Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics Theory (Part 1a) Introduction: The Beginning of the “Continental Drift Theory” In the middle of the eighteenth century‚ James Hutton proposed a theory‚ uniformitarianism; “the present is the key to the past”. It held that processes such as geologic forces- gradual and catastrophic-occurring in the present were the same that operated in the past. (Matt Rosenberg‚ 2004) This theory coincides with the theory of Continental Drift that was first proposed by Abraham
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Continental Drift is the principle that the continent landmasses have not remained in fixed positions‚ but have moved around the earth’s surface apparently independently. It is important in evolution because of the effects it has had on evolution and taxonomic diversity‚ brought about by the collision and moving apart of landmasses. The drifting apart of land masses brings about vicariance‚ where organisms are split up by the development of barriers‚ isolating descendent populations which then evolve
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BACKGROUND Continental drift is a theory proposed by a scientist‚ Alfred Wegener in the twentieth century. The theory explained that all the continents was once joined as one‚ and through the course of millions of years‚ drifted apart from each other to form separate continents as we see it now. THEORY Before all the continents were separated‚ they existed as one supercontinent‚ Pangaea (Lovett‚ 2008)‚ surrounded by a super ocean‚ known as Panthalassa. Movement of continents can be compared to
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2011 Running head: Wegener and the Theory of Continental Drift Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was a German scientist in the fields of meteorology‚ astronomy‚ and geology. He was one of the first scientists to theorize about the continental drift or continents in motion‚ which supports the belief that the Earth’s continents once were a single land mass. Wegener called this land mass‚ "Pangaea"‚ because the continents began to break up‚ and various parts drifted away from one another. According
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Theory of Continental Drift The seven continents used to be one giant continent named Pangea. They spread apart and became what the continents are today. The shapes of the continents line up‚ the fossils line up with how the continents‚ the rock formations on both sides of the Atlantic line up with the fossils and coastlines‚ and climatic evidence proves the Theory of Continental Drift. The first piece of evidence for Continental Drift is the shapes of the continents. All of the continents fit
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proposal of continental drift that simply stated that there was once a supercontinent called Pangaea. He believed that 200 million years ago the continent began breaking into smaller continents which began the layout of where they lie now. Many people and geologists rejected Wegener?s idea especially the North American geologists due to most of his evidence to back his proposal up had been gathered from Southern continents. Evidence that Wegener had listed to support his theory of continental drift were
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Continental Drift‚ why True? Continental drift is the process of large mass of land and rocks unceasingly moving for a long period of time‚ which can be explained by what is called "Plate Tectonics". Due to the fact that continental drift is a theory‚ there is evidence and other sets of statements to back it up. According to Wegener‚ a geologist stated that segments of the Earth has made continental drift true (possible) whilst other pieces of information supported that continental drift has happened
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development of the theory of plate tectonics from Continental Drift to the present The theory of continental drift first came to be in 1915 when Alfred Wegener first proposed his belief that 300 billion years ago there was one single supercontinent‚ Pangaea. At the time‚ most did not believe it was true as he had no proof or idea of how the masses of land would move. However‚ new evidence was put forward over time that fit with Wegener’s beliefs. The first key piece of evidence is the shape of each
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Continental drift has helped create the diversity we see present in modern day plants and animals. Through a process of speciation‚ the movement of the continents has had a generous role throughout evolution‚ effecting and distributing flora and fauna. The Earth’s continents were once one‚ a large supercontinent called Pangea that later separated into two smaller ones known as Gondwana and Laurasia. The separation and collision of continents has not only created some of the valleys and mountain ranges
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Understanding the Movement of Earth Continental drift is the idea that continents move freely over Earth’s surface‚ changing their positions relative to one another over time. This hypothesis has been around for more than 130 years. It’s amazing to know that once ago these continents on Earth were once joined together and have split and moved apart from one another. In 1596‚ Abraham Ortelius hypothesized that continents “drift”‚ but later a German meteorologist named‚ Alfred Wegener‚ fully developed
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