Wikibooks: High School Earth Science/Continental Drift

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: North Magnetic Pole
• Online Access: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/High_School_Earth_Science/Continental_Drift

TOCright An important piece of plate tectonic theory is the continental drift idea. This was developed in the early part of the 20 th century mostly by a single scientist Alfred Wegener. His hypothesis states that continents move around on Earth s surface and that they were once joined together as a single supercontinent (Figure 6.5). Wegener s idea eventually helped to form the theory of plate tectonics but while Wegener was alive scientists did not believe that the continents could move. clear =Lesson Objectives= Be able to explain the continental drift hypothesis. Describe the evidence Wegener used to support his continental drift idea. Describe how the north magnetic pole appeared to move and how that is evidence for continental drift. Understand apparent polar wander. =The Continental Drift Idea= Find a map of the continents and cut each one out. Better yet use a map where the edges of the continents show the continental shelf. In this case your continent puzzle piece includes all of the continental crust for that continent and reflects the true size and shape of the continent. Can you fit the pieces together? The easiest link is between the eastern Americas and western Africa and Europe but the rest can fit together too! Alfred Wegener an early 20 th century German meteorologist believed that the continents could fit together. He proposed that the continents were not stationary but that they had moved during the planet s history. He suggested that at one time all of the continents had been united into a single super continent. He named the super continent Pangaea meaning entire earth in ancient Greek. Wegener further suggested that Pangaea broke up long ago and that the continents then moved to their current positions. He called his hypothesis continental drift . =Evidence for Continental Drift= Besides the fit of the continents Wegener and his supporters collected a great deal of evidence for the continental drift hypothesis. Wegener found that this evidence was best explained if the continents had at one ...