I am proposing the theory that states the continents were all together at one time and since, have drifted apart.
Fossils of similar prehistoric animals were found on widely separated continents. This information was completely dismissed by the scientific community, yet supports the theory that the continents were once connected. Fossils of the Kannemeyeria and Labyrinthodont, land-dwelling animals, were discovered in North America, South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and Eurasia. The Kannemeyeria and Labyrinthodont were creatures incapable of swimming long distances like those that now exist between the continents. Therefore it was nearly impossible for these creatures to travel across the bodies of water to reach the other continents. Migration patterns of the Kannemeyeria and Labyrinthodont align across the continents when fitting them together. When the continents were once one, creatures including Kannemeyeria and Labyrinthodont could travel across the continents without crossing a waterway. Glossopteris, a seed fern that resembled low shrubs, is another supporter in the theory that the continents were once one. Fossils of this plant had been found on various continents with different environments and climates.
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Rock formations on continents across the atlantic ocean were found to acquire similarities. The Appalachian Mountains in the United States share similar features with rocks in Greenland and Europe. These mountain ranges were formed 200 million years ago which support the theory that the continents were once joined. These structures were at one time connected, sharing a common land due to the similar ages, formation of Earth’s crust and type of rock. It is due to the drift of these continents that now the rock formations and common geological structures are presently separated across
The area composed of the Gander, Nashoba, Avalon, and Meguma Terranes has been extensively studied for many years. However, it was only recently that the terranes were recognized as distinct geologic entities with unique tectonic histories thus there is still much debate regarding the tectonic model which brought these terranes together (Hon et al., 2007). This paper will address the geology of the peri-Gondwanan terranes and propose a potential tectonic model for the accretional orogenic events. It will also primarily focus on the juxtaposition between the Nashoba and Avalon Terranes.
15. The pictures above show how the continents on Earth’s surface have changed position over a very long period of time. What explains this change? (S6E5e, f)
Earthquakes are a natural part of the Earth’s evolution. Scientific evidence leads many geologists to believe that all of the land on Earth was at one point in time connected. Because of plate tectonic movements or earthquakes, continental drift occurred separating the one massive piece of land in to the seven major continents today. Further evidence supports this theory, starting with the Mid-Atlantic ridge, a large mass of plate tectonics, which are increasing the size of the Atlantic Ocean while shrinking the Pacific. Some scientists believe that the major plate moveme...
To set the stage, we must go back 270 million years ago when a majority of the earth’s land masses were collected together in a single continent, a supercontinent, named Pangaea (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1). Historian Alfred Crosby explained that this collected all of earth’s land based biology into a single place, creating a single Darwinian “arena for competition” (Crosby, 1). Or in other words, one big evolutionary pot. Crosby also explains that 180 million years ago, Pangea split into two major land masses, what is now the Americas in the Western Hemisphere as one land mass and Euro-Asia and Africa as the second lass mass (Crosby, 1). What was once a single evolutionary pot, was now two, allowing for plant and animal life to take different evolutionary paths. These two worlds remained relatively separate from each other until the arrival of Christopher Columbus and other European explorers. That contact between the old world and the new world brought two distinct evolutionary arenas crashing into each other and returned a majority of the earth’s landmass into a single Darwinian pot, (Crosby, 1) This was Crosby’s re-knitting of the torn “seams of Pangaea.”
For example when he writes about how the axes of each continent affects how well ideas and domesticated crops and animals flow or spread through the continent. This discussion had made lots of sense for me and is yet another idea that supports his theory. "At the one extreme was its rapid spread along east-west axes: from Southwest Asia both west to Europe and Egypt and east to the Indus Valley (at an average rate of about 0.7 miles per year); At the opposite extreme was its slow spread along north-south axes: at less than 0.5 miles per year, from Mexico northward to the U.S. Southwest; at less than 0.3 miles per year, " This example shows how east to west axes allow for a faster diffusion of crops and animals. But the north to south is very slow compared to the other. This helps explain why Eurasia had developed the quickest and the America and Africa lagged behind." For example, Portugal, northern Iran, and Japan, all located at about the same latitude but lying successively 4,000 miles east or west of each other, are more similar to each other in climate than each is to a location lying even a mere 1,000 miles due south." This line tells us why Eurasia was able to develop so fast. That is because it has an east to west axes which means animals and crops can more wildly thought the same land due to there being large amounts of land with the same latitude. While the Americas
...s from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic periods show proof of how animals have gone through evolution and why certain fossils look very similar. The Law of Original Horizontality and the Law of Superposition both express true when looking at modern rock layers today. The Law of Original Horizontality happens when sediments are constantly deposited over old layers of rock forming new layers over millions of years, while the Law of Superposition is the law that older rock layers lie beneath the newer layers. Also, Pangea and Panthalassa are now the seven continents and four oceans of the world today as a result of Continental Drift. All things considered, Rock layers are therefore evidence of Evolution for, rock layers holds proof of evolving animals seen through fossils, the plates in the earth separated Pangea, and the relation of evolution and rock layers.
One way Alfred Wegener proved his theory of continental drift was through land features. He realized that the coal fields, mountain ranges, and continents matched, and he attempted to put the continents together (like a puzzle). The second way Wegener proved his theory was through fossils. He found three fossils called Glossopteris (a fern like plant), Mesosaurus, and Lystrosaurus. Glossopteris was found in rocks in Africa, South America, Australia, India, and Antarctica, while Mesosaurus and Lystrosaurus were found on continents separated by oceans. Finally, the third way Wegener proved his theory continental drift was through climate zone. Wegener looked at climates from the past, and had found tropical plants living in Spitsbergen (an island in the arctic). He assumed that a island in the arctic, used to have a warm climate. In conclusion, the three ways Wegener proved his theory continental drift was through land features, fossils, and climate
Krajick, Kevin. "Tracking Myth to Geological Reality." American Association for the Advancement of Science. 310.5749 (2005): 762. Print. .
Since the beginning of human kind there has been a cloud of wonder of how our planet was formed. Scientist interested in this field through out the years have developed many different theories to how our planet came about. Before the Twentieth Century, scientists and geologists thought that mountain structures were due to the massive tightening of the earth caused by the gradual cooling of molten rocks. In 1900, American scientist Joseph Le Conte, published an article in the Appleton's Popular Scientific Monthly. He described that the problem in understanding mountain building was establishing the cause of sideways pressure. It was not until 1910, that an American Geologist named F.B.Taylor, proposed the idea of a continental drift. Other scientists dismissed Taylor's idea, because there was just not enough proof. However, Taylor's idea was then backed up by a German scientist named Alfred Wegener. He proposed that the continents surrounding the Atlantic Ocean, Africa and South America fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. His broad range of studies enabled him to incorporate his theory of Plate Tectonics. Wegener, later in 1915 while in the German military published his idea that interpreted how his continental drift theory worked. He proposed that a huge landmass called Pangea, meaning ("all land") existed 200 million years ago. He furthered explained that this super continent began to drift apart very slowly throughout millions of years into what it looks like now. Wegener went on several expeditions through out his life to the continents of South America and Africa.
...e single origin perspective but not the multiregional perspective (1988). For example, the first appearance of Homo sapiens raises problems. The newest fossils of Homo sapiens were discovered in Africa while Europe, the Far East and Australia have the oldest fossils (Stringer & Andrew 1988). If there was one linearly evolving species we should see the oldest fossils in Africa. Also, Although Europe and southwest Asia have the most complete fossil record there is an absence of Neanderthal and modern Homo sapiens transitional fossils, which goes against the idea that species evolved together (Stringer & Andrew, 1988). The fossils better describe the single origin perspective.
The Permian Period was the last period of the Paleozoic Era. During this geological time period’s earlier stages glaciation was extensive. Middle Permian began to warm, and by the late Permian the environment was hot and dry. The environmental conditions were so extreme that the marine and terrestrial life forms were greatly affected. According to research the drastic climate change could have been caused by the formation of Pangaea. In 1912 Alfred Wegener while studying his theory of the continental drift, discovered Pangaea’s very existence. A combination of all of Earth’s landmasses joined together and covered 1/3 of Earth’s surface. Pangaea was f...
First you might need to know definition of tectonics. It is a theory in geology. The lithosphere of the Earth is divided into a small number of plates which float on and travel independently over the mantle and much of the Earth’s seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates. That is the official definition of Plate tectonics. secondly, this plate covers many parts of continents. plate boundaries don’t go according to Continents boundaries, they make their own boundaries. The North American plat...
The proof of pangaea are the fossils found on the continents. The same species of fossils are found in different continents that are across the ocean. Some of them are land animals unable to swim across the Atlantic or Pacific ocean. Those species also evolved at the same pace. This suggests that those continents used to be close together,
The geologic history of the Rocky Mountains has come about as an aggregation of millions of years. Briefly speaking, the formation of the Rockies transpired from hundreds and millions of years of uplift by tectonic plates and millions of years of erosion and ice have helped sculpt the mountains to be what we see today. The majority of the rocks that make up the Rocky Mountains began as simple shale, siltstone, and sandstone accompanied by smaller amounts of volcanic rock which formally built up for approximately 1.8 to 2 billion years in the ancient sea. By 1.7 to 1.6 billion years, these sedimentary rocks got caught in the zone of collision between parts of the earth’s crust and its tectonic plates. The incredible heat at the core of the mountain range then recrystallized the rock into metamorphic rock by the heat and pressure of the collision forces. Eventually, the shale would be transformed into both schist and gneiss. It is believed that granite found in the Rocky Mountain parks came from pre-existing metamorphic rock created shortly after the formation of the earth. Ultimately, the high mountains of the period were slowly eroded away to a flat surface exposing metamorphic rocks and granite. This process occurred around the period of 1,300 to 500 million years ago. This flat surface would become covered with shallow seas and rocks from the Paleozoic period and would be deposited and eventually cover the surface. There is...
Geophysics, which studies the physics of the Earth, has led to many important findings about the Earth and how it is made. Seismologic studies of planet Earth have revealed new information about the inside of the Earth that has helped to give new openings to plate tectonic theory. Due to geophysical studies, we now know that the Earth is made of several significant layers. Each one of these layers has its own properties. The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. The crust is made up of the oceans and continents. The crust has a fluctuating thickness, being thirty to seventy-five kilometers thick in the continents and ten to fifteen kilometers thick in the ocean basins. The crust is made up mainly of alumino-silicates (Fowler p472).