JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Grade 10

SCIENCE

SCI-BOX
(A SELF-LEARNING PACKAGE FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL)

Quarter 1 | Week 7

Continental Drift and Seafloor

Spreading

Grade 10—Science
Competency: Describe the possible causes of plate movement
(S10ES-Ia-j-36.5); Enumerate the lines of evidence that support plate move-
ment(S9ES-Ia-j-36.6)
Science – Grade 10
Sci-Box (A Self-Learning Package) for JHS
Continental Drift and Seafloor Spreading
First Edition, 2020

Published in the Philippines

By the Department of Education
Schools Division of Iloilo
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City
SCIENCE
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Quarter 1| Lesson 1
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Dr. Lilibeth T. Estoque, Dr. Azucena T. Falales
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Zaldy M. Tondo

Grade 10—Science
Competency: Describe the possible causes of plate movement
(S10ES-Ia-j-36.5)
Introductory Message
Welcome to Grade 10 Science.

The Sci-Box (A Self-Learning Package) for Junior High School is developed to

guide you our dear learners to meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum.

The Sci-Box aims to guide our learners in accomplishing activities at their own
pace and time. This also aims to assist learners in developing and achieving the life-
SCIENCE
long learning skills while considering their needs and situations.

For learning facilitator: Quarter 1| Lesson 1

The Sci-Box is developed to address the current needs of the learner to continue
learning in the comforts of their homes or learning centers. As the learning facilitator,
make sure that you give them clear instructions on how to study and accomplish the
given activities in the material. Learner’s progress must be monitored.

For the learner:

The Sci-Box is developed to help you, dear learner, in your needs to continue
learning even if you are not in school. This learning material aims to primarily provide
you with meaningful and engaging activities for independent learning. Being an active
learner, carefully read and understand to follow the instructions given.

REMEMBER ….
To answer the given exercises, questions and assessment, USE your Science Activity
Notebook/ Answer Sheet. When you are DONE, wait for the teacher/volunteer to col-
lect your Activity notebook/ answer sheet.

Good luck and God bless.

Grade 10—Science
Competency: Describe the possible causes of plate movement
(S10ES-Ia-j-36.5)
 SELF-LEARNING PACKAGE IN

SCIENCE 10
Continental Drift

Learning Competency:
Describe the possible causes of plate
movement (S10ES-Ia-j-36.5)
 Ready to Launch!

Doesn't the east coast of South America fit exactly against the west coast
of Africa, as if they had once been joined? “This is an idea I'll have to pursue."
- Alfred Wegener said to his future wife, in December,1910. We can’t really get
into Alfred Wegener’s head, but we can imagine that he started his
investigations by trying to answer this question: Why do the continents of Af-
rica and South America appear to fit together so well? Is it a geometric coinci-
dence that they do, or is there some geological reason?

In 1912, Alfred Wegener (pronounced as vey-guh-nuh r), a German

meteorologist, proposed a theory that about 200 million years ago, the
continents were once one large landmass. He called this landmass Pangaea, a
Greek word which means “All Earth.” This Pangaea started to break into two
smaller supercontinent called Laurasia and Gondwanaland during the
Jurassic Period. These smaller supercontinents broke into the continents and
these continents separated and drifted apart since then. Is this idea somehow
true? If you lived during Wegener’s time, will you believe him?

Aim at the Target!

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. described the hypothesis of Continental Drift;
2. identify evidences supporting Continental Drift; and
3. appreciate the work of Alfred Wegner.
 Try This!

The figure shows Earth’s ancient supercontinent as it appeared about

300 million years ago, according to Alfred Wegener. Write the letter that
represents each of the following present-day continents. Antarctica, Europe
and Asia , South America , India, North America , Africa , Australia

_____________Antarctica
_____________Europe and Asia
____________South America
____________India
____________North America
____________Africa
____________Australia
 Keep This in Mind!

Activity: Evidences for Continental Drift

Objective:
1. Enumerate the supporting evidences of Continental Drift
Theory.
Copy the graphic organizer below and answer by writing the data
needed on each shape

Continental Drift

Supported by

Continental drift
Explained by Alfred Wegener in 1920s

Theory Explains movement of the continents only. The

continents were once part of a large landmass called
Pangaea which drifted away from each other. The
continents moved away from each other towards their
current positions
Forces for Buoyancy, gravity, pole fleeing force, tidal currents, tides
movement
Evidences Came from fossil evidence, coal deposits, glacier deposit,
rocks of same ages across different continents

Drawbacks Too general with silly and sometimes illogical evidences

Acceptance Totally discarded

Usefulness Helped in the evolution of convectional current theory

and sea floor spreading theory
Abstraction and Generalization

Wegener’s Idea
Alfred Wegener, born in 1880, was a meteorologist and explorer. In
1911, Wegener found a scientific paper that listed identical plant and
animal fossils on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Intrigued, he then
searched for and found other cases of identical fossils on opposite sides of
oceans. The explanation put out by the scientists of the day was that land
bridges had once stretched between these continents.

Wegener’s Evidence
Here are the main evidences that Wegener and his supporters
collected for the continental drift hypothesis:

A. The Continental Jigsaw Puzzle

The continents appear to fit together. It seems very impossible that the
seven continents, which are currently thousands of miles away from each
other were actually connected pieces of a supercontinent. The most visible
and fascinating evidence that these continents were once one is their
shapes. The edge of one continent surprisingly matches the edge of another:
South America and Africa fit together; India, Antarctica, and Australia
match one another; Eurasia and North America complete the whole
continental puzzle in the north.
B. The similarity of fossils in different continents.
Ancient fossils of the same species of extinct plants and animals are
found in rocks of the same age but are on continents that are now widely
separated. Wegener proposed that the organisms had lived side by side, but
that the lands had moved apart after they were dead and fossilized. His
critics suggested that the organisms moved over long-gone land bridges, but
Wegener thought that the organisms could not have been able to travel
across the oceans.
• Fossils of the seed fern Glossopteris were too heavy to be carried so far
by wind.
• Mesosaurus was a swimming reptile, but could only swim in fresh water.
• Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus were land reptiles and were unable to
swim.

Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/continents.html

C. Evidence from Rocks

Identical rocks, of the same type and age, are found on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean. Wegener said the rocks had formed side by side and that the
land had since moved apart. Mountain ranges with the same rock types,
structures, and ages are now on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The
Appalachians of the eastern United States and Canada, for example, are just
like mountain ranges in eastern Greenland, Ireland, Great Britain, and
Norway . Wegener concluded that they formed as a single mountain range
that was separated as the continents drifted.
D. Coal Deposits
Coal beds were formed from the compaction and decomposition of
swamp plants that lived million years ago. These were discovered in
South America, Africa, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and even in
Antarctica. How is a coal bed formation possible in Antarctica?
The current location of Antarctica could not sustain substantial
amount of life. If there is a substantial quantity of coal in it, thus, it only
means that Antarctica must have been positioned in a part of the Earth
where it once supported large quantities of life. This leads to the idea
that Antarctica once experienced a tropical climate, thus, it might have
been closer before to the equator.
Coral reefs and coal-forming swamps are found in tropical and
subtropical environments, but ancient coal seams and coral reefs are
found in locations where it is much too cold today. Wegener suggested
that these creatures were alive in warm climate zones and that the fossils
and coal later drifted to new locations on the continents.

Analysis
1. What do the Glossopteris fossils tell us about the early positions of
the continents?
2. If Glossopteris fossils were found in Antarctica, what was the climate
of this continent before?
3. If the climate and the position of a place are relative to each other,
where then was the initial location of Antarctica 250 million years
ago?
4. What does the presence of Mesosaurus fossils tell about the initial
location and positioning of South America, Africa, and Antarctica?
6. Which continents do you think were neighbors before?
 Alfred Wegener provided evidence to support his hypotheses of
continental drift, he couldn’t explain how, when or why these changes
took place. Because other scientist's could not provide explanations
either, Wegener’s idea of continental drift was initially rejected. The idea
was so radically different at that time that most people closed their minds
to it.
Rock, fossils and climate clues were the main types of evidence for
continental drift. After Wegener’s death, more clues were found, largely
because of advances in technology and new ideas that related to
continental drift were developed.
Alfred Wegener died in 1930, continental drift was largely forgotten.
However, in the 1950s, a new branch of science which studies the
direction and intensity of the earth’s magnetic field throughout geologic
time ( or paleomagnetism), led to renewed interest in continental drift.

Application
1. Why would you expect to see similar rocks and rock structures on
two landmasses that were connected at one time?
2. Is there a possibility that the current location of a continent would be
different 100 years from now?
3. If the continents will continue to move, try to predict the Philippines’
location 100 million years from now.
 Reflect

Direction: Read the statement in each box and check whether the
statement is evidence or not in the left columns, and whether it
supports the movements of the continents in the right columns.
 Assess Your Learning

Direction: Read and choose the letter of the best answer.

1. In 1912, Alfred Wegener proposed a theory that the Earth is

once a single landmass. What is the name of the Mesozoic
supercontinent that consisted of all of the present continents?

a. Eurasia b. Laurasia c. Pangaea d. Gondwanaland

2. Alfred Wegener is a German scientist who hypothesized that

the Earth was once made up of a single large landmass
called Pangaea. Which of the following theories did Wegener
propose?
a. Continental Drift Theory c. Plate Tectonics
b. Continental Shift Theory d. Seafloor Spreading Theory

3. Which of the following is NOT an evidence which supported the

concept of continental drift?

a. similarity of fossils in different continents

b. the fit of the continents
c. skeletal remains of humans in different continents
d. presence of coal seams and tillites in different continents.

4. Which modern continents were derived from Gondwanaland?

a. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India, South America

b. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, North America, South America
c. Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, South America
d. Asia, Antarctica, Australia, North America, South America

5. Which of the following was a weakness of Wegener’s proposal of

continental drift when he first proposed the hypothesis?

a. an absence of fossil evidence c. unrelated continent features

b. unsupported climatic evidence d. a lack of proven mechanisms
 References & Photo Credits

Allison, Mead A., DeGeatano, Arthur T., Pasachoff, Jay M. Earth Science. Holt, Rinehart and
Winston. AHarcourt Education Company.
Valdoz, M., Aqyino, M., Niong, J., Andaya, M., (2015).Science Links. Worktext for Scientific
and Technological Literacy. Rex Bookstore.
Department of Education, 2015. Science 10 Learner’s Material
Department of Education, Bureau of Secondary Education. Project EASE Integrated Science
1, Module 12: Inside the Earth.
Science Voyages. Earth Science. California Edition. Glencoe.McGraw-Hill
https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/earth-word-search/ accessed July 5, 2020.
 SELF-LEARNING PACKAGE IN

SCIENCE 10
Seafloor Spreading

Learning Competency:
Enumerate the lines of evidence that
support plate movement (S9ES-Ia-j-36.6)
 Ready to Launch!
Seafloor spreading is believed to occur as hot magma rises at the rift
in the mid-ocean ridge. This magma cools down and becomes the new
seafloor as it pushes the former. The old seafloor is destroyed at the sub-
duction zone and melts inside the mantle.
The age of rocks and the magnetic stripes in the ocean floor support
the Seafloor Spreading Theory. The Theory of Plate Tectonics helps explain
the formation and destruction of the Earth’s crust and its movement over
time. Scientists believe that the plates’ movement is due to convection
currents in the mantle.

Aim at the Target!

At the end of this module, you are expected to
1. describe seafloor spreading process;
2. identify evidences that support seafloor spreading; and
3. describes what happens at deep ocean trenches
Try This!
Direction: Study Figure 1 below and answer the following questions.

Rising
magma

Figure 1. The seafloor spreading

1. Name all geologic features you can find in the diagram.
2. As the old seafloor farthest from the ridge is destroyed at the subduction
zone, what is formed at the mid-ocean ridge?
3. By looking at the arrow, what have you observe about the movement of
the plates?
 Keep This in Mind!
Evidences of Plate Movements
A. Seafloor Spreading
In the early 1960’s, scientist Harry Hess, together with Robert Dietz,
suggested an explanation to the continental drift. This is the Seafloor
Spreading Theory. According to this theory, hot, less dense material from
below the earth’s crust rises towards the surface at the mid-ocean ridge.
This material flows sideways carrying the seafloor away from the ridge, and
creates a crack in the crust. The magma flows out of the crack, cools down
and becomes the new seafloor.
Overtime, the new oceanic crust pushed the old oceanic crust far
from the ridge. The process of seafloor spreading allowed the creation of
new bodies of water .
The rate of formation of a new seafloor is not always as fast as the
destruction of the old seafloor at the subduction zone. This explains why
the Pacific Ocean is getting smaller and why the Atlantic Ocean is getting
wider. If subduction is faster than seafloor spreading, the ocean shrinks.
When the seafloor spreading is greater than the subduction, then the
ocean gets wider.

Findings that support Seafloor Spreading Theory:

1. Rocks are younger at the mid-ocean ridge.
2. Rocks far from the mid-ocean ridge are older.
3. Sediments are thinner at the ridge.
4. Rocks at the ocean floor are younger than those at the
continents.
B. Convection Current
As a substance like water is heated, the less dense particles rise while
denser particles sink. Once the hot less dense particles cool down, they sink,
and the other less dense particles rise. This continuous process is called
convection current. This is exactly what happens in the Earth’s mantle. The
hot, less dense rising material spreads out as it reaches the upper mantle
causing upward and sideward forces. The convection currents rotate very
slowly, as they move and drag the plates along. Because of convection
current, the tectonic plates are able to move slowly along the tectonic
boundaries, pushing each other, sliding past each other and drifting away
from each other.
 Activity : Seafloor Spreading
Use the figure below to answer the following questions.

Figure 3: Diagram of seafloor

Q1. Name and describe the feature of the ocean floor shown at A.
Q2. Describe the process shown occurring at B, and explain what
results from this.
Q3. What happens to old oceanic crust as new molten material rises
from the mantle?
Q4. The arrows on the figure show the ocean floor spreading from the
ridge. What are the three kinds of evidence scientists have found
to support this idea?
Q5. What process is shown occurring at C and why does it occur?
Analysis
Direction: Write the letter of your answer.
1. Which of the following diagrams best illustrates the convection
occurring in the mantle?

a. c.

b. d.

2. Which of the following can you infer from the continuous

movement of the lithospheric plates over the asthenosphere?
a. All the continents will cease to exist.
b. All the volcanoes in the Philippines will become inactive.
c. The continents will not be located in the same place as they
are now.
d. The islands of the Philippines will become scattered all over
the world.
3. If all the inner layers of the Earth are firm solid, what could have
happened to Pangaea?
a. It remained as a supercontinent.
b. It would have become as it is today.
c. It would have slowly disappeared in the ocean.
d. It would have stretched and covered the whole world.
Abstraction and Generalization

Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the

result of mantle convection. Mantle convection is the slow, churning
motion of Earth’s mantle. Convection currents carry heat from the lower
mantle and core to the lithosphere. Convection currents also “recycle”
lithospheric materials back to the mantle.
Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries. As
tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the
mantle’s convection currents makes the crust more plastic and
less dense. The less-dense material rises, often forming a mountain or
elevated area of the seafloor.
Eventually, the crust cracks. Hot magma fueled by mantle
convection bubbles up to fill these fractures and spills onto the crust.
This bubbled-up magma is cooled by frigid seawater to form igneous
rock. This rock (basalt) becomes a new part of Earth’s crust.
The scientists noticed that the rocks got older with distance from
the mid-ocean ridges. The youngest rocks were located at the ridge crest
and the oldest rocks were located the farthest away, next to continents.
Scientists also noticed that the characteristics of the rocks and sedi-
ments changed with distance from the ridge axis as seen in the Table
below .

Table : Characteristics of rocks and sediment from the Ridge

Rock Ages Sediment Crust Heat

Low
Thickness Thickness

At mid-ocean Youngest None Thinnest Hottest

ridge

With distance Becomes Becomes Becomes Becomes

from mid-ocean older thicker thicker cooler
ridge
 During World War II, sensitive instruments called magnetometers
were developed to help detect steel-hulled submarines. When research
scientists used magnetometers to study the ocean floor, they discovered
a surprising pattern. Measurements of magnetic variations showed that,
in many areas, alternating bands of rocks recording normal and reversed
polarity were arranged symmetrically about mid-ocean ridges.

Figure 4: Schematic diagram of a magnetic anomalies on the

seafloor. Black represents normal polarity and white is reverse
polarity

In 1963, F. Vine and D.H. Matthews reasoned that, as basaltic

magma rises to form new ocean floor at a mid-ocean spreading center,
it records the polarity of the magnetic field existing at the time magma
crystallized. As spreading pulls the new oceanic crust apart, stripes of
approximately the same size should be carried away from the ridge on
each side . Basaltic magma forming at mid-ocean ridges serves as a
kind of "tape recorder", recording the Earth's magnetic field as it revers-
es through time. If this idea is correct, alternating stripes of normal and
reversed polarity should be arranged symmetrically about mid-ocean
spreading centers. The discovery of such magnetic stripes provided
powerful evidence that sea-floor spreading occurs.
Application

Direction: Read the questions below and answer what is asked.

1. If the Atlantic Ocean is widening at a rate of 3 cm per year, how far (in
kilometers) will it spread in a million years?
2. Why does the oceanic crust sink beneath the continental crust at the
subduction zone?
3. If seafloor spreading is happening, what evidence should you expect to
find by studying rocks taken from the seafloor?
4. Is the earth getting larger and wider when plates drift away from each
other? Explain briefly.

Reflect

Seafloor spreading is a geologic process in which tectonic

plates—large slabs of Earth's lithosphere—split apart from each
other.
What can you say as a learner about the continuing move-
ment of the mid oceanic ridge? Cite specific evidence.
 Reinforcement & Enrichment

As you read about sea-floor spreading, fill in the flowchart to show the
sequence of events. Copy the diagram and answer.

Answer the following questions with a maximum of three (3) sentences

answer only

1. Why is the Atlantic Ocean expanding?

2. What process in Earth’s interior causes subduction and sea-floor

spreading?
 Assess Your Learning
Direction: Read each item carefully. Write the letter that corresponds to the
correct answer.
1. According to this theory, hot, less dense material from below the crust
rises towards the surface at the mid-ocean ridge.
a. Continental Drift Theory b. Continental Shift Theory
c. Plate Tectonics d. Seafloor Spreading Theory
2. In 1912, Alfred Wegener proposed a theory that the Earth is once a single
landmass. What is the name of the Mesozoic supercontinent that
consisted of all of the present continents?
a. Pangaea b. Laurasia
c. Eurasia d. Gondwanaland
3. Which observation was NOT instrumental in formulating the hypothesis of
seafloor spreading?
a. Depth of the ocean
b. Identifying the location of glacial deposits
c. Magnetization of the oceanic crust
d. Thickness of seafloor sediments
4. As a new seafloor is formed at the mid-ocean ridge, the old seafloor
farthest from the ridge is destroyed. Which of the stated processes
describes how the oceanic crust plunges into the Earth and destroyed at
the mantle?
a. Convection b. Construction c. Diversion d. Subduction
5. Why does the oceanic crust sink beneath the continental at the
subduction zone?
a. The oceanic crust has a greater density.
b. The oceanic crust is pushed from the ridge.
c. The continental crust has a denser composition
d. The oceanic crust is pulled downward by Earth’s magnetic field.
 References & Photo Credits

Department of Education, 2015. Science 10 Learner’s Material

Valdoz, M., Aqyino, M., Niong, J., Andaya, M., (2015).Science Links.
Worktext for Scientific and Technological Literacy. Rex Bookstore.
Department of Education, Bureau of Secondary Education. Project EASE
Integrated Science 1, Module 12: Inside the Earth.
Science Voyages. Earth Science. California Edition. Glencoe.McGraw-Hill
https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/earth-word-search/
accessed July 5, 2020.
https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/ocean-topics/seafloor-below/mid-
ocean-ridges/
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/seafloor-spreading/
http://www.phschool.com/itext/sci_exp/ebook/products/0-13-181243-2/
wkst1_sx05_fgr014.pdf