EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa seem to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and Wegener discovered their rock layers “fit” just as clearly. South America and Africa were not the only continents with similar geology.

Detailed explanation-2: -About 100 years ago, a German scientist named Alfred Wegener made the observation that continents fit together. This led him to suggest a new idea that the continents were once part of a single piece of land called Pangea. It split apart millions of years ago and the continents moved to their present position.

Detailed explanation-3: -Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once united into a single supercontinent named Pangaea, meaning all earth in ancient Greek. He suggested that Pangaea broke up long ago and that the continents then moved to their current positions. He called his hypothesis continental drift.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America appear to fit together neatly, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The same shape is also traced out by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, shown on this map by the light-colored area (representing relatively shallow seas) between the two continents.