Here’s a breakdown of his theory:
🌍 Continental Drift Theory (1912)
• Main Idea: The continents were once joined together in a single massive landmass called Pangaea (“all Earth”) about 300 million years ago.
• Over time, Pangaea broke apart, and the continents slowly drifted to their current positions.
🔑 Evidence Wegener used:
1. Fit of the Continents
• South America and Africa seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces.
2. Fossil Evidence
• Identical fossils of plants and animals (e.g., Mesosaurus, Glossopteris) were found on widely separated continents.
3. Geological Evidence
• Mountain ranges and rock formations on different continents matched (e.g., Appalachians in North America and Caledonides in Europe).
4. Climatic Evidence
• Evidence of past glaciation was found in places that are now tropical, suggesting they were once closer to the poles.
⚖️ Reception
• At first, Wegener’s idea was not accepted by most scientists because he couldn’t explain how the continents moved.
• The theory gained support in the 1960s with the development of Plate Tectonics, which explained movement through seafloor spreading and convection currents in the mantle.
ScienceAndDiscovery 