The Earth’s Mechanism

The Continental Drift

• In 1912, Alfred Wegener, German
meteorologist, proposed a theory that about
200 million years ago, the continents were
once one large landmass ( Pangaea)
• Pangaea , a Greek word which means “ All
Earth”
• Pangaea started to break into smaller
supercontinent called Laurasia and
Gondwanaland during the Jurassic Period
Evolution of Pangaea
• Supports of the Continental Drift Theory by
Wegener
• 1. APPARENT FIT OF THE CONTINENTS. The
edge of one continent surprisingly matches
the edge of
• Another South America and Africa; India and
Antartica, Australia ; Eurasia and North
America
• 2. FOSSIL CORRELATION
• Fossilized leaves of plant Glossopteris were
found in 250 millions years old rocks. They are
located in South Africa, Australia, India and
Antartica
• Mesosaurus and Lystosaurus are freshwater
reptiles. Fossils of these were discovered in
different continents such as South America
and Africa.
• 3. ROCK AND MOUNTAIN CORRELATION
• Rock layers from different continents line up
together with layers that exactly match
• Eg. folded cape mountains of South America
and Africa line up perfectly
• 4. PALEOCLIMATE DATA
• Coal beds were formed from compaction and
decomposition of swamp plants that lived
million years ago. Antartica has substantial
quantity of coal, thus, it only means that
Antarctica must have been positioned in a
part of earth where it once supported life.
• Continental Drift Theory- states that all the
continents were once one large landmass
that broke apart, and where the pieces moved
slowly to their current locations
• -proposed by Alfred Wegener