1. Cornell Style notes

2. Alfred Wegner  (1890-1930) German meteorologist and geophysicist  developed Theory of Continental Drift (1912)  died in 1930 while gathering more evidence

3.  What evidence is their to support continental drift? 1.1. the continents “fit” together like puzzle pieces Wegner used present day shorelines to show how South America “fit” with Africa

4. 2. Matching Fossils found on continents that are NOW separated by oceans. EX Mesosaurus

5. 3. Rock of similar type or structures found on different continents. The rocks of Appalachian Mts in eastern USA match mountains found in Scotland and Norway/Sweden

8.  4. Using glacial evidence (ice cores, glacial groves) found that the 5 southern continents (Africa, S. America, Antarctica, Australia and India) all had been covered with ice at about the same time.

9. At some point, in the distant past, all the continents were connected together in a super- continent called Pangaea which formed about 300 million years ago (mya) What is the theory of continental drift?

10. Why was Alfred Wegeners theory rejected?  Wegner couldn’t explain what mechanism could move such a massive substance as a continent.  Wegner wasn’t a geologist.  It was a radical idea, as current understanding of the Earth was that the continents were permanent.

11.  Was Alfred Wegeners theory ever revisited?  While Wegner’s theory was disputed for decades, a number of pieces of new evidence were discovered that began to show Wegner was on the right track after all