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WorksheetsContinental Drift and Analyzing Evidence
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 8mins
What is the theory of Continental Drift?
The continents were never once together.
The continents are 1 supercontinent and never break apart.
New continents are created every year because of the plate moving.
The continents move and drift away and towards each other over time.
Fossils of the Glossopteris plant are found in southern Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and India.
Yes, this is evidence and supports the Continental Drift theory..
No, this is not evidence.
Which 2 continents have the most obvious fit of the coastlines?
South America and Europe
Africa and South America
Africa and North America
Australia and Antarctica
Wegener examines the location of tiny rocks and the direction of grooves formed by large glaciers scraping across southern areas of Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and India. He concludes that if all these places were fitted together, they would form a continuous ice sheet expanding outward in all directions.
No, this is not evidence.
Yes, this is evidence & supports continental drift.
German scientist Alfred Wegener will speak at the Geological Association meeting.
Yes, this is evidence and supports the theory.
No, this is not evidence, just a statement.
“Continents are so large they must always have been where they are.”
Yes, this is evidence and supports continental drift.
No, this is not evidence and just a statement.
How were the fossil symbols and mountain belts helpful in deciding where to move the continents?
Wegener observes that a South American mountain range lines upwith an ancient African mountain range in South Africa when the 2 continents are placed together. He writes: “It is just as if we were to refit the torn pieces of a newspaper by matching their edges and
then check whether the lines of print ran smoothly across. If they do,
there is no thing left but to conclude that the pieces were in fact joined in this way.”
Yes, this is evidence & supports the theory.
No, this is not evidence, just a statement.
Rock layers on the western coast of Africa in the following sequence: basalt rock, shale containing fossil reptiles, coal layers containing Glossopteris fossils, rocks containing Mesosaurus fossils, and shale. An almost identical sequence of rock layers on the eastern coast of South America.
No evidence, just a statement.
This is evidence but does not support continental drift.
This is evidence, and does support continental drift.
Why don’t the present shapes of the continents fit perfectly into a supercontinent?
1944: Geologist Willis calls Wegener’s theory a fairy tale. He argues that the theory should be ignored.
No evidence and no support of theory.
Evidence and supports theory.
1965: Geologist Bullard uses computers to match coasts of South America and Africa. They match extremely well at an ocean depth of 1,000 meters.
Evidence and supports continental drift.
No evidence and no support of theory
Which fossil occurs on the most landmasses? What does this suggest about when these particular continents broke up?
Lystrosaurus; This fossil is oldest ever found
Ferns; Suggests continents broke up before plants grown.
Glossopteris; Suggests continents broke up after plant spread far across supercontinent
Mesosaurus; Suggests only this animal was present when continents began spreading.
1980s: Satellites and lasers used to measure the movement of continents. They continue to move at an average of about 2 cm (0.8 in) peryear.
Evidence and supports theory.
No evidence and doesn't support theory.
Fossils of Megascolecina earthworms are found in South America, Africa, India, and Australia, as well as the islands of Madagascar and New Guinea.
Evidence but does not support theory
No evidence and no support of theory
Evidence and supports theory.
