B1 Review Questions
    1. What was the initial clue that many people had noticed in previous centuries that indicated that current continents might have been part of a larger landmass in the past?
      2. Many people had noticed that the shape of continents fit together like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. The Atlantic coasts of South America and Africa provide a particularly good fit together.

    2. Why was this initial piece of evidence that the continents were moving dismissed by most people?
      3. The similar shapes of continents was dismissed as just a coincidence, a curiosity.
  2. Complete this table outlining Alfred Wegener’s four major pieces of evidence in support of continental drift.
    3. Type of Evidence Description Example
         
    Topographic fit The shape of continents fit together like giant jigsaw pieces. The Atlantic coasts of South America and Africa fit together extremely well.
    Geologic Mountain ranges and rock bands that abruptly terminated at one continent’s edge were found to continue on in another continent. Mountains of similar age and structure to the Appalachian Mountains continue in a band through the British Isles and Scandinavia.
    Fossil Similar fossil bands are found to continue in continents that are widely separated from one another. The extinct reptile known as Mesosaurus had been found in a fossil band in eastern South America. This fossil band continues in a perfect match-up with a similar fossil band for Mesosaurus in western Africa.
    Climate Evidence of past climates that did not resemble the present-day climates for landmasses indicated that these masses had moved over time. Coal deposits in the eastern U.S. indicate that this area at one time was located in a swampy, tropical zone.

  3. Why was Wegener’s theory of continental drift not accepted in his lifetime?
    4. The major criticism of Wegener’s theory was that he was not able to provide a mechanism for why the continents moved.