How does climate evidence support the theory of continental drift?

How does climate evidence support the theory of continental drift?

Wegener used fossil evidence to support his continental drift hypothesis. The fossils of these organisms are found on lands that are now far apart. Wegener suggested that these creatures were alive in warm climate zones and that the fossils and coal later had drifted to new locations on the continents.

Why was Wegener interested in finding fossils of the same plants and animals on two different continents?

250 million years ago. Why was Wegener interested in finding fossils of the same plants and animals on two different continents? He reasoned that if the connivers had once been joined, fossils of the same plants and animals should be found in areas that had once been connected.

What evidence shows that tropical swamps used to cover areas that now have colder climates?

Other fossil evidence— such as the plant fossil shown in Figure 3—indicated that tropical or subtropical swamps covered areas that now have much colder climates. Wegener suggested that if the continents were once joined and positioned differently, evidence of climatic differences would be easy to explain.

How did Wegener use fossils to prove continental drift?

Wegener supported his theory by demonstrating the biological and geological similarities between continents. South America and Africa contain fossils of animals found only on those two continents, with corresponding geographic ranges.

What is the main difference between Wegener’s continental drift and the theory of plate tectonics?

The main difference between plate tectonics and continental drift is that plate tectonics describes the features and movement of Earth’s surface in the present and in the past whereas continental drift describes the drifting of Earth’s continents on the ocean bed.

What was Alfred Wegener continental drift hypothesis quizlet?

What is the continental drift hypothesis? Proposed by Alfred Wegener, it states that Earth’s continents have moved slowly to their current locations. All the continents were once connected as one landmass that broke apart 250 million years ago. This one landmass is called “Pangea,” meaning “all land.”

How did Alfred Wegener contribute to the jet stream?

Alfred Wegener. Wegener was involved in several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation before the existence of the jet stream was accepted. Expedition participants made many meteorological observations and were the first to overwinter on the inland Greenland ice sheet and the first to bore ice cores on a moving Arctic glacier.

What was Alfred Wegener’s problem with the Earth?

His major problem was finding a force or forces that could make the continents “plow around in the mantle,” as one critic put it. Wegener tentatively suggested two candidates: centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the Earth, and tidal-type waves in the Earth itself generated by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon.

What was the climate like in the past?

The sun was cooler then, but the planet was generally warmer. That’s because there were a lot of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere. Also, the atmosphere back then contained very little oxygen. It was a very different world—a world without people or the kinds of plants and animals that thrive in today’s climate.

Why was the Earth’s climate different in the first billion years?

The sun also goes through longer term changes that affect how much energy it gives off. The Earth’s first billion years were very different from the conditions today. The sun was cooler then, but the planet was generally warmer. That’s because there were a lot of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere.