GEOLOGY

EARTH SCIENCE

TECTONICS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
What did Wegener observe about the continents that lead to his theory of continental drift?
A
They were very large
B
They were part of the earth’s crust
C
They were made up of tectonic plates
D
They appeared to fit together like puzzle pieces
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Wegener observed that the continents of South America and Africa looked like they would fit together remarkably well-take away the Atlantic Ocean and these two massive landforms would lock neatly together.

Detailed explanation-2: -Alfred Wegener, in the first three decades of this century, and DuToit in the 1920s and 1930s gathered evidence that the continents had moved. They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils.

Detailed explanation-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -About 200 million years ago, all the continents were connected together as one giant supercontinent known as Pangaea. Over time, these continents have broken apart into 7 continents and 5 oceans. We know they were together because it’s not only that continents fit together like a puzzle.

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