Embedded Files
What is the theory of Continental Drift?
The theory of Continental Drift states that all continents, or large land masses on Earth, are in constant movement and were once a mega continent millions of years ago. The theory was created by a meteorologist named Alfred Wegener. Alfred Wegener saw that the continents could have been one single land mass at some point in time, which allowed him to come up with his hypothesis and showed it to the community in 1912.
In 1912, Alfred Wegener showed the Scientific Community his theory of a unified land mass and how the continents are today still in motion. People still denied that this was correct, even though some had started to investigate however, he also presented the community with his evidence.
Evidence of Continental Drift
The theory of continental drift had 4 main pieces of Evidence. The pieces of evidence are as follows:
Puzzle Pieces
Take a very close look at this photo of the 7 continents we have today. Look at the Eastern coast of South America and the Western coast of Africa. You probably have seen this and that is completely normal. The Evidence of puzzle pieces says that some land masses when looked at closely look like they fit together, like puzzle pieces,
Fossil Evidence
The Evidence of Fossils is a very simple thing. It states that animals or plants of similar or exact fossils are found on different land masses. For example, Lions used to live on South America where fossils of lions have been found however, Lions have been found to originate in Africa. A Lion cannot fly across or swim across an ocean because it would drown or get killed while swimming (Lions. Can't. Fly.). Also, Geologists have discovered the same types of fossils of either plants or animals on continents that are today separated by vast oceans.
Rock Evidence
According to scientists, huge belts of rocks that were orginally found in Africa and South America were exactly identical. Not only were they the same, but they would match up in almost everything like the age, thickness, and type. A good example of this would be the Appalachian Mountains in North America. This mountain that disappears near Newfoundland in Canada mathes up exactly with the mountains located the British Isles (United Kingdom) and Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, etc.) in age and structure of the mountains.
Glacier Evidence
Important studies show that there is proof that glaciers from Antarctica have been found in Africa and South America. Glacial evidence is found in temperate and hot climates where it could not have been made.
What is Pangaea?
Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed about 335 million years ago, which is about 334 million years older than people. Pangaea is a word in Greek that means "All world" or basically all land masses into one continent. According to Scientific information we have, Pangaea broke apart for the same reason that our continents are moving today. The movement is because of the convection currents that are in the Upper Mantle . About 200 million years ago, Pangaea finally broke into 2 large landmasses which are Laurasia and Gondwanaland (Laurasia being North America, Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa and Gondwanaland being South America, India, Australia, Antarctica, and the remaining parts of Africa).
Hypothesized size and appearance of Pangaea with modern day continents inside
Created by MkkGo
Created October 25th, 2020
Google Sites
Report abuse