1. Continental Drift

2. Drifting continents Early map makers noticed the coasts of several continents fit together like puzzle pieces They thought the continents remained in the same position

3. Alfred Wegener A German scientist In 1910 first proposed the theory of continental drift Theory states that all of the continents were once joined in a single landmass Continents have drifted apart over time

4. Pangaea Wegener named this landmass that occurred a few million years ago Pangaea Pangaea means “all-lands” It contained all of the current continents It was inhabited by reptiles, insects and plants

6. Wegener’s Evidence Landforms What did it show? That identical landforms were found on separate continents Where would you find it? Mountain ranges match up in South Africa & Argentina American & European coal fields match up

8. Wegener’s Evidence Fossils What did it show? Found fossils of reptiles & plants in places now separated by oceans None could have traveled across the oceans Where would you find it? Found in Africa, south America, Australia, India, & Antarctica

10. Wegener’s Evidence Climate What did it show? Evidence of ancient climates on continents were different than their current climates Where would you find it? Spitsbergen an island in the Artic has tropical plant fossils meaning it was in a warm climate millions of years ago South Africa has evidence of past glaciations so it must have been in a much colder climate

12. Continental Drift Wegener believed mountains formed when continents collided and their edges would crumple and fold pushing rocks upward Wegener could not provide an explaination for the force that pushed or pulled the continents so geologists rejected his theory

13. http://www.classzone.com/books/earth _science/terc/content/visualizations/es 0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no= visualization http://www.classzone.com/books/earth _science/terc/content/visualizations/es 0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no= visualization http://ees.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/ elearning/module04swf.swf http://ees.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/ elearning/module04swf.swf

14. 4-3 Review Who is this man and what was his theory?

15. This is a picture of a Lystrosaurus. How did this support Wegener’s theory?

16. Why couldn’t the Glossopteris exist on continents separated by oceans?

17. What does this picture represent?

18. This is Spitzbergen today. How has it changed? How do we know?

19. This map shows that glaciers existed in South Africa. How does this prove Wegener’s theory?

20. Mountain formation This image shows how Wegener explained the formation of mountains. He was one of the first to come up with this idea. What was it?

21. Pangaea What was Pangaea? When did it exist?

22. Poor Alfred! What happened to him? Why?