What landforms did Alfred Wegener use for continental drift?
Wegener also compiled evidence by comparing similar rocks, mountains, fossils, and glacial formations across oceans. For example, the fossils of the primitive aquatic reptile Mesosaurus were found on the separate coastlines of Africa and South America.
What did Wegener call the land mass?
Pangaea
Wegener was convinced that all of Earth’s continents were once part of an enormous, single landmass called Pangaea.
What fossils did Alfred Wegener find in different continents?
Glossopteris fossil
The Glossopteris fossil is found in Australia, Antarctica, India, South Africa, and South America—all the southern continents. Now, the Glossopteris seed is known to be large and bulky and therefore could not have drifted or flown across the oceans to a separate continent.
How did Wegener think mountains formed?
Wegener’s theory Wegener suggested that mountains formed when the edge of a drifting continent collided with another, causing it to crumple and fold. For example, the Himalayas formed when India came into contact with Asia. One of the reasons was that it was difficult to work out how whole continents could move.
What was Alfred Wegener claim?
About 300 million years ago, claimed Wegener, the continents had formed a single mass, called Pangaea (from the Greek for “all the Earth”). Pangaea had rifted, or split, and its pieces had been moving away from each other ever since.
What is Alfred Wegener known for?
Continental driftAlfred Wegener / Known for
What is Alfred Wegener best known for? German meteorologist and geophysicist Alfred Wegener was the first person to formulate a complete statement of the continental drift hypothesis.
How do the locations of mountains support Wegener’s idea about how mountains formed?
Wegener’s theory Wegener suggested that mountains formed when the edge of a drifting continent collided with another, causing it to crumple and fold. For example, the Himalayas formed when India came into contact with Asia.
Why did scientists reject Wegener’s idea of continental drift?
The main reason that Wegener’s hypothesis was not accepted was because he suggested no mechanism for moving the continents. He thought the force of Earth’s spin was sufficient to cause continents to move, but geologists knew that rocks are too strong for this to be true.
What did Alfred Wegener notice about the outlines of the continents?
In 1912 Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) noticed the same thing and proposed that the continents were once compressed into a single protocontinent which he called Pangaea (meaning “all lands”), and over time they have drifted apart into their current distribution.