How did Alfred Wegener try to prove that the continents of Africa and South America were once connected?

Wegener supported his theory by demonstrating the biological and geological similarities between continents. South America and Africa contain fossils of animals found only on those two continents, with corresponding geographic ranges.

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How did Alfred Wegener use this as an evidence for the theory of continental drift?

Wegener used fossil evidence to support his continental drift hypothesis. The fossils of these organisms are found on lands that are now far apart. Grooves and rock deposits left by ancient glaciers are found today on different continents very close to the equator.

What evidence of continental drift has fit together South America and Africa?

Finally, Wegener studied the stratigraphy of different rocks and mountain ranges. The east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa seem to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and Wegener discovered their rock layers “fit” just as clearly.

What did Alfred Wegener say about South America and Africa?

Alfred Wegener. “Doesn’t the east coast of South America fit exactly against the west coast of Africa, as if they had once been joined?” wrote Wegener to his future wife in December 1910. “This is an idea I’ll have to pursue.”

What did Alfred Wegener see when he looked at the continents on a map of the world?

By 1910 he had noticed on a world map that the east coast of South America fits exactly against the west coat of Africa, as if they had once been joined. He looked for further evidence, found it, and, in 1915, published The Origin of Continents and Oceans.

What evidence did Wegener have that South America and Africa were once joined?

Wegener knew that fossil plants and animals such as mesosaurs, a freshwater reptile found only in South America and Africa during the Permian period, could be found on many continents. He also matched up rock formations on either side of the Atlantic Ocean like puzzle pieces.

What were Wegener’s observation?

In 1912 Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) noticed the same thing and proposed that the continents were once compressed into a single protocontinent which he called Pangaea (meaning “all lands”), and over time they have drifted apart into their current distribution.

What did Alfred Wegener do?

Alfred Wegener, in full Alfred Lothar Wegener, (born November 1, 1880, Berlin, Germany—died November 1930, Greenland), German meteorologist and geophysicist who formulated the first complete statement of the continental drift hypothesis.

What evidence proves that South America Africa India and Australia were once covered by glaciers?

The hypothesis that the continents were once connected also helps to better explain the glacial striations and tills found in South America, Africa, India, and Australia. This body of evidence suggests that these areas were once connected and covered by glacial ice, which flowed outwards from Antarctica.

How did the continents fit together?

About 100 years ago, a German scientist named Alfred Wegener made the observation that continents fit together. This led him to suggest a new idea that the continents were once part of a single piece of land called Pangea. It split apart millions of years ago and the continents moved to their present position.

What type s of evidence did Wegener use to support his theory?

Wegener used fossils, the symmetrical fit of continents, and the distribution of rocks as evidence to support the continental drift theory.

When did Alfred Wegener publish his theory?

During his long convalescence, Wegener was able to fully develop his ideas into the Theory of Continental Drift, detailed in a book titled Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (in German, The Origin of Continents and Oceans) published in 1915.

What fossils did Alfred Wegener find in different continents?

The Glossopteris fossil is found in Australia, Antarctica, India, South Africa, and South America—all the southern continents. Now, the Glossopteris seed is known to be large and bulky and therefore could not have drifted or flown across the oceans to a separate continent.

Why did scientists reject Wegener’s theory of continental drift hypothesis?

The main reason that Wegener’s hypothesis was not accepted was because he suggested no mechanism for moving the continents. He thought the force of Earth’s spin was sufficient to cause continents to move, but geologists knew that rocks are too strong for this to be true.

What did Alfred Wegener propose after looking a rock sequences on different continents?

What did Alfred Wegner propose after looking a rock sequences on different continents? The continents were connected when sections of the rock stuctures formed. What did Wegener notice about fossils on different continents? Fossils of the same species were found on South America or Africa.

How did Wegener explain similar fossils on different continents?

How did Wegener explain similar fossils on different continents? Since neither reptile could have swum great distances across salt water he inferred that they once lived on a single landmass that has since split apart. How did Wegener think that mountains formed? When continents collide, their edges crumple up.

What did Wegener think happened to his supercontinent?

He formed a hypothesis that Earth’s continents had moved! Wegener’s hypothesis was that all the continents had once been joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart. He named this supercontinent Pangaea, meaning “all lands.” According to Wegener, Pangaea existed about 300 million years ago.

In what direction did Wegener think that the continents moved?

Today glaciers only form on land and nearer the poles. Wegener thought that the glaciers were centered over the southern land mass close to the South Pole and the continents moved to their present positions later on.

How were fossils used to prove continents?

Fossil Evidence

One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record. Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined.

Why the continents could not move the way Wegener is describing?

Continents could not possibly the way he described it because he did not provide any hard evidence that would give the ultimate cause or mechanism for the continents to move.

How did Alfred Wegener find out about Pangea?

Wegener concluded that South America and Africa (as well as others) had been connected to one another, possibly through land bridges, some 250 million years ago. He also believed that Pangea had lasted through most of Earth’s history.

How did Wegener explain why fossils of land animals were found on continents that are?

How did Wegener explain why fossils of land animals were found on continents that are across oceans from one another? – Animals evolved separately on each continent.

What did Wegener think happened to the Pangaea?

His widely accepted theory of land displacement holds that Earth’s continents have been in motion throughout geologic time. Wegener believe that there was once a single supercontinent, which he called Pangea (or Pangaea). He said that Pangea broke apart millions of years ago to form two large continents.

What is the force that moves the continents?

The movement of these tectonic plates is likely caused by convection currents in the molten rock in Earth’s mantle below the crust. Earthquakes and volcanoes are the short-term results of this tectonic movement. The long-term result of plate tectonics is the movement of entire continents over millions of years (Fig.

How did the continents separate?

Over time, these islands collided with the large group of continents and were attached to it in a process called accretion. About 525 million years ago, that land mass broke apart, with North America on one side and South America, Africa and the small island pieces on the other.

Which way are the continents moving?

Several of the tectonic plates are currently moving north, including both Africa and Australia. This drift is believed to be driven by anomalies left by Pangea, deep in the Earth’s interior, in the part called the mantle.

What did Alfred Wegener use as evidence for his theory that the continents were once one giant land mass?

Evidence for the movement of continents on tectonic plates is now extensive. Similar plant and animal fossils are found around the shores of different continents, suggesting that they were once joined.

Why would Wegener have been interested in the fossil evidence?

Finding similarities among the fossil records on different continents provides evidence for the theory that current continents were once connected. The fact that life on each continent is now distinct is another type of evidence.

What did Alfred Wegener study?

He specialized in astronomy, meteorology, and physics. In 1902, he began a PhD degree in astronomy. He spent a year at Berlin’s famous Urania Observatory, whose purpose was (and still is) to bring astronomy to the public. Alfred Wegener completed his PhD in 1905, age 24.

Is the presence of animal fossils tells that South America Africa and Antarctica were once connected?

Yes, because these fossils indicated the former connections of the continents before which was called Gondwana in the Triassic period, 200 million years ago.

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