GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record. Scientists have found fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of similar age. These rocks were on the shores of different continents. This suggests that the continents were once joined.

Detailed explanation-2: -The same type of plant and animal fossils are found on continents that are now widely separated. Wegener suggested that when the organisms were alive, the lands were joined and the organisms were living side-by-side. Wegener found rocks of the same type and age on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Detailed explanation-3: -The only way these fossils can be found on continents that are separated by oceans is if the continents were once together (connected). These ancient animals and plants could not have swam across oceans!

Detailed explanation-4: -There are many examples of fossils found on separate continents and nowhere else, suggesting the continents were once joined. If Continental Drift had not occurred, the alternative explanations would be: The species evolved independently on separate continents – contradicting Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Detailed explanation-5: -Finding identical or similar fossils in areas separated by vast distances were some of the first clues that scientists used to reconstruct past plate movement. This distribution of fossils led to theories that the southern continents were once joined in a supercontinent called Gondwana.