Chapter 5 section 3 Drifting Continents Objectives: 1. Explain Alfred Wegener's hypothesis about the continents. 2. List the evidence used by Wegener to support his hypothesis. 3. Explain why other scientists of Wegener's time rejected his hypothesis.

A. Continental Drift 1. 1910, Alfred Wegener -all continents were once joined together in a single together in a single landmass -then, they drifted apart

2. Pangaea -continents drifted together to form the supercontinent -"all lands" -existed about 300 million years ago

3. Evidence for Continental Drift - Land Features - Fossils -Climate -Wegener wrote The Origin of Continents and Oceans, 1915

A. Evidence From Land Features: -Wegener noticed mountains and other land features on the certain continents matched the same features on another continent -example: mountain ranges on Africa and South America matched up

b. Evidence From Fossils: -Wegener found fossils in one continent and the same fossils in another -example -fernlike plant found in Africa

-freshwater fossils, Mesosaurus and Lystrosaurus These fossils have also been found in places now separated by oceans.

c. Evidence From Climate -As a continent moves toward the equator, its climate becomes warmer -As a continent moves toward the poles, its climate becomes colder

B. Wegener's Hypothesis Rejected -tried to explain to the scientific community -did not have enough evidence for the forces pulling the continents apart -Used to think that mountains formed when the crust wrinkled like the skin of a dried-up apple. Wegener knew differently. If that were true then mountains would form all over the continents. Mountains actually are found at the edge of continents