What is the difference between the hypothesis of continental drift and theory of plate tectonics?

Answer 1

There is no difference, they are they same theory about the Earth's crust being divided and moving, they are just two different names that people call it.

Answer 2

Continental Drift only states the splitting up of Pangaea in the current seven continents. Plate Tectonics explains Continental Drift, and also the formation of volcanoes, mountains, canyons and the occurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis and so on.

Answer 3

Continental drift theory was proposed before the discovery of the mid-oceanic ridges, when it was hypothesized that the continents were actually plowing through the oceans. This theory was an attempt to explain the commonality of fossils on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the observation on maps of the Earth that the North American and South American continents appeared to have been pulled apart from Europe and Africa. With the discovery of the mid-oceanic ridges, where new crustal plate is being created, and subduction zones, where plates are being destroyed, plate tectonic theory was born; that the crust of the earth is divided into many segments that are in constant motion, that the oceanic crust is constantly being recycled--all driven by heat from the Earth's interior. Plate tectonics is now nearly universally accepted as scientific fact, yet questions remain to be answered on some of the mechanisms of the process.

Answer 4

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's crust is broken up into a number of segments called tectonic plates. These plates moves slowly. These movements are responsible for most of Earth's seismic and volcanic activity. Plate tectonics is different from continental drift in that it proposes that the entirety of Earth's crust moves, rather than just the continents.

Answer 5

The hypothesis of continental drift proposed that the continents were once a single landmass that slowly drifted apart. The theory of plate tectonics developed from the continental drift hypothesis and explains how the Earth's lithosphere is divided into several plates that move and interact with each other, causing geological phenomena like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Plate tectonics is a more comprehensive theory that includes the movement of both continents and oceanic crust.

Answer 6

it isn't it's the same thing-plate tectonics create the idea of continental drift!