Dynamic Earth

The moving of tectonic plates is when the plates slide up against each other or away from each other.  What causes tectonic plates to move is the Earth's internal heat, which causes convection in the mantle, which we learned in class.  The movement is with rocks, and it is very slow so the process happens over time.  The movement of plate tectonics is the largest force that changes Earth's surface.  It can create earthquakes, cause mountains to grow higher, and oceans to grow wider.  Tectonic plates move about 2 inches per year, so we don't even notice the difference, but over time, one can see a huge difference.  Millions of years ago, Earth had a super continent called "Pangaea," which was when all of the continents were conjoined into one.  Something had happened which made the continents break apart, but there is evidence that they were once together because the continents can fit into each other like puzzle pieces, and there were fossils of the same animal on more than one continent, where the animal was non habitual to that area.  According to the theory of plate tectonics, it is believed that changes will occur to the oceans and continents over the next millions of years.  Since ever year, plate tectonics move about 2 inches, that means in about a million years from now, they would have moved so much that the continents could have completely shifted.  Also, with the continents moving, most likely moving together in the idea of Pangaea again, it would cause the oceans to get wider because there would be so much more space with the continents put all together.  No one knows for sure what could possibly happen within the next millions of years, but with all the information we have about plate tectonics and how the earth moves, we can guarantee that in so many years, the earth could have completely changed.