The Continental Drift Hypothesis
Vocabulary for the Unit!
Pangaea
Continent
Continental Drift
Fossil
Asia
Africa
Europe
Australia
North America
South America
Antarctica
Vent
Plate Tectonics
Lithosphere
Transform Plate Boundary
Subduction
Convection Current
Lava
Magma
Crust
Seafloor Spreading
Mid-Ocean-Ridge
Today’s learning objectives:
• Learn about the continental drift theory
Continent – a very big region of land on Earth.
There are 7 continents on Earth!
Europe and Asia together are sometimes
called Eurasia.
The continents we have today didn’t always exist
like this!
200,000,000 years ago, they were all joined together!
Pangaea – the supercontinent that was made up of
all of Earth’s land mass.
Pangaea started to break up around
175,000,000 years ago.
Continental Drift Theory – Earth’s continents
are constantly moving around.
Video
Do we have any proof for continental drift?
Yes! The
coastlines of
continents fit
together like a
puzzle!
There is also other evidence!
Fossils of the
same animals
and plants have
been found on
several
continents
separated by
oceans!
The Caledonia mountain range in Northern Europe
and the Appalachian Mountains in NE America are
similar in age, structure, and rock type.
These rocks are
also similar to
those that make
up mountains in
NW Africa!
If the continents are still moving, what will
Earth look like millions of years in the future?
Video
End of Presentation!