Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to cite evidence that support continent drift and
explain how the continents drift.

The seven major world continents are North America, South America, Europe, Africa,
Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

In 1912 German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed that in the beginning, the Earth
has only one giant landmass called Pangaea, which means "all land." He hypothesized
that this giant landmass slowly broke into smaller land pieces that eventually drifted away
from each other which made the seven continents that we now know. This is known as
the Continental drift theory.

Alfred Wegener presented the following pieces of evidence to support his theory:

 The continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. This is most evident in the
matching coastlines of South America and Africa.
 Similar animal and plant fossils were found in different continents. The fossils of
the reptile mesosaurus were found along the coastlines of South America and
Africa which are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, the fossil of a
fernlike plant glossopteriswas found distributed in all the continents.
  In the matching coastlines of northwestern Africa and eastern Brazil, South
America, the rocks are of the same type and age.
 Geologic features such as mountain ranges are found along matching
coastlines like that of the Appalachian Mountains and

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to cite evidence that support continent drift and
explain how the continents drift.

The seven major world continents are North America, South America, Europe, Africa,
Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

In 1912 German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed that in the beginning, the Earth
has only one giant landmass called Pangaea, which means "all land." He hypothesized
that this giant landmass slowly broke into smaller land pieces that eventually drifted away
from each other which made the seven continents that we now know. This is known as
the Continental drift theory.
Alfred Wegener presented the following pieces of evidence to support his theory:

 The continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. This is most evident in the
matching coastlines of South America and Africa.
 Similar animal and plant fossils were found in different continents. The fossils of
the reptile mesosaurus were found along the coastlines of South America and
Africa which are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, the fossil of a
fernlike plant glossopteriswas found distributed in all the continents.

 In the matching coastlines of northwestern Africa and eastern Brazil, South

America, the rocks are of the same type and age.
 Geologic features such as mountain ranges are found along matching
coastlines like that of the Appalachian Mountains and
 Coal seams are found in Antarctica. Coal is produced from organic matter like
dead plants and animals. In a very cold place like Antarctica, it would be
impossible for most organisms to survive. The presence of coal indicates that the
continent was once inhabited by many organisms. It also gives a clue that
Antarctica was once located near the equator where abundant animal and plant
organisms could be found.
 Tillites, which are deposits of rock debris left by glaciers, were found in Africa,
South America, India, and Australia. They were of the same age and type. The
presence of tillites indicates that those places had glaciers in the past, were once
located near the South Pole, and had drifted away from each other.
 The pieces of evidence supported the continental drift theory; however, the
theory was rejected due to lack of explanation for the force responsible in the
continent's movement.
 In 1919, Sir Arthur Holmes, an English geologist, proposed the presence of
convection cells in the Earth’s mantle. When the rocks in the Earth’s interior are
heated by radioactivity, they become less dense, and they rise toward the surface
of the Earth. When they cool down, they become denser and sink. The
continuous process of rising and sinking of rocks produces convection
cells or convection currents. These currents cause the tectonic plates, which
include the crust, to move and drift.
Try it!
Observe how convection current is produced by heating five to ten pieces of monggo
beans in a beaker. How do the beans move?

What do you think?

What do you think happens when plates, which are parts that form the crust, collide,
spread, and slide past each other?

Key Points
 Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory is supported by the following pieces
of evidence: jigsaw puzzle fitting of the continents, similar fossils and geologic
features in different continents, coal seams in Antarctica, and tillites in the
equator.
 According to Sir Arthur Holmes, convection cells in the mantle drive the tectonic
plates to move and the continents to drift away from each other.