ALFRED WEGENER, PANGEA, AND THE

EVIDENCE FOR CONTINENTAL DRIFT

ANTONIO GIBBS

BRIANNA YOUNG

ALFRED WEGENER: METEOROLOGIST AND A GEOPHYSICIST

Alfred Wegener was a German scientist who once believed the Earth was one land mass. He named it Pangea. He also came up with the theory of Continental drift.

ALFRED WEGENER’S THEORY

• Alfred Wegener came up with the theory of continental drift. He studied animals that were the same species that existed in different regions. He also saw that some continents fit together like a puzzle. Alfred Wegener showed his discovery to other scientists. However, they quickly turned it down because he didn’t have any evidence. It was only in the 1960s that continental drift became excepted in science.

THE THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT

• The theory of Continental Drift is a theory that the continents were once a single landmass that drifted apart. It was called Pangea. Pangea was a single landmass made up of all the continents that we know today. Panthalassa was the body of water that surrounded Pangea.

EVIDENCE OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT

• Fossils found in one part of the world match fossils found in a completely different part of the world. Fossil plants in India, South Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America are similar to each other. Meaning there might be a chance that Wegener theory might have been true.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT

• Continental drift brought a question on how it moves. Today we know that Continental drift happens because of tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are slabs of rock under the seven continents. The plates move and interact through a process called Plate Tectonics. Tectonic plates move 2.5 centimeters per year. There are some researchers that say the Pacific ridge is moving faster than the Atlantic.

PEOPLE WHO ALSO STUDIED CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Franklin Coxworthy

Roberto Mantovani

William Henry Pickering

Frank Bursley Taylor

Edward Suess

THE NEW SUPER CONTINENT

• Scientists believe as the movement of the tectonic plates goes on eventually all seven continents will one day become one once again. When all humans cease to exists.