Download Wegener Continental Drift.key

Earth Science
Who knew it was
so controversial…
The trouble
with studying
the Earth…
…no one was around
when it started.
Alfred Wegener (Veg-a-ner)
1906 - 1931 Wegener was from Germany and was
part of 3 different two-year expeditions to map
and take weather data on Greenland.
In Alfred’s free time…
…he wondered if the Earth’s
continents could have been in
different places throughout history.
He noticed…
the edges matched up.
http://publish.illinois.edu/platetectonics/files/2014/12/africa.jpg
Tropical fossils… not in the tropics
Freshwater and non-swimming
reptile fossils on different continents.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oi4xnSVq6gE/TLbCfeZhkrI/AAAAAAAAAAY/6Fi2I7grszE/s1600/fossil+distribution.png
Glaciers left sediment and
grooves on ground.
http://img.geocaching.com/user/eef58236-8ae5-4b13-8f06-00e489613fe0.jpg
http://www.thisoldearth.net/Images/glacial_striations.jpg
http://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/tectonics_landforms/glacplt2.gif
Mountain ranges match up
http://thebritishgeographer.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/8/1/11812015/9738162_orig.png
WHY might this happen?
Other scientists rejected Wegener’s
ideas because he had some wild ideas
about why it happened and he was
NOT a real geologist.
Wegener thought Earth’s spinning
and tides pulling moved the
continents.
Wegener died in Greenland in 1930.
Almost 40 years later, Harry Hess
helped prove Wegener was correct.
Let’s review Wegener’s evidence
1 Continent shapes
2 Fossils -plant and animal fossils on continents
separated by oceans
3 Climate - tropical plants and animals on Antarctica
4 Glacial deposits
5 Matching rock structures and mountains