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Continental Drift. Schedule. What is it?. Continental Drift - Earth’s continents were once joined in a single landmass, and gradually moved, or drifted apart. People thought this for centuries - they began thinking this when the first maps were introduced to the world.
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What is it? • Continental Drift - Earth’s continents were once joined in a single landmass, and gradually moved, or drifted apart. • People thought this for centuries - they began thinking this when the first maps were introduced to the world. • Alfred Wegener came up with the hypothesis of continental drift.
Fossil Evidence • The same fossils have been discovered in South America as well as in western Africa. • Mesosaurus - a reptile that lived in ancient time • Lived 270 million years ago • Fossils are only found in these two places
Climate Evidence • Today, Greenland lies near the north pole. • There are fossils being dug up in Greenland that have ancient tropical plants. • How did tropical plants get to an area that is so cold and covered in ice? • South Africa is warm today? • South Africa has evidence that it was once covered by ice.
Geologic Evidence • The kinds of rocks on each continent can be matched to another continent. • The rock layers in Brazil match the rock layers in western Africa. • Rocks in the Appalachian Mountains match rocks found in Scotland.
Pangaea • With so much evidence that the continents were once connected, Wegener drew a conclusion. • The continents all were connected in a supercontinent that was named Pangaea. • Pangaea split apart 200 million years ago.
