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Earth’s Mechanism
Wegener’s Continental Drift

Theory and Its Evidences
Science LM Unit 1 Module 1

page 53 - 55
Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Unit 1: Earth
Science
Theory of Continental Drift

Focus on . . .
 describing the theory of continental drift as proposed by Alfred
Wegener.
 discussing the ideas provided by both Alfred Wegener and Arthur
Holmes explaining the mechanism behind continental movement.
 describing the evolution of the plate tectonic theory through the
contributions of various scientists.
Some earlier ideas of continental drift include:
 Rodinia - is one of many different supercontinents that is
believed to have existed before Pangaea.
 An early theory believed that continents simply ‘drifted’
through the ocean floor pushing up material in front,
forming mountain belts. However, this theory lacked a
valid mechanism for driving the process behind
continental movement.
 Many of the earlier theories had trouble explaining the
process of why the continents moved.
 Alfred Wegener - a German scientist, who was

one of the first scientist to propose that
continents had once been closer together.
 Wegener called this idea “Continental Drift”
- His idea was not widely accepted because
scientist believed that the continents and oceans
were permanent features fixed in their
position and did not move.

Continental Drift Theory
 Wegener’s idea was:
 Hundreds of millions of years ago, “Pangaea” – a

supercontinent once existed.
 At approximately 200 million years ago, this
landmass split into smaller pieces and drifted apart
reaching their present day positions.

 Wegener’s main criticism centered around why the

continents move.
 A weakness in Wegener’s theory was it could not
satisfactorily answer the question asked by
critics:

Q: What kind of forces could be strong enough to move

such large masses of solid rock over such great
distances?
 In 1915, Wegener suggested that the continents plow
through the oceans as a snow plow would trough snow. He
also believed that the Earth’s rotation and the moon’s
gravitational forces were responsible for the drifting of
continents. This reasoning for the movement of continents
was not widely accepted since most scientists still believed
the Earth was a solid, motionless body.
 Main Points of Continental Drift Theory Include:
1) 225 Million years ago, supercontinent called Pangaea.
2) 200 Million years ago, supercontinent split to form two main
land masses. Laurasia in the north and Gondwanaland in
the south.
3) Laurasia consisted of; Asia, Europe, and North America.
4) Gondwanaland consisted of; Africa, Australia, Antarctica,
South America, and India.
5) Over the past 150 million years, these land masses split and
drifted to their present positions.





 After Wegener’s death in 1930, much evidence was discovered

to support the Continental Drift Theory.
 However, at the time that Wegener proposed his theory of
continental drift, most scientists still believed the Earth was a
solid, motionless body.
 Majority of this evidence was discovered during ocean floor
exploration and the question Wegener failed to answer was
explained by a scientist named Arthur Holmes.
 Holmes speculated that the circular motion of the mantle
carried the continents along in much the same way as a
conveyor belt. Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
 Holmes suggested that continents and the

ocean floor move primarily due to forces in the
asthenosphere (upper mantle) which causes
material to move as convection cells.
 Mantle material moves up at ridges and move
away in opposite directions moving the
continents. In cooler areas beneath trenches,
mantle material sinks causing oceanic crust to
descend into the mantle and be recycled.
 This idea was first considered in the 1930s by
Arthur Holmes, the English geologist who later
influenced Harry Hess' thinking about seafloor
spreading.
Evidences Continental Drift Theory
1)Fit of the Continents:

Continental coastlines appear to
fit closely together, for example,
South America and Africa.
With further investigation
Alexander DuToit suggested that the
continental shelves would fit better
because of the absence of erosion
beneath the oceans.

2)Fossil Correlation:
Wegener and other scientist
had proof of similar organisms
that existed in both South America
and Africa.
Fossil evidence of
Glossopteris - a fern plant and
Mesosaurus - an aquatic reptile,
provided the best evidence that
the continents were once together.
Glossopteris - a fossilized
leaves of an extinct fern plant
found 200 million years old rocks
located in the continents of
Southern Africa, Australia, India,
and Antarctica, which are now
separated from each other by wide
oceans..

 Mesosaurus and
Lystosaurus – are
freshwater reptiles where
fossils of these animals
were discovered in
different continents, such
as in South America and
Africa were also found in
Antarctica.

Fossil Evidence for the existence of Pangaea

3) Rock Types and Structures:

 Scientist also noted that even
though the continents appear to
fit together, the overall picture has Continuous
Mountains
to be continuous from one
continent to another. Similar
Rock
 This picture included the type of Types
rock on neighboring continents

and structural similarities such as
mountains. For example, the
Appalachian mountains.
4) Ancient Climates (Paleoclimates):

 Glacial deposits were found in
South America, Africa, India, and
Australia.
 These continents are presently not
in cold climates, therefore must
have been in a colder climate in the
past and the continents later
moved to the positions they are
presently in today.
5) Coal Deposits:
Coal beds were formed from the compaction and
decomposition of swamp plants that lived million years ago.
These were discovered in South America, Africa, Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and even in Antarctica.

Summary . . .
Overview of Points covered:
 Alfred Wegener proposed the Continental Drift Theory.
 Wegener could not explain why the continents move!!
 Arthur Holmes proposed an acceptable “mechanism” to explain

Wegener's theory of continental drift.
 Holmes suggested that the movement of convection currents in the

Asthenosphere is responsible for moving the continents.
 Holmes ideas behind convection in the mantle later influenced Harry

Hess to propose the theory of seafloor spreading.
Summary . . .
Overview of Points covered:
 Evidence to support Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory:
1) Fit of the Continents
2) Fossil Correlation
3) Rock Types and Structural Similarities
4) Ancient Climates
5) Coal Deposits

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Earth’s Mechanism

Wegener’s Continental Drift

Science LM Unit 1 Module 1

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Theory of Continental Drift

 Alfred Wegener - a German scientist, who was

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 Hundreds of millions of years ago, “Pangaea” – a

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 Wegener’s main criticism centered around why the

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Q: What kind of forces could be strong enough to move

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 After Wegener’s death in 1930, much evidence was discovered

 Holmes suggested that continents and the

1)Fit of the Continents:

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Fossil Evidence for the existence of Pangaea

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

3) Rock Types and Structures:

rock on neighboring continents

4) Ancient Climates (Paleoclimates):

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

 Wegener could not explain why the continents move!!

 Arthur Holmes proposed an acceptable “mechanism” to explain

 Holmes suggested that the movement of convection currents in the

 Holmes ideas behind convection in the mantle later influenced Harry

1) Fit of the Continents

3) Rock Types and Structural Similarities

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

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