Chapter 7 Test Review

What is Pangaea?

• an ice sheet which covered several continents
• the fossil of a fern found on different continents
• a mountain belt linking two continents
• a supercontinent that contained all the continents

What is the name of the giant supercontinent in the illustration?

• Laurasia
• Gondwanaland
• North America
• Pangaea

What is the theory of continental drift?

• The continents move slowly over Earth's surface.
• The continents moved millions of years ago, but now are fixed.
• The continents were fixed, but recently have begun to move.
• The continents are fixed in position.

Which scientist proposed the theory of continental drift?

• Harry Hess
• Drummond Matthews
• Alfred Wegener

What evidence suggests that continents were once joined?

• topography of the seafloor
• convergent plate boundaries
• the puzzle-like fit of coastlines

Wegener’s proposal of a supercontinent was supported by

• earthquake evidence.
• seafloor magnetism.
• rock, fossil, and climate evidence.
• convection currents in the mantle.

Why was Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis rejected when it was proposed?

• Wegener had no climate or fossil data.
• Wegener had little seafloor magnetic data.
• Wegener could not explain what caused the continents to move.
• Wegener could not explain why coal beds were present in Antarctica.

Glossopteris was a supercontinent consisting of Earth’s present-day continents.

• True
• False

One of Alfred Wegener’s pieces of evidence for continental drift was data from the seafloor.

• True
• False

Glacial grooves in rocks in Africa suggest that this continent was once located in a much colder place.

• True
• False