Continental Drift

Drifting continents

Early map makers noticed the coasts of several continents fit together like puzzle pieces

They thought the continents remained in the same position

Alfred Wegener A German scientist In 1910 first proposed the theory of

continental drift Theory states that all of the continents were

once joined in a single landmass Continents have drifted apart over time

Pangaea Wegener named this landmass that occurred a

few million years ago Pangaea Pangaea means “all-lands” It contained all of the current continents It was inhabited by reptiles, insects and plants

Wegener’s EvidenceLandforms

What did it show? That identical

landforms were found on separate continents

Where would you find it? Mountain ranges match up in

South Africa & Argentina

American & European coal fields match up

Wegener’s EvidenceFossils

What did it show? Found fossils of reptiles &

plants in places now separated by oceans

None could have traveled across the oceans

Where would you find it? Found in Africa, south

America, Australia, India, & Antarctica

Wegener’s EvidenceClimate

What did it show? Evidence of ancient

climates on continents were different than their current climates

Where would you find it? Spitsbergen an island in

the Artic has tropical plant fossils meaning it was in a warm climate millions of years ago

South Africa has evidence of past glaciations so it must have been in a much colder climate

Continental Drift

Wegener believed mountains formed when continents collided and their edges would crumple and fold pushing rocks upward

Wegener could not provide an explaination for the force that pushed or pulled the continents so geologists rejected his theory

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

http://ees.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/elearning/module04swf.swf

4-3 Review

Who is this man and what was his theory?

This is a picture of a Lystrosaurus. How did this support Wegener’s theory?

Why couldn’t the Glossopteris exist on continents separated by oceans?

What does this picture represent?

This is Spitzbergentoday. How has it changed? How do we know?

This map shows that glaciers existed in South Africa. How does this prove Wegener’s theory?

Mountain formation

This image shows how Wegener explained the formation of mountains. He was one of the first to come up with this idea. What was it?

PangaeaWhat was Pangaea?When did it exist?

Poor Alfred!What happened to him?Why?