What is the main point of the continental drift theory?

Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth’s continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have “drifted” across the ocean bed.

What do you understand by continental drift theory Upsc?

Continental drift means the movement of the continents across the ocean bed. This drifting happens very, very slowly, over hundreds of million years! According to Alfred Wegener, all the continents formed a single continental mass known as Pangea (Pan=all + Gea=earth).

Was continental drift accepted in Wegener’s lifetime?

Fortunately, the University of Graz in Austria was more tolerant of controversy, and in 1924 it appointed him professor of meteorology and geophysics. In 1926 Wegener was invited to an international symposium in New York called to discuss his theory.

What do you know about continental drift theory answer?

Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth’s surface. Set forth in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a geophysicist and meteorologist, continental drift also explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents.

What is the conclusion of continental drift?

Wegener took the areas that had been covered by ice sheets and fitted them together around the south pole. HIS CONCLUSION – the continents were once part of a single larger continent that then split apart, drifting to their present positions over the last 300 million years.

How do continents fit together?

The continents fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once united into a single supercontinent named Pangaea, meaning all earth in ancient Greek. He suggested that Pangaea broke up long ago and that the continents then moved to their current positions.

What evidence did Wegener have for his theory of continental drift quiz?

Wegener used matching mountain ranges across different continents as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift. Wegener used matching matching fossils of the same organisms on different continents as evidence to support his hypothesis of Continental Drift.

What do you understand by continental drift theory 11?

Continental Drift Theory According to Wegener, all the continents formeda single continental mass (called PANGAEA) and meg ocean (called PANTHALASSA) surrounded the same. Pangaea first broke into two large continental masses: Laurasia and Gondwanaland. Subsequently they broke into various smallercontinents.