Fossil Evidence One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is the fossil record. Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents were once joined.

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.

Alfred Wegener gathered evidence that the continents had moved around on Earth’s surface. The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climate zones.

Finally, the strongest evidence for the existence of Pangaea is something called paleomagnetism. Some rocks have minerals inside ofthem that are magnetic, and when the rock forms those magnetic minerals will line up and point to the North Pole.

He used fossil evidence, such as that of tropical plants found on the Arctic island of Spitzbergen. He found large-scale geographic features that matched, like the Appalachian Mountains in the United States and the Scottish Highlands, as well as rock strata in South Africa that matched those in Brazil.

Wegner’s Evidence for Continental Drift Evidence from fossilized organisms and mountain chains can be used to reconstruct the positions of today’s continents and landmasses to form the supercontinent Pangea. Glossopteris ferns had very heavy seeds that could not move by wind or drift on ocean currents.

Explanation: Because he could not explain a mechanism that would cause the Earths’ crustal plates to shift around, his idea was dismissed at the time. He also had rates of movements for his continents that seemed very unlikely – too high.

Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.

The causes of continental drift are perfectly explained by the plate tectonic theory. The earth’s outer shell is composed of plates that move a little bit every year. Heat coming from the interior of the earth triggers this movement to occur through convection currents inside the mantle.

Which of these did NOT provide evidence for continental drift? oceanic plate theory.

Continental drift, large-scale horizontal movements of continents relative to one another and to the ocean basins during one or more episodes of geologic time. This concept was an important precursor to the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which incorporates it.

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.