Continental Drift Theory

By Dylan

RHS SURE Student

Alfred Wegener

Alfred Wegener was a German scientist and meteorologist.

He was born in Berlin. He is most notable for

his theory of continental drift proposed in 1912, which hypothesized that the continents were slowly drifting around the Earth.

What is Continental Drift?

Continental drift is the movement of the Earth’s continents relative to each other. It was not until the development of the theory of plate t in the 1960s, that a sufficient geological explanation of that movement was understood.

How did changes in continents affect animals

and plant life?Evidence for continental drift has been

found in the form of plant and animal fossils of the same age found around different continent shores. This suggest that these shores were once joined. The fossils of the freshwater crocodile, found in Brazil and South Africa, are one example. Another is the discovery of fossils of the aquatic reptile Lystrosaurus from rocks of the same age from locations in South America, Africa, and Antarctica. There is also living evidence — the same animals being found on two continents. An example of this is an earthworm found in South America and South Africa.