What is some evidence of continental drift?

Lines of evidence for Continental Drift Theory?

• What are the lines of evidence used for the continental drift theory by Albert Wegener? Please list them.

• Answer:

  1) Geometry - the outlines of the continents - including the continental shelves fit together like a jigsaw. 2) Places that are now on different continents have similar or identical geology - for example the Appalachians match up with Scotlands Caledonian mountains and the Karroo in South Africa has identical geology to Santa Catarina in Brazil. 3) Places that are now distant have similar or identical plant fossils. For example the fernlike plant Glossopteris, from about 250 million years ago has been found in small areas in Africa, South America, Australia, India, and Antarctica, in areas that are thought to have been adjacent. 4) Places that are now distant have similar or identical animal fossils. For example Mesosaurus fossils have been found in southern Africa and eastern South America. Mesosaurus would not have been able to swim the Atlantic. 5) Substantial evidence exists that various locations have had very different climates in the past. For example Spitsbergen - now covered in Arctic snow has fossilized tropical plants. Wegener was a meteorologist by training and this was an important line of evidence for him. . Wegener could never come up with a convincing mechanism for Continental Drift which is why his theory never gained general acceptance. He overestimated the rate of drift by a factor of 10. However Plate Tectonics provides an excellent mechanism. There are numerous additional lines of evidence supporting Plate Tectonics - for example palaeomagnetism, magnetic stripes on the ocean floor, earthquakes, volcanoes and deep trenches on plate boundaries and direct observation of continental drift by precise surveying using GPS and other techniques. Plate tectonics has so much evidence in support that even the Creationists believe in it - although they think it all happened in a few weeks. If you think it bizarre that anyone could imagine the Atlantic Ocean being created in two weeks - read the fourth link.