| A | B |
|---|
| Theory of plate tectonics | the lithosphereis made up of many plates that ride on the asthenosphere |
| Cratons | continents existing today that contains large areas of deformed precambrian rocks |
| who proposed the idea of pangaea | alfred Wegener |
| Paleozoic Era | era that Pangaea formed during |
| Tethys Sea | the triangular body of water east of Pangaea |
| Laurasia | the land mass north of the tethys sea |
| gondwanaland | land mass south of the tethys sea |
| India | collided into Eurasia forming the himalayas |
| Precambrian rock | is found at the bottom of the ground canyon |
| canadian shield | a location in eastern canada and the northeast and upper midwest of the united states where precambrian rock is exposed |
| water | North America was covered mostly by this |
| Geosynclines | Huge, paleozoic,sediment filled troughs |
| Tectonic activity | this broke up pangaea and played a huge role in the formation of North America |
| Mesozoic Era | a large mountain range known as the Appalachians were created during the collision that formed Pangaea |
| Rocky Mountains | Rose in the western portion of the continent |
| Central plains | the sea had drained away leaving this |
| Sierra Nevada | wiolent subduction and collision movements along plate boundaries in the western part of the continent caused the uplift of this |
| Ice Ages | occurred during the last 2 million years of the cenozoic era also helped shape much of the landscape of north america |
