WorksheetsIdeas of Wegener and Hess
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 5mins
After much research and observation, Wegener developed his idea that Earth was once one single landmass that broke apart millions of years ago. He named this "supercontinent" formation_____, which means "all lands".
Europa
Laurasia
Pangaea
Gondwana
A trace of an ancient organism that has been trapped in layers of sedimentary rock is known as ____. This might be millions of years old and can help tell us about the history of Earth.
a preserved lab specimen
a pressed rock
a window into the past
a fossil
Alfred Wegener thought the continents had moved because he saw evidence of fossils of the same land reptiles, found on different continents that were widely separated across oceans. Wegener’s use of the fossil evidence helped develop his theory of ____.
Seafloor Spreading
Land Shifting
Mountain Formation
Continental Drift
Tropical, warm climate plant fossils found in rock that is now in a cold area show climate evidence to support the idea that____.
No one knows why we found the tropical fossils in cold areas
The land was once in a warm area when the plants grew there and has moved to an area that is cold now
The fossils were relocated by people as they migrated
The plants could grow in cold areas long ago
Fossils of the fern Glossopteris have been found in Africa, Australia, South America, and Antarctica.
How do scientists explain this observation?
the continents were at one time joined together when the plant was growing and then moved apart
the fern plants grew independently on each continent
the fern had adaptations to survive the environments of the continents
the wind blew the seeds across the oceans from continent to continent
Geological evidence shows that European coal fields
match up with coal fields in North America.
How did Wegener's observations of this evidence help him develop his theory?
Because coal forms easily in lots of places around the world, he said that coal is easy to mine and use everywhere.
He said coal doesn't take long to form, so the plants go buried while the land was together.
Because coal is found on both continents, he said that it formed after the continents separated.
Because coal is formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years, the land must have been together when the plants were living, dying, and then buried over the years
When Harry Hess was working in the Navy, he used a device to help determine the depth of the ocean floor. This ____ also allowed him to learn more about the bottom of the sea and guided his discovery that helped explain Wegener’s theory.
sonar
seismometer
cave depth sensor
echolocator
True or False?
All of the following is evidence used by Hess to develop his explanation for Seafloor Spreading.
matching patterns of magnetic stripes on the ocean floor molten material along mid ocean ridges older rock found farther from mid ocean ridges
True
False
For nearly half a century, from the 1920's to the 1960's, most scientists paid little attention
to the idea of continental drift. Why did it take so long for scientists to believe Wegener’s theory?
He was not a real scientist, so they did not try believe him
He did not provide enough evidence
He did not have proof and exact methods to explain the processes that were going on
He did not try to help them understand
After examining all the evidence from Hess, Wegener, and others,
the modern explanation for the crust movement and geologic formations on Earth became known as _____.
The Theory of Plate Tectonics
The Theory of Crust Shifting
The Theory of Rock Movement
The Theory of Earth Formation
