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The Argument for Continental Drift
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Alfred L. Wegener Geologist Alfred Wegener noticed similar rocks & fossil remains were found on continents which seemed to fit together He called this “super” continent called Pangaea In 1912 Wegener published the first version & died defending his theory
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PANGAEA the large landmass that included all of Earth’s present day continents
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Permian 225 million years ago
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Triassic 200 million years ago
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Jurassic 135 million years ago
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Cretaceous 65 million years ago
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Present Day
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CONTINENTAL DRIFT
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Support for Continental Drift
1. SHAPE of the continents Continents fit together like puzzle pieces
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Support for Continental Drift
2. FOSSIL EVIDENCE SAME FOSSILS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS Mesosaurus was incapable of swimming across a large ocean.
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Support for Continental Drift
3. ROCK EVIDENCE – Mountain ranges SAME ROCK: DIFFERENT RANGE Existing mountain ranges separated by vast oceans contain rocks of identical mineral content. A prime example are the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern U.S and the Caledonian Mountains in the British Isles.
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SAME SCARS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS
Support for Continental Drift 4. GLACIAL SCARS SAME SCARS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS
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5. LOCATION OF Coal Deposits
Support for Continental Drift 5. LOCATION OF Coal Deposits Coal deposits have been found in temperate and polar regions; however, coal is formed in tropical regions.
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CONTINENTAL DRIFT IN DOUBT
Why didn’t people believe in continental drift? People couldn’t imagine how the earth could be millions of years old People couldn’t imagine a force great enough to move the continents
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THE TRUTH! North America moves about 1 to 2 centimeters away from Europe every year.
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The Earth’s Crust The Earth’s crust consists of a number of Plates
Plate: large pieces of the crust that moves
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Plate Tectonics: The interaction of the crustal plates
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Convergent Convergent = Coming together
Over riding plate goes over the top Subducting plate slides underneath Boundry is the area where the two meet
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Moving Plates Divergent = Moving apart
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Moving Plates Transform = Moving laterally
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