Mystery of the Far Flung Continents CER By: Saigaurav Purushothaman

The evidence collected does support the theory of continental drift. Many of the Continents look like they could fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, especially South America and Africa. Mountain ranges along the east coast of South America and mountain ranges along the southwest coast of Africa line up as well. Matching coal deposits and matching mountain ranges are found in both Europe and North America. Glacier Grooves from South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica go together perfectly. Also, the same fossils are found on different sides of the world. Lystrosaurus fossils are found on Africa, India, and Antarctica. Fossils of species that lived in warm tropical areas, such as crocodiles, are now found in cold places like Canada. Since the same rock type of folded mountains are found in both South America and Africa, the two continents must have been joined together in the past. The same applies with the coal deposits and mountain ranges in North America and Europe as well as the glacier grooves in South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. The same fossils from different continents also tell us that the continents had once been joined together. The animals in the fossils had no possible way of crossing an ocean. That means in order for these animals to be on different continents, the continents must have been linked together as one in the past. Because fossils of animals that lived in warm, tropical climates are now found in places with a cold climate, the continents must have been at different latitudes in the past. Fossils, landforms, climates, coal deposits, the shapes of the continents, and glacier grooves all tell us that the continents had once been joined together as a supercontinent, Pangaea.