Your notes need to include the following:

1.What is the continental drift theory?

2.Who came up with the continental drift
theory?
3.What was the evidence to support the
theory?
The Theory of Continental Drift
The World
 ALFRED WEGENER
THEORY OF CONTINENTAL
DRIFT
Found evidence for
PANGAEA and
proposed the theory of
continental drift.
 Continental Drift

• Theory that continents were

once part of a single
landmass that broke apart
and have moved to their
present locations.

• can drift apart from one

another and have done so in
the past

For more information about what the continents looked like throughout the Earth’s
History go to:
htttp://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/anim1.html
 Pangaea
Pangaea is the name given to the single
landmass that was present 200 million
years ago
 WEGENER’S EVIDENCE
1. Continental Jigsaw
Puzzle
-Continents
“fit together”
like puzzle
pieces
 WEGENER’S EVIDENCE

2. Fossil
•fossils are remains
of living things that
lived long ago.
•similar fossils have
been discovered in
matching coastlines
on different
continents.
WEGENER’S EVIDENCE
 WEGENER’S EVIDENCE
3. Rock Formation and Mountains
– Some mountain ranges on different continents
seem to match.
• Ex: ranges in Canada match Norway and Sweden
• Ex: Appalachian Mtn. match UK mtn
 WEGENER’S EVIDENCE
4. Coal Deposits and climatic evidence such as
glaciers in areas that are now close to the Equator
 He could not find the force that was
causing the continents to drift.
Because of this, he could not convince
anyone that continents could move.
He died in Greenland on an expedition.
At the time of his death, no one believed
his hypothesis!
Technology developed during the 1950’s
changed all that!
 Evidence of Continental Drift (today)

Satellites used to
measure the
movement of
continents

• Laser Geodynamics
Satellite (LAGEOS)
 The Plates Move…
So what now?
Which way?
• 50 million years
 Try these links below:

http://www.geo.cornell.edu/hawaii/220/PRI/
PRI_PT_contdrift.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-
nature/travel-through-deep-time-interactive-
earth-180952886/

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/
common_assets/science/virtual_labs/ES11/
ES11.html