Continental Drift

Continental Drift
Alfred Wagner hypothesized that all the continents were once connected in one large land mass and that they had moved His theory was called continental drift He called this super continent PANGEA

Pangea

Evidence for continental drift

1. Land features: Mt ranges lined up in S. America and Africa along the edges Coal field in Europe lined up with fields in N. America

2. Fossils Plant fossils of the same plant were found in all the continents Animal fossils such as a lystosaurus were found in places now seperated by the ocean These animals could not have swam across the salt ocean

3. Climate Used fossils and rocks to show that that certain areas that were now cold were once warm (artic) And rocks in South Africa (that is now warm) shows evidence of scratches from glaciers

Wegeners hypothesis rejected

Because.. Not enough explanation for what causes continental drift so many scientist rejected it 30 years later it finally got accepted http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tecto nics.html