Question

What evidence is there to suggest that tectonic plates move?

Answer 1

Earthquakes, mountains, and islands.

Answer 2

1. Location of mountains and fossils

The ancient mountain ranges (many now eroded to their cores) and the location of rock types and fossils all match up. Earthquakes and Volcanoes, If we map the location of all the earthquakes recorded over time, almost all of them occur along what we recognize as plate boundaries.

2. The Earth’s magnetic = field flips every few hundred thousand years, and the stripes on the ocean floor show a record of those changes. By estimating when the flips occurred and pairing that with the distance the strips have moved from the spreading zone, scientists can estimate how fast the continents are moving.

3. Direct Measurement  = Modern technology gives us a range of ways to directly measure the movement of tectonic plates. These methods are based around the idea of measuring distance between two points on Earth by using some intermediary transmitter in space. For example, SLR (Satellite Laser Ranging) uses two lasers on Earth, each of which fires a laser to a satellite orbiting the planet.