ELAJ+1-3

toc

Back to Home Page

Vocabulary

 * continental drift:**the idea that the continents slowly drifted across Earth's surface
 * fossil:**any trace of ancient organism that was preserved in rock
 * pangaea:**means"all lands", or that all continents were together

The Theory of Continental Drift

 * the hypothesis that all the continents were once joined together about 300 million years ago it was called **pangaea**
 * scientists got evidence from land forms,fossils and climate

**Evidence from Landforms**
lines up with a mountain range in Argentina. European coal fields match up with similar coal fields in Noth America.
 * scientists found evidence from landforms. They say that the mountain range running from east to west in South Africa

**Evidence from fossils**

 * Scientists used **fossils** to prove **continental drift**.
 * the reptiles Mesosaurus and Lysrosaurus havebeen found in places now separated by oceans.

Example: Neither reptile could have swum great distances across salt water. If it therefore likely that those retiles lived on a single landmass that has since split apart.

=== Evidence from Climate ===
 * scientists used climates as examples for pangaea too.
 * Example: spitsbergen lies in the Artic Ocean north of Norway.

=== Scientist Reject Wegner's Theory ===
 * Wegner continues
 * Even though the scientists reject Wegner's theory he kept on going
 * He even came up with another explanation on which how mountains form