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.
How did fossils provide evidence for continental drift?
How did fossils provide evidence for continental drift? Deposits of coal have been found beneath the ice of Antarctica. But coal only forms in warm swamps. Use Wegener's hypothesis to explain how coal could be found so near to the South Pole. The land must of reached its location in the Arctic by continental drift.
What does fossils support continental drift?
What fossils supported the theory of continental drift?
- Fossils of the seed fern Glossopteris were too heavy to be carried so far by wind.
- Mesosaurus was a swimming reptile but could only swim in fresh water.
- Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus were land reptiles and were unable to swim.
What are the 4 evidence of continental drift?
What are the 4 evidence of continental drift? They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils. What are the 5 evidences that disprove the continental drift theory? The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution ]
What evidence supports continental drift?
- It is the sedimentary rock made from glacier deposits.
- The Gondwana system of sediments from India is recognized as having its counterparts in 6 different landmasses in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Counterparts of this series are found in Madagascar, Africa, Antarctica, Falkland Island, and Australia not to mention India.
What are 2 important fossils used to support continental drift?
EVIDENCE FOR CONTINENTAL DRIFTFossils of the seed fern Glossopteris were too heavy to be carried so far by wind.Mesosaurus was a swimming reptile but could only swim in fresh water.Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus were land reptiles and were unable to swim.
What is the connection between continental drift and the similar fossils and geologic materials found on the different continents?
Fossils of similar organisms across widely disparate continents encouraged the revolutionary theory of continental drift. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.
How do fossils support the theory of plate tectonics?
Fossils are also useful for showing that two areas were once joined together. Some species of fossil plant and animal are found on different continents today, would be unable to spread such distances over huge oceans. This indicates that the continents used to fit together.
How do fossils support the theory of evolution?
Fossils provide evidence for the evolutionary change through now extinct forms that led to modern species. For example, there is a rich fossil record that shows the evolutionary transitions from horse ancestors to modern horses that document intermediate forms and a gradual adaptation o changing ecosystems.
Who is most associated with the theory of continental drift?
The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist Alfred Wegener. In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmass es were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other.
What did Wegener's theory of continental drift not accept?
Scientists did not accept Wegener’s theory of continental drift. One of the elements lacking in the theory was the mechanism for how it works—why did the continents drift and what patterns did they follow? Wegener suggested that perhaps the rotation of the Earth caused the continents to shift towards and apart from each other. (It doesn't.)
What are the continents resting on?
Today, we know that the continents rest on massive slab s of rock called tectonic plate s. The plates are always moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics. The continents are still moving today. Some of the most dynamic sites of tectonic activity are seafloor spreading zones and giant rift valleys.
How are the North American and Eurasian plates separated?
The North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, for example, are separated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The two continents are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) per year. Rift valley s are sites where a continental landmass is ripping itself apart.
How long ago did Pangaea exist?
Pangaea existed about 240 million years ago. By about 200 million years ago, this supercontinent began breaking up. Over millions of years, Pangaea separated into pieces that moved away from one another. These pieces slowly assumed their positions as the continent we recognize today.
How long have supercontinents been around?
These include Pannotia, which formed about 600 million years ago , and Rodinia, which existed more than a billion years ago.
Which continents have similar geology?
South America and Africa were not the only continents with similar geology. Wegener discovered that the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, for instance, were geologically related to the Caledonian Mountains of Scotland. Pangaea existed about 240 million years ago.
How does continental drift work?
Those plates sit over the Earth's mantle, and the mantle dissipates heat just like a giant convection oven. This provides much of the energy for the processes that move the plates, resulting in continental drift. Plate tectonics is the process, and continental drift is the resulting pattern. If we could fast-forward 10, 100, or 1,000 million years in the future, Earth would look very different than it does now.
How did the continents move?
There was no mechanism to explain how continents might move. Over time, however, geologists turned up evidence that the continents really were in motion. Instead of being anchored deeply to the Earth, continents floated on the Earth's upper layer and could be pushed and pulled around. Great ocean rifts created new ocean rifts to make new seafloor, continental crust could be subsumed in collisions, and some mountain ranges showed signs that they had been pushed up when landmasses met. While molten rock oozes out of the middle of the Atlantic to create new seafloor to push continents on either side apart, places like Africa's eastern rift valley are being pulled in opposite directions by different teconic forces and will eventually split.
What animals were found in the Triassic Period?
In strata dating to the beginning of the Triassic Period, about 250 million years ago, paleontologists found fossils of protomammals like the weasel-like Thrinaxodon and the tubby, tusked Lystrosaurus.
What are some fossils that have been found in Antarctica?
Explorers and paleontologists who braved the harsh conditions of Antarctica found a prehistoric seed fern called Glossopteris that grew about 260 million years ago. This plant had also been found in places like India and Africa in rocks of similar age. Animals upheld the connection, too. In strata dating to the beginning of the Triassic Period, about 250 million years ago, paleontologists found fossils of protomammals like the weasel-like Thrinaxodon and the tubby, tusked Lystrosaurus. These distant relatives of ours had been found rocks of the same age in South Africa. These animals were not adapted to swimming and couldn't have made the swim from prehistoric South Africa to Antarctica even if a pathway existed for them to do so. In 1970 geologist David Elliot and colleagues published a report on these animals and how there could no longer be any doubt that continental drift had shaped the world over eons. Follow the fossils and you can piece together a map of how the world once was.
Is continental drift a common idea?
But while this idea is common knowledge now, it wasn't always so. The idea of continental drift was treated as very controversial through most of the 20th century. It took some special fossils to confirm what geologists had suspected.