never really got a chance to explore this topic. I think I deeply care about the topic, and I am sure many others want to know how and why the earth looks like what it does. It will help me because it will help me explore something I never learned before. I think it is very important to find what you care about instead, of what