Chapter 2
STUDY GUIDE: Chaps. 2
GEOL 111G-Survey of Geology
At the end of each chapter are Review Questions and Key Terms. To study for the final, be sure to know the answers (or where to find the answers) for the given review question numbers and know the definitions of the key terms indicated. The Key Terms have page numbers for reference in the textbook.
CHAPTER 2
Review Questions: #'s are based upon the 10th edition. These may be different in older or newer editions.
2. What was the first line of evidence that led early investigators to suspect that the continents were once connected?
The puzzle-like fit of the continents, especially Africa and South America.
3. What was Pangaea?
Pangaea, the supercontinent named by Alfred Wegener, is thought to have begun to break apart about 200 million years ago.
4. Describe the four kinds of evidence that Wegener and his supporters gathered to substantiate the continental drift hypothesis? Wegener and his associates found that the fit of the continents, fossil evidence, paleoclimatic evidence, and similarities in rock type and structural features all seemed to bridge together the now-separated continental landmasses.
5. Explain why the discovery of the fossil remains of Mesosaurus in both South America and Africa, but nowhere else, supports the continental drift hypothesis.
If Mesosaurus was able to swim well enough to cross the vast ocean currently separating Africa and South America, its remains should also be found on other continents. Since this is not the case, we conclude that South America and Africa were joined during the time period that these animals existed.
6. Early in the 20th century, what was the prevailing view of how land animals migrated across vast expanses of open ocean? Animals were thought to have migrated from continent to continent using island chains as stepping stones, floating on logs, crossing on temporary continental links such as today's isthmus of Panama, or swimming. Plants (seeds
GEOL 111G-Survey of Geology
At the end of each chapter are Review Questions and Key Terms. To study for the final, be sure to know the answers (or where to find the answers) for the given review question numbers and know the definitions of the key terms indicated. The Key Terms have page numbers for reference in the textbook.
CHAPTER 2
Review Questions: #'s are based upon the 10th edition. These may be different in older or newer editions.
2. What was the first line of evidence that led early investigators to suspect that the continents were once connected?
The puzzle-like fit of the continents, especially Africa and South America.
3. What was Pangaea?
Pangaea, the supercontinent named by Alfred Wegener, is thought to have begun to break apart about 200 million years ago.
4. Describe the four kinds of evidence that Wegener and his supporters gathered to substantiate the continental drift hypothesis? Wegener and his associates found that the fit of the continents, fossil evidence, paleoclimatic evidence, and similarities in rock type and structural features all seemed to bridge together the now-separated continental landmasses.
5. Explain why the discovery of the fossil remains of Mesosaurus in both South America and Africa, but nowhere else, supports the continental drift hypothesis.
If Mesosaurus was able to swim well enough to cross the vast ocean currently separating Africa and South America, its remains should also be found on other continents. Since this is not the case, we conclude that South America and Africa were joined during the time period that these animals existed.
6. Early in the 20th century, what was the prevailing view of how land animals migrated across vast expanses of open ocean? Animals were thought to have migrated from continent to continent using island chains as stepping stones, floating on logs, crossing on temporary continental links such as today's isthmus of Panama, or swimming. Plants (seeds