Continental Drift

What is the rate at which South America is moving away from Africa according to the text?

• 2 to 3 cm/y

• 8 to 9 cm/y

• 2 to 3 m/y

• 8 to 9 m/y

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

Who was one of the early proponents of the idea of moving landmasses and proposed the idea of continental drift?

• Eduard Suess

• Alfred Wegener

• Abraham Ortelius

• James Hutton

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

What was the name of the supercontinent that Alfred Wegener proposed existed about 200 million years ago?

• Gondwana

• Laurasia

• Pangaea

• Rodinia

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

NGSS.HS-ESS1-6

According to Wegener, what evidence supported the hypothesis of continental drift?

• Distribution of deserts

• Similar rock types on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean

• The shape of the ocean floor

• The patterns of the stars

What incorrect proposal did Abraham Ortelius make regarding the separation of North and South America from Europe and Africa?

• Tectonic plate movement

• Earthquakes and landslides

• Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

• Earthquakes and floods

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

What background did Wegener have that helped him reason that the area separating fossil finds was too large to have had a single climate?

• Geology

• Biology

• Meteorology

• Paleontology

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS2-7

What type of climatic evidence did Wegener find in Antarctica that suggested it was once closer to the equator?

• Evidence of vast desert landscapes

• Evidence of vast climatic changes including coal deposits from dead swamp plants

• Evidence of tropical rainforest remains

• Evidence of large glacial deposits

What did the presence of 290-million-year-old glacial deposits in Africa, India, Australia, and South America suggest to Wegener?

• These continents were once located near the equator

• These continents have always been in their current location

• These continents were once located near the south pole before Pangea began to fracture

• These continents were covered by ice caps because of a global ice age

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

What were the two possibilities Wegener suggested to explain the glacial deposits found in Africa, India, Australia, and South America?

• The Earth's axis of rotation changed or the landmasses drifted away from the south pole

• The landmasses sunk under the ocean or rose above sea level

• The continents expanded or contracted due to temperature changes

• The Earth's orbit around the sun changed or the moon's gravitational pull shifted

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

Why was Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift initially rejected?

• Because Wegener could not explain how the continents moved through the ocean floor

• Because Wegener's evidence was considered too old to be reliable

• Because Wegener's hypothesis was supported by most other scientists of his time

• Because Wegener had no academic background in geology