World Explorations By 1570, European explorers had mapped most of the Earth. People looked at these maps and began to notice, what?

Wegener  Alfred Wegener born in Germany  Earned a Ph D. in Astronomy, 1904  Interested in geophysics  1911, found a scientific paper listing identical fossils on opposite side of the Atlantic, land bridges

 Looked for examples, additional evidence  Took all his findings & wrote a book.  Published in 1915

The Theory of Continental Drift

Continental Drift Theory Proposed by Alfred Wegener in million years ago, all of the continents were combined into one super-continent called “Pangaea” The continents gradually drifted apart to where they are today

Evidence to Support the Theory

EVIDENCE WEGENER USED TO SUPPORT CONTINENTAL DRIFT  Natural Fit  Fossils  Rocks  Climate Changes

“Puzzle Pieces” Continents look like they could be part of a giant jigsaw puzzle

Distribution of Fossils Plant and animal fossils found on the coastlines of different continents No evidence of a land bridge

Sequence of Rocks Same rock patterns found in North America and Scotland South America, India, Africa, Antarctica and Australia Form continuous chain

Ancient Climates Tropical plant remains (coal deposits) found in Antarctica Glaciation in Africa, South America, India, and Australia during the same time

Problems With The Theory No mechanism for movement of continents Wind and currents could possibly move fossils Theory was not accepted by scientists