What are the 5 evidences of continental drift?
They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils.
What are the four pieces of evidence for continental drift quizlet?
List four pieces of evidence for Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift? Continents fit like a puzzle, climate clues, fossil clues, and rock layers or formations.
What evidence did Alfred Wegener use for continental drift?
Wegener supported his theory by demonstrating the biological and geological similarities between continents. South America and Africa contain fossils of animals found only on those two continents, with corresponding geographic ranges.
What is the evidence for continental drift and plate tectonics?
Fossil Evidence One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record. Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined.
What is the evidence for Wegener’s theory of continental drift quizlet?
The Theory of Continental Drift was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. He used several pieces of evidence to support his theory including fossils, rocks, glacial markings, coal deposits and the fact that the continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. .
What is one piece of evidence that Wegener used to prove continental drift quizlet?
One of Alfred Wegener's pieces of evidence for continental drift was data from the seafloor. Wegener used fossil ferns to suggest that a supercontinent existed about 250 million years ago. Glacial grooves in rocks in Africa suggest that this continent was once located in a much colder place.
What was Wegener’s evidence for continental drift quizlet?
The Theory of Continental Drift was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. He used several pieces of evidence to support his theory including fossils, rocks, glacial markings, coal deposits and the fact that the continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. .
What are some examples of evidence that suggest that some continents were once joined and have since separated?
Fossil Evidence Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined. For example, fossils of Mesosaurus, a freshwater reptile, have been found both in Brazil and western Africa.
What are the 4 major sources of evidence for the theory of plate tectonics?
There is variety of evidence that supports the claims that plate tectonics accounts for (1) the distribution of fossils on different continents, (2) the occurrence of earthquakes, and (3) continental and ocean floor features including mountains, volcanoes, faults, and trenches.
What was Wegener’s evidence for his theory?
Wegener supported his theory by demonstrating the biological and geological similarities between continents. South America and Africa contain fossils of animals found only on those two continents, with corresponding geographic ranges.
What three evidence supports Wegener’s theory?
The Theory of Continental Drift was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. He used several pieces of evidence to support his theory including fossils, rocks, glacial markings, coal deposits and the fact that the continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. .
What evidence was discovered and used to help support the theory of continental drift?
Fossils of similar organisms across widely disparate continents encouraged the revolutionary theory of continental drift. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.
What evidence did Wegener find for Pangaea quizlet?
Wegener showed that certain types of rocks on the continents would match with others in another continent. What did Wegener realize about the oldest rocks on the Afircan and South American continents? That they were connected together when the continents were arranged to form Pangaea.
What are Wegener’s three observations?
The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones.
What are examples of continental drift?
As the seafloor grows wider, the continents on opposite sides of the ridge move away from each other. The North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, for example, are separated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The two continents are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) per year.
What evidence supports the claim of Earth’s continents?
Which evidence supports the claim that Earth's continents formed during Precambrian time? Earth's surface cooled, causing rocks to cool and harden. Why is radioactive dating important when approximating the age of Earth? Scientists can determine the order of when rocks formed on Earth.
What evidence is given for continental plate movement?
Modern continents hold clues to their distant past. Evidence from fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines helps reveal how the plates once fit together. Fossils tell us when and where plants and animals once existed.
Which pieces of evidence were used to help support the development of the theory of plate tectonics that were not included in the theory of continental drift?
Fossil Evidence One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record. Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined.
How did Wegener discover continental drift?
Searching for evidence to further develop his theory of continental drift, Wegener came across a paleontological paper suggesting that a land bridge had once connected Africa with Brazil.
What was Wegener’s first piece of evidence?
Wegener's first piece of evidence was that the coastlines of some continents fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. People noticed the similarities in the coastlines of South America and Africa on the first world maps, and some suggested the continents had been ripped apart (3).
What is the evidence for continental drift quizlet?
Fossils of same creature have been found on different continents that are separated today but were once joined. For example. a 20 cm Mesosaurus reptile could not have swam 3000 miles across and ocean. It's more likely the continents were together and over 40 million years it walked.
What are 2 pieces of evidence for continental drift?
The four pieces of evidence for the continental drift include continents fitting together like a puzzle, scattering ancient fossils, rocks, mountain ranges, and the old climatic zones' locations.
How was the continental drift theory proven?
Fossils of similar organisms across widely disparate continents encouraged the revolutionary theory of continental drift. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time.
What is the evidence for plate tectonics and continental drift?
Modern continents hold clues to their distant past. Evidence from fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines helps reveal how the plates once fit together. Fossils tell us when and where plants and animals once existed.
What evidence did Wegener use to develop the continental drift theory?
Wegener supported his theory by demonstrating the biological and geological similarities between continents. South America and Africa contain fossils of animals found only on those two continents, with corresponding geographic ranges.
What causes continental drift?
The causes of continental drift are perfectly explained by the plate tectonic theory. The earth's outer shell is composed of plates that move a little bit every year. Heat coming from the interior of the earth triggers this movement to occur through convection currents inside the mantle.
What are the 4 types of tectonic plate movement?
What are the major plate tectonic boundaries?
- Divergent: extensional; the plates move apart. Spreading ridges, basin-range.
- Convergent: compressional; plates move toward each other. Includes: Subduction zones and mountain building.
- Transform: shearing; plates slide past each other. Strike-slip motion.
What evidence did Alfred use?
He used fossil evidence, such as that of tropical plants found on the Arctic island of Spitzbergen. He found large-scale geographic features that matched, like the Appalachian Mountains in the United States and the Scottish Highlands, as well as rock strata in South Africa that matched those in Brazil.
What evidence supports Alfred’s theory?
fossil evidence Alfred Wegener collected diverse pieces of evidence to support his theory, including geological “fit” and fossil evidence.
What are the four types of plate boundaries?
There are four types of boundaries between tectonic plates that are defined by the movement of the plates: divergent and convergent boundaries, transform fault boundaries, and plate boundary zones.