Describe plate tectonics and why it is important in the evolution of life forms.

Question

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Answer 1

Plate tectonics theory maintains that the Earth's outermost layers are fragmented into slablike plates that are less dense, and therefore "float" on the lower hot mantle layer. Both continents and oceans are part of these tectonic plates. As the molten mantle heats and cools, rising and sinking, it moves like a conveyor belt, moving the tectonic plates slowly across the surface of the Earth. Some plates move apart, while others scrape past each other or crash into one another. The plates are still moving, slowly but continually, around the Earth. One must remember that life evolved in the oceans and on the continents that are part of these "moving" tectonic plates. Very simply, this means that the Earth's environment was and is always changing. At one time, Australia was near the South Pole, as was India. There was no Atlantic Ocean, and South America and Africa were joined. Organisms adapt to changing environments, and the theory of plate tectonics provides for the ever-changing environment in which evolution occurs. Knowing that supercontinents have existed, followed by isolated or partially joined land masses, helps to explain the distribution patterns of fossils and the interesting distribution of living organisms on Earth today.