What is Continental Drift?

Initially, Wegener's continental drift

It is Wegener's concept of a single
supercontinent that broke apart to form the
modern continent. But other (skeptical)
scientists demanded an explanation of how
continents could move. However, Wegener
had concentrated on developing evidence
that continents had drifted, not on what
caused them to move. But out of
exasperation, he made two alternative
possibilities.
hypothesis faced widespread objections and
was largely disregarded due to his inability to
defend it. However, some geologists
supported it between 1930 and 1960. In
retrospect, modern plate tectonics theory
aligns with Wegener's ideas, as evidence
suggests continents were once connected,
validating Wegener's contributions, now
acknowledged by most geologists.

Alternative Possibilities WE ARE LIKE A JUDGE CONFRONTED BY

A DEFENDANT WHO DECLINES TO
Continents plow their way through
oceanic crust, shoving it aside as a ANSWER, AND WE MUST DETERMINE
THE TRUTH FROM THE
CONTINENTAL
ship plows through water
Continent crust slides over oceanic CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
—Alfred Wegener—
DRIFT
crust
However, these suggestions turned out to

HYPOTHESIS
be ill considered. Physicists quickly proved
that both of Wegener’s were imposible SUMMITTED BY:

Angeline S. Asuncion
Oceanic crust is too strong for
continents to plow through it. The SUBMITTED TO:
attempt would be like trying to push
a matchstick boat through heavy tar.
The boat, or the continent, would
break apart. Sir Roel L. Talattad
Continents plow their way through
oceanic crust, shoving it aside as a
ship plows through water
SCI 60- EARTH SCIENCE_ BSED SCIENCE -2A CagayanStateUniversity
 A W
L E
G
F E
R
N jigsaw puzzle.
E E
D R
As the theory of plate tectonics was not
developed until the 1960s, it was foreshadowed
early in the twentieth century by a young German
scientist named Alfred Wegener.
He noticed that the African and South American
coastlines on the sides of Atlantic Ocean seemed
to fit as if they were adjacent pieces of a jigsaw
puzzle.
The African and South American
Coastlines
The African and South American
coastlines appear to fit together like
adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle on
Wegener’s reconstruction map
Studying world maps, he realized
that not only did the continents on
both sides of the Atlantic fit
together, but other continents too,
like additional pieces of the same A.
The Supercontinent was called
Pangea- from the Greek root words
for “All lands”
PANGEA
B.
GLACIAL DEPOSIT
(A) 250-million-year-old glacial deposits are
displayed in white on a map showing the
modern distribution of continents.The black
arrows show directions of glacial
movement.
Additional Evidences (B) 300-million-year-old glacial deposits and
other climate- sensitive sedimentary rocks
plotted on Wegener’s map of Pangea.
Fossils of the same species are
found in Antarctica, Africa, Australia,
South America, and India. EXPLANATION:
L Wegener plotted 250-million-year-old glacial
O deposits on a map showing the modern
C distribution of continents (Figure A). Notice
FA that glacial deposits would have formed in
OT tropical and subtropical zones. Figure B.
shows the same glacial deposits, and other
S I climate indicating rocks, plotted on
SO Wegener’s Pangea map. Here the glaciers
IN cluster neatly about the South Pole. The other
LS rocks are also found in logical locations.