Alfred Wegener and Continental Drift Quiz

What did Alfred Wegener call the single supercontinent that he suggested existed about 200 million years ago?

• Eurasia

• Pangaea

• Atlantis

• Gondwana

What evidence did Wegener use to support his theory of continental drift?

• Fossil remains of a small reptile found on two continents

• Tectonic plates shifting and constantly moving

• Ancient civilizations' texts and drawings about Pangaea

• Rocks shaped by glaciers in warm areas far from the poles

What did Wegener compare the geological features of the eastern part of South America and western Africa to?

• A crossword puzzle

• Two halves of a torn newspaper

• A mosaic

• A jigsaw puzzle

What did Wegener use to explain the presence of identical fossils on continents that are now separated by vast expanses of ocean?

• The continents were once connected

• The fossils were carried by birds

• The fossils were able to swim across the ocean

• The fossils were planted by humans

What did Wegener suggest was the reason for rocks in warm areas far from the poles showing signs of having once been covered with glaciers?

• The rocks were artificially shaped by humans

• The landmasses were part of Pangaea and were closer to the South Pole

• The rocks were formed due to volcanic activity

• The rocks were brought by glaciers from the poles

What was one of the main objections to Wegener's hypothesis about continental drift?

• His inability to explain how continents move across the ocean floor

• The continents being stationary

• Lack of evidence for tectonic plates

• The continents plowing through the ocean floor

What technology did scientists use in the 1950s and 1960s to study the Earth and discover that Wegener was right about continents moving?

• Computers and smartphones

• Satellites and radar

• Telescopes and microscopes

• Sonar and seismographs

What did Wegener find that showed the geological features of the western coast of Africa corresponded quite closely with those along the eastern coast of South America?

• Fossil remains of a small reptile

• Mountain ranges of similar age and rocks

• Ancient fossilized fern in different climates

• Valleys, canyons, and river channels

What did Wegener suggest was the reason for the similar rock formations on now disparate continents like North and South America, Europe, and Asia?

• These land masses were once joined together

• The continents were carried by ocean currents

• The rocks were formed due to volcanic activity

• The rocks were artificially placed by humans

What did Wegener argue was the reason for the continents not plowing through the ocean floor as he initially hypothesized?

• The ocean floor was too weak to resist the continents' movement

• The continents were too heavy to plow through the ocean floor

• The lithosphere is broken up into large tectonic plates containing both oceanic and continental crust

• The continents were stationary and did not move