What is the theory of Plate Tectonics?
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The theory of plate tectonics is quite simple. It's just Sea Floor Spreading and Continental Drift combined. The theory of plate tectonics according to Wikipedia is, "is a scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of the Earth's lithosphere." There are eight major plates on Earth. The reason how this theory was developed was because of Harry Hess in the 1960's. This theory is quite young. This was created forty years after the idea of Continental Drift. Hess discovered how Sea Floor Spreading worked. He user SONAR to map the ocean floor and found what is called today as the Mid-Ocean Ridge. To help support his theory, Hess collected rock samples from the Mid-Ocean ridge. He found out that the closer you get to the ridge, the younger the rocks are. The further you get from the ridge, the rocks get older. I gave an example to Mr. Ellis and said, "This is almost like the rings around a tree." The two theories, Continental Drift and Sea Floor Spreading now created the theory of Plate Tectonics.