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.

In the early 20th century, a scientific theory called continental drift was proposed about this migration of the continents. That theory was initially ridiculed, but it paved the way for another theory called plate tectonics that scientists have now accepted to explain how Earth’s continents move.

Wegener’s theory did not explain how continents’ rock patterns could match. Wegener’s theory did not explain how the fossils on different continents were similar. Scientists believed the earth moved around much more quickly than the theory predicted.

This idea was quickly rejected by the scientific community primarily because the actual forces generated by the rotation of the earth were calculated to be insufficient to move continents.

Seafloor spreading, theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and spreads out laterally away from them. Rising magma assumes the polarity of Earth’s geomagnetic field before it solidifies into oceanic crust.

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.