Continental drift

Alfred Wegener 1912

Suggests that the continents are transported across the planet by convection currents. The continents were once joined together in a single landmass (supercontinent) called PANGAEA surrounded by an ocean called Panthalassa. Approximately 200 million years ago Pangaea started to break apart. The continents, fuelled by convection currents, began to drift apart. Initially the supercontinent broke into two major sections called Laurasia and Gondwanaland.

Proof:

The edges of the continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle e.g. the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa.
The same type of fossils have been found in South America and Africa meaning that these two continents were at on stage joined together. (distribution of identical fossils around the world). MESOSAURUS REMAINS found in both southern Africa and Eastern South America.
Matching mountain trends and rock types on continents seperated by thousands of mile of sea e.g. Scandinavia and the Appalachians in the USA.

	Created by eimearkelly3 over 11 years ago

Leaving Certificate Geography (Plate Tectonics) Note on Plate Tectonics, created by eimearkelly3 on 21/06/2013.

Plate Tectonics