Theory of Continental Drift Science Presentation in Green Light Yellow Flat Graphic Style (1).pptx

Grade 10 science Theory of continental drift.

1. Theory of Continental Drift An Introduction

2. People have different ideas about the Earth. How about you? What is your idea of our planet Earth 300 mya?

3. Learning Outcomes Get to know the scientist who introduced the theory of continental drift. Explain the theory of continental drift. Show how continents look like in the past.

4. For one scientist…….. “The Earth was like a jigsaw puzzle”

5. Alfred Wegener Wegener was a German geophysicist and meteorologist. He first presented his hypothesis in 1912. In 1915, he published “The Origin of Continents and Oceans,” which contained his theory on continental drift.

6. Continental Jigsaw Puzzle Wegener noticed that continents resemble jigsaw puzzle pieces. South America Africa The coastlines of South America and Africa match and appear to fit together.

7. CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

8. What is Continental Drift Theory? Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologist thoughts continents moved over time.  

9. Then Wegener proposed that all continents were once part of a single landmass or supercontinent called the Pangaea. Now Pangea broke up millions of years ago, and continents began to “drift” to reach their present- day positions. PERMIAN 250 million years ago PRESENT DAY Continental Drift Theory

10. He hypothesized that all of the modern-day continents had previously been clumped together in a supercontinent he called (from ancient Greek, meaning “all lands or “ all the Earth”) Africa

11. How Pangea broke up and moved away from each other to their current positions Continental Drift Theory PERMIAN 250 million years ago PANGAEA TRIASSIC 200 million years ago LAURASIA TETHYS SEA G ON DW AN ALA ND JURASSIC 145 million years ago

12. Continental Drift Theory CRETACEOUS 65 million years ago PRESENT DAY How Pangea broke up and moved away from each other to their current positions

13. Evidence to Prove That Pangaea had Existed / Evidence of Continental Drift

14. SHAPE of the continents Continents fit together like puzzle pieces

15. EVIDENCE FROM FOSSILS Same fossils: different continents Mesosaurus and Lystrosaurus were incapable of swimming across a large ocean.

16. EVIDENCE FROM LANDFORMS SAME ROCK: DIFFERENT RANGE Existing mountain ranges separated by vast oceans contain rocks of identical mineral content

17. LOCATION OF Coal Deposits Coal deposits have been found in temperate and polar regions; however, coal is formed in tropical regions.

18. Evidence of Climate GLACIAL SCARS- SAME SCARS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS

19. Evidence of Climate Scientists found evidence of TROPICAL plants on the island of Spitsbergen (which is now in the Polar Arctic region. Spitsbergen must have been in a tropical climate at one time.

20. ALFRED WEGENERS THEORY WAS REJECTED

21. Big reason? His theory of continental drift was just too weak for most geologists to accept .

22. Big reason?   he did not have a clear explanation on how the continents moved

23. He used similar fossils from different continents to back up his theory of continental drift. However, at that time, many scientists that had observed similarities in fossils in places like South America and Africa believed there were similar fossils in different continents because of a land bridge that were formed by two continents

24. Summary Alfred Wegener Proposed the theory of continental drift in 1915 . States that continents were once a single landmass, then slowly and gradually moved to reach their present- day positions Continental Drift Theory

25. What are the other pieces of evidence used by Wegener and other scientists to support the continental drift theory? Choose one piece of evidence and explain it through a science poster. Assignment