Unit Four - Continental Drift Flashcards
Who proposed Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener
What is the second piece of evidence that Alfred Wegener used to prove Continental Drift?
Plant and animal fossils were similar across oceans.
Animals and plants cannot survive IN oceans or IN Antarctica, so the land must have been connected.
What was the missing piece that Alfred Wegener had that needed to prove Continental Drift?
He could not explain how and why continents move.
What is Continental Drift?
300 million years ago, a supercontinent called PANGEA existed and was slowly split apart by the forces with the Earth.
*These forces are still at work, and the continents are still moving today.
What is the third piece of evidence that Alfred Wegener used to prove Continental Drift?
There are rare glacial scars (scratches) in rocks that are now found in tropical climates.
Glaciers are frozen water, and they are only found in cold climates. Therefore, the glacial
scars prove that the land moved from a desert to a tropical climate.
What causes continental drift?
Convection Currents are believed to be a major force moving the plates.
What is the first piece of evidence that Alfred Wegener used to prove Continental Drift?
The coastlines of continents can fit together like puzzle pieces.
What is the fourth piece of evidence that Alfred Wegener used to prove Continental Drift?
Similar rocks and landforms (mountain ranges) are found across oceans.
This proves that the land was once connected because the rocks and landforms have the same age on top of the same composition.
More information about Alfred Wegener?
Wegner was a meteorologist that thought he knew more than all the geologists in the world.
