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. .
How was Wegener’s hypothesis proved?
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 Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis quizlet?
What evidence supported the hypothesis of continental drift? How did fossils provide evidence for continental drift? Similar fossils occur on different continents. Because many of these organisms could not have crossed an ocean, this provides evidence that the continents were once connected.
What were two pieces of evidence that supported Wegener’s theory?
Four fossil examples include: the Mesosaurus, Cynognathus, Lystrosaurus, and Glossopteris. Modern day representation of the Mesosaurus. The Mesosaurus is known to have been a type of reptile, similar to the modern crocodile, which propelled itself through water with its long hind legs and limber tail.
Which statement is supported by the theory of continental drift?
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 land features provided evidence for Wegener’s hypothesis?
the land features that provided evidence for Wegener's hypothesis is that mountain ranges in South America and Africa line -up, coal fields in North America and Europe are the same, and the east coast of South America fits into the west coast of Africa or vice versa.
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 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.
How did Alfred Wegener discover continental drift?
Wegener noticed the similarity in the coastlines of eastern South America and western Africa and speculated that those lands had once formed a supercontinent, Pangaea, which had split and slowly moved many miles apart over geologic time.
What is Alfred Wegener theory?
Alfred Wegener in Greenland. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's land masses are in constant motion. The realization that Earth's land masses move was first proposed by Alfred Wegener, which he called continental drift.
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 was Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis?
In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other. He called this movement continental drift.
What was Alfred Wegener theory?
Alfred Wegener in Greenland. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's land masses are in constant motion. The realization that Earth's land masses move was first proposed by Alfred Wegener, which he called continental drift.
What evidence supports the existence of Pangaea?
The rock formations of eastern North America, Western Europe, and northwestern Africa were later found to have a common origin, and they overlapped in time with the presence of Gondwanaland. Together, these discoveries supported the existence of Pangea.
What was the name of Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis?
In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other. He called this movement continental drift.
When was Wegener’s theory accepted?
The drifting of tectonic plates is an on-going process that has changed the configuration of the continents since their formation in Archean time. This hypothesis first proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a German Meteorologist, was not widely accepted until after 1960.
What evidence is there 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.
Which observations supported Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift?
Which observation supported Wegener's theory of continental drift? Identical fossils were found on continents that were far apart.
Who was Alfred Wegener and what was his hypothesis quizlet?
Wegeners hypothesis was that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart. Wegener gathered evidence from different scientific fields to support his ideas about continental drift. He studied land features, fossils, and evidence of climate change.
Is Alfred Wegener’s theory true?
Wegener published his theory in full in 1915, but his contemporaries mostly found it implausible. By 1930 it had been rejected by most geologists, and it sank into obscurity for the next few decades.
What evidence supports the idea that all the continents were once joined together?
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 is the evidence to support 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.
What is Wegener’s theory?
Alfred Wegener in Greenland. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's land masses are in constant motion. The realization that Earth's land masses move was first proposed by Alfred Wegener, which he called continental drift.
What is Wegener’s theory of plate tectonics?
Plate tectonic theory had its beginnings in 1915 when Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of "continental drift." Wegener proposed that the continents plowed through crust of ocean basins, which would explain why the outlines of many coastlines (like South America and Africa) look like they fit together like a puzzle.
What evidence supports Wegener’s initial ideas about continental drift which later became the theory of plate tectonics?
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 evidence supports the idea that all the continents were once joined together quizlet?
What evidence supports the idea that all the continents were once joined together? Similar rocks found on different continents. Mountains created by colliding continents. Evidence of glaciers in unexpected places.
What was Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis called?
Continental drift Continental drift was a revolutionary theory explaining that continents shift position on Earth's surface. The theory was proposed by geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912, but was rejected by mainstream science at the time.
Which statement best supports the theory of continental drift?
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 did Alfred Wegener discover?
Alfred Lothar Wegener Wegener was a German meteorologist, geophysicist and polar researcher. In 1915 he published 'The Origin of Continents and Oceans', which outlined his theory of Continental Drift.
What evidence supports 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.