Continental Drift

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CONTINENTAL

DRIFT
ALFRED
WEGENER
The theory of continental drift is most
associated with him.
Pangaea
In the early 20th century, Wegener published a Pangea's existence was first proposed in 1912 by
paper explaining his theory that the continental German meteorologist Alfred Wegener as a
landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, part of his theory of continental drift. Its name is
sometimes plowing through oceans and into derived from the Greek pangaia, meaning
each other. He called this movement “all the Earth.”
continental drift
Wegener, trained as an astronomer, used
biology, botany, and geology describe
Continental Drift Pangaea and continental drift.
Continental drift describes one of the earliest
ways geologists thought continents moved Pangaea existed about 240 million years ago.
over time. Today, the theory of continental drift By about 200 million years ago, this
has been replaced by the science of plate supercontinent began breaking up. Over
tectonics. millions of years, Pangaea separated into
pieces that moved away from one another.
These pieces slowly assumed their positions as
Wegener was convinced that all of Earth’s the continent we recognize today. Today,
continents were once part of an enormous, scientists think that several supercontinents
single landmass called Pangaea like Pangaea have formed and broken up over
the course of the Earth’s lifespan. These
include Pannotia, which formed about 600
million years ago, and Rodinia, which existed
more than a billion years ago.
Scientists did not accept Wegener’s theory of continental
drift. One of the elements lacking in the theory was the
mechanism for how it works.

Why did the continents drift and what patterns did


they follow?

Wegener suggested that perhaps the rotation of the Earth


caused the continents to shift towards and apart from each
other.
We know that the continents rest on massive
slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The North American Plate and Eurasian Plater, the two continents
are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2.5
The plates are always moving and interacting in a centimeters (1 inch) per year.
process called plate tectonics.

The continents are still moving today. Some of the


most dynamic sites of tectonic activity are seafloor
spreading zones and giant rift valleys.

In the process of seafloor spreading, molten rock


rises from within the Earth and adds new seafloor
(oceanic crust) to the edges of the old. Seafloor
spreading is most dynamic along giant
underwater mountain ranges known as mid-
ocean ridges. As the seafloor grows wider, the
continents on opposite sides of the ridge move
away from each other.
Rift valleys are sites where a
continental landmass is ripping itself
apart.

The processes of seafloor spreading, rift valley formation,


and subduction (where heavier tectonic plates sink beneath
lighter ones) were not well-established until the 1960s.
These processes were the main geologic forces behind
what Wegener recognized as continental drift.
CONTINENTAL
DRIFT
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