Evidence of Continental Drift Theory

If you take a look at a map of the earth today, you will see the current location of broken
land masses that constitute the earth. However, would you believe if someone told you that
these broken land masses were once connected to each other as one huge supercontinent?
Well, this claim was made in the 90’s by Alfred Wegener, a German polar researcher,
meteorologist and geophysicist who died in the 1930. Wegener’s theory of continental drift
states that the existing continents of the earth were once glued together forming a super
landmass. Overtime, the land mass broke and drifted away and still drifting to this day. In his
proposal, he stated that the super continent, which he named PANGAEA, meaning “all earth”
once existed. The super continent was surrounded by water bodies, mainly oceans, and seas.
As a result of movement of super continent, PANGAEA split into two super land masses namely
Laurasia and Gondwanaland. Laurasia, makes up the northern continents today. The northern
continent consist of Europe, North America, and Asia. Gondwanaland makes up the southern
continents of today. The southern continents consist of South America, Antarctica, Australia,
India, and Africa. While making this claim, he had a collection of evidence to support it.
 Fossil plants and animals clue

Fossils of creatures and plants discovered on different continents helped him to push
his case that the continents were once locked together before breaking up and drifting away.
Some of the fossils evidence discovered on continents includes mesosaurus, lystrosaurus,
cynognathus, and glossopteris.
 Mesosaurus
Mesosauros are fossils originating from aquatic freshwater reptiles. These
reptiles lived in freshwater bodies such as lakes and rivers. If you take a look at the map
before the continents drifted away, you find that mesosaurus is located in the southern
parts of Africa and North America. If you take a look at the current map after the
continents drifted away, you find that North America and Africa are far away from each
other separated by the Atlantic Ocean. So his theory is provided by the fact that the
fresh water reptiles could not swim across the ocean waters, hence, their distribution
on every continents. The discovery of fossils on different continents indicated that the
continents were once together before they drifted away.
 Lystrosaurus and Cynognathus

Lystrosaurus is fossil from land reptiles. Cynognathus is fossil from another
species of reptile. If you look at the map before the continents drifted away, you find
that Cynognathus was situated in South America and Africa. Lystrosaurus, on the other
hand, was located in Africa, India, and Antarctica. According to the Lystrosaurus and
Cynognathus body anatomy, they are not designed for swimming. Now, looking at the
current map after drifting of the conttinents, Cynognathus is situated in Africa and South
America. So technically, the creature would not have traveled through the ocean to get
to the next continent. The distribution of these reptiles in different continents proves
that these separate land masses were once together before splitting. On the top of that,
Lystrosaurus is situated in Antarctica, India, and Africa according to the modern map.
 Glossopteris
Glossopteris was fossil from fern. It is a fern that was discovered in Africa, South
America, Antarctica, India and Australia. According to the modern day map, this
continents are far apart. Its, therefore, impossible that the seeds of the fern were blown
by wind or floated across the ocean to have that kind of population on this five
continents. The fact that the seeds would have been unable to be blown or floated to
this continents proves that these continents were once together.
 Information from climate

Apart from fossil evidence, Wegener used climatic clues to substantiate his facts. One
of the clues he used was the glacier. Wegener in his expedition, discovered glacier grooves in
all the continents. Glacier grooves are the gaping trenches or land marks carved out by
movement of glacier. He discovered glacier grooves in continents that were not cold enough to
support snow formation in the present day. When he brought these continents together, the
glacier grooves perfectly matched up. This suggested that these continents were once together
and drifted away over time.
 The perfect fitting of the continents

Wegener also provided evidence of continental drift by looking at the physical shape of
continental coast lines. The shape of continental coast lines visibly matched up like pieces of
the puzzle.
 Rock clues
Wegener’s specifically used rock composition and mountain ranges to provide evidence
of continental drift. He provided evidence that mountain ranges occurring on opposite
continents matched up pretty well when brought together. This perfect aligning of mountain
ranges indicated that the continents were once together. For example, if you take the mountain
ranges of North America and Europe, they align perfectly well. Mountains are typically formed
when two opposite land masses collide with each other triggering the rock found at the point
of collision to fold or bulge upwards. In terms of rock composition, at locations where
continents match up, the kinds of rocks on the opposite sides of continents were of the same
kind. Since these match up points consisted of the same kind of rock further proves that the
continents were once together before breaking away and drifting. Despite Wegener’s effort to
try to prove his theory of continental drift, it was never accepted. When he was tasked with
proving how these continents moved to different places, he couldn’t. However, this theory of
continental drift came to be accepted in the 90’s after his death. He died of an alleged heart
attacked when on an expedition to Greenland.

Evidence of Continental Drift Theory

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Evidence of Continental Drift Theory

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If you take a look at a map of the earth today, you will see the current location of broken

 Fossil plants and animals clue

 Lystrosaurus and Cynognathus

 Information from climate

 The perfect fitting of the continents

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