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Kegy 204
Kegy 204
DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS
AND CONTINENTS
In the previous chapter, you have studied the theory” in 1912. This was regarding the
interior of the earth. You are already familiar distribution of the oceans and the continents.
with the world map. You know that continents According to Wegener, all the continents
cover 29 per cent of the surface of the earth formed a single continental mass and mega
and the remainder is under oceanic waters. ocean surrounded the same. The super
The positions of the continents and the ocean continent was named PANGAEA, which meant
bodies, as we see them in the map, have not all earth. The mega-ocean was called
been the same in the past. Moreover, it is now PANTHALASSA, meaning all water. He argued
a well-accepted fact that oceans and that, around 200 million years ago, the super
continents will not continue to enjoy their continent, Pangaea, began to split. Pangaea first
present positions in times to come. If this is broke into two large continental masses as
so, the question arises what were their positions Laurasia and Gondwanaland forming the
in the past? Why and how do they change their northern and southern components
positions? Even if it is true that the continents respectively. Subsequently, Laurasia and
and oceans have changed and are changing Gondwanaland continued to break into various
their positions, you may wonder as to how smaller continents that exist today. A variety of
scientists know this. How have they determined evidence was offered in support of the
their earlier positions? You will find the answers continental drift. Some of these are given below.
to some of these and related questions in this
chapter. Evidence in Support of the Continental Drift
CONTINENTAL DRIFT The Matching of Continents (Jig-Saw-Fit)
Observe the shape of the coastline of the Atlantic The shorelines of Africa and South America
Ocean. You will be surprised by the symmetry facing each other have a remarkable and
of the coastlines on either side of the ocean. No
unmistakable match. It may be noted that a
wonder, many scientists thought of this
map produced using a computer programme
similarity and considered the possibility of the
to find the best fit of the Atlantic margin was
two Americas, Europe and Africa, to be once
presented by Bullard in 1964. It proved to be
joined together. From the known records of the
quite perfect. The match was tried at 1,000-
history of science, it was Abraham Ortelius, a
fathom line instead of the present shoreline.
Dutch map maker, who first proposed such a
possibility as early as 1596. Antonio Pellegrini
Rocks of Same Age Across the Oceans
drew a map showing the three continents together.
However, it was Alfred Wegener—a German The radiometric dating methods developed in
meteorologist who put forth a comprehensive the recent period have facilitated correlating the
argument in the form of “the continental drift rock formation from different continents across
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DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS AND CONTINENTS 31
the vast ocean. The belt of ancient rocks of Force for Drifting
2,000 million years from Brazil coast matches
Wegener suggested that the movement
with those from western Africa. The earliest
responsible for the drifting of the continents
marine deposits along the coastline of South
was caused by pole-fleeing force and tidal force.
America and Africa are of the Jurassic age. The polar-fleeing force relates to the rotation
This suggests that the ocean did not exist prior of the earth. You are aware of the fact that the
to that time. earth is not a perfect sphere; it has a bulge at
the equator. This bulge is due to the rotation
Tillite of the earth. The second force that was
It is the sedimentary rock formed out of suggested by Wegener — the tidal force — is
deposits of glaciers. The Gondawana system due to the attraction of the moon and the sun
of sediments from India is known to have its that develops tides in oceanic waters. Wegener
counterparts in six different landmasses of the believed that these forces would become
Southern Hemisphere. At the base, the system effective when applied over many million years.
has thick tillite indicating extensive and However, most of scholars considered these
prolonged glaciation. Counterparts of this forces to be totally inadequate.
succession are found in Africa, Falkland Island,
Post-drift Studies
Madagascar, Antarctica and Australia. Overall
resemblance of the Gondawana-type sediments It is interesting to note that for continental drift,
clearly demonstrates that these landmasses most of the evidence was collected from the
had remarkably similar histories. The glacial continental areas in the form of distribution of
tillite provides unambiguous evidence of flora and fauna or deposits, like tillite. A
palaeoclimates and also of drifting of continents. number of discoveries during the post–World
War II period added new information to
Placer Deposits geological literature. Particularly, the
information collected from the ocean floor
The occurrence of rich placer deposits of gold mapping provided new dimensions for the
in the Ghana coast and the absolute absence study of distribution of oceans and continents.
of source rock in the region is an amazing fact.
The gold bearing veins are in Brazil and it is Convectional Current Theory
obvious that the gold deposits of the Ghana
Arthur Holmes in 1930s discussed the
are derived from the Brazil plateau when the
possibility of convection currents operating in
two continents lay side by side.
the mantle portion. These currents are
generated due to radioactive elements causing
Distribution of Fossils
thermal differences in the mantle portion.
When identical species of plants and animals Holmes argued that there exists a system of
adapted to living on land or in fresh water are such currents in the entire mantle portion. This
found on either side of the marine barriers, a was an attempt to provide an explanation to
problem arises regarding accounting for such the issue of force, on the basis of which
distribution. The observations that Lemurs contemporary scientists discarded the
occur in India, Madagascar and Africa led some continental drift theory.
to consider a contiguous landmass ‘Lemuria’
linking these three landmasses. Mesosaurus Mapping of the Ocean Floor
was a small reptile adapted to shallow brackish Detailed research of the ocean configuration
water. The skeletons of these are found only revealed that the ocean floor is not just a vast
in two localities: the Southern Cape province plain but it is full of relief. Expeditions to map
of South Africa and Iraver formations of Brazil. the oceanic floor in the post–World War II period
The two localities are presently 4,800 km apart provided a detailed picture of the ocean relief
with an ocean in between them. and indicated the existence of submerged
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32 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
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DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS AND CONTINENTS 33
available at the time Wegener put forth his (iv) The sediments on the ocean floor are
concept of continental drift. Particularly, the unexpectedly very thin. Scientists were
mapping of the ocean floor and palaeomagnetic expecting, if the ocean floors were as old
studies of rocks from oceanic regions revealed as the continent, to have a complete
the following facts : sequence of sediments for a period of much
(i) It was realised that all along the mid- longer duration. However, nowhere was the
oceanic ridges, volcanic eruptions are sediment column found to be older than
common and they bring huge amounts of 200 million years.
lava to the surface in this area. (v) The deep trenches have deep-seated
(ii) The rocks equidistant on either sides of the earthquake occurrences while in the mid-
crest of mid-oceanic ridges show oceanic ridge areas, the quake foci have
remarkable similarities in terms of period shallow depths.
of formation, chemical compositions and These facts and a detailed analysis of magnetic
magnetic properties. Rocks closer to the properties of the rocks on either sides of the
mid-oceanic ridges have normal polarity mid-oceanic ridge led Hess (1961) to propose
and are the youngest. The age of the rocks his hypothesis, known as the “sea floor
increases as one moves away from the spreading”. Hess argued that constant
crest. eruptions at the crest of oceanic ridges cause
(iii) The ocean crust rocks are much younger the rupture of the oceanic crust and the new
than the continental rocks. The age of rocks lava wedges into it, pushing the oceanic crust
in the oceanic crust is nowhere more than on either side. The ocean floor, thus spreads.
200 million years old. Some of the continental The younger age of the oceanic crust as well
rock formations are as old as 3,200 million as the fact that the spreading of one ocean does
years. not cause the shrinking of the other, made Hess
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EXERCISES
Project Work
Prepare a collage related to damages caused by an earthquake.
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