Mountain Heritage : The Appalachians

University of Waterloo Audiovisual Services Catalog.
"The theories of plate tectonics and continental drift have helped to provide an explanation as to the origins of the Appalachian Mountain Range. On an animated globe, the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea is shown, and the theory that the Appalachians were formed during the creation of a supercontinent is studied. For evidence, Ted Follows takes us to Newfoundland, where he examines rock formations that show where the continents had collided, and scrutinizes exposed rock that had once been part of the ocean floor, and now covers one-third of Newfoundland. Underwater rock movement is demonstrated by studying the evidence left on the faces of some rocks. Next, the narrator moves to a different part of the island, and mantle rock thrown up onto land is examined. The narrator concludes that we tend to think of oceans and continents as permanent, which they are in human history, but not in the history of the earth. The program finishes with a shot of a mountain, dissolving to the sea-side."