Continental Drift Theory

Introduction

The continental migration theory describes one of the earliest methods used by geologists to move over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has changed with the help of the technical know-how of plate tectonics. The continental migration theory is at best related to the scientist Alfred Wegener. At the beginning of the 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his principle that the masses of the continent “drifted” on Earth, crossed the sea, and sometimes cultivated each other. He mentioned the sliding movements of this continent. 

The continental migration theory has become the principle that defines how continents shift their role on the surface of the earth. Established in 1912 using the useful resources of geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener, the principle of continental flow is that similar flora and fauna fossil-equivalent rock formations are placed on the exact continent. It also defines the reason.

Tillite

Tillite, rock flour (matrix or paste) contained from unweathered rocks. A matrix containing most of the rock is generally dark grey to greenish-black with horned quartz and feldspar particles, and rock debris in a paste of perfectly fine particles with excellent icing. New tilite (majority, under 11,700 years) may soon be associated with the ice age, and Pleistocene tilite (11,700-2.6 million years ago) may be associated with a compelling ice age. There are, but many of our bodies cannot do this in advance. Only tilite, which has deposited the beneficial resources of utilising the continental ice sheet from the beginning, are at extraordinary risk of being preserved in geological records.

Jigsaw Fit

The jigsaw fit, one of the most powerful pieces of Continental Drift Theory, became propagated with the aid of using A Wegener in 1912. Although remarked upon manner again in 1620, with numerous scientists believing that the current continents have been the fragmented portions of pre-present large landmasses (supercontinents), it became best withinside the Twenties that Continental Drift Theory received prominence. Our earth is 4.6 billion years old and undergoes a persistent cycle of change – the transferring styles of land and sea, the introduction of recent crustal rocks, the destruction and recycling of antique rocks, etc. are factors of that change. A look on the map of the arena might simply display that if the continents have been reduced out like portions of jigsaw, many may be more or less outfitted collectively. This have become first remarked upon as prolonged withinside the beyond as 1620, but it have become great in 1912 that the Austrian meteorologist Alfred Wegener noting the similarities In historical fossil stays the diverse rocks of western Africa and japanese South America argued that it couldn’t be mere coincidence, and that it may endorse that the 2 continents had been as speedy as joined. Interestingly, scientists these days point out that continents may moreover be drifting for a bargain longer. New evidence with appreciation to tectonic plate movements suggests that the continents may moreover be drifting apart, then transferring in together again. In a cycle of 500600 my, the continents may moreover were dancing to and fro for over 1500 my. As scientists acquire extra data, this puzzle may be pieced together extra accurately.

Evidence of continental drift

• Aside from how the continents are shaped together, Wegener and his supporters have gathered a lot of evidence to support the continent’s slip hypothesis. Rocks of the same type and age have been found on all sides of the Atlantic Ocean
• Wegener focused on the land, considering that the rock was faceted through facets and  the land had  moved to one side. Mountain slopes of the same rock type, structure, and  long time are actually the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean. For example, the Appalachian Mountains in the United States and Canada in Japan resemble the summits of Greenland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Norway in Japan
• Wegener concluded that they were shaped as  unmarried mountain varieties separated due to continental drift
• Ancient fossils of the equal species of extinct flora and animals are discovered in rocks of the equal age however are on continents which can be now broadly separated. Wegener proposed that the organisms had lived facet through facet, however that the lands had moved aside once they had been useless and fossilised. He recommended that the organisms might now no longer be capable of journeying throughout the oceans
• Fossils of the seed fern Glossopteris had been too heavy to be carried thus far through wind
• Mesosaurus became a swimming reptile however should best swim in freshwater
• Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus had been land reptiles and had been not able to swim
• Grooves and rock deposits left through historical glaciers are discovered these days on exceptional continents very near the equator. This might imply that the glaciers both shaped withinside the centre of the sea and/or included maximum of the Earth. Today glaciers are in their best shape on land and close to the poles. Wegener thought that the glaciers had been focused over the southern land mass near the South Pole and the continents moved to their gift positions later on
• Coral reefs and coal-forming swamps are located in tropical and subtropical environments, but historic coal seams and coral reefs are located in locations in which it’s far too cold these days

Criticism

• Coastlines are a brief characteristic and are at risk of change
• Several different mixtures of becoming in of unrelated landforms will be attempted
• Continental Drift Theory shifts India’s role an excessive amount of to the south, distorting its courting with the Mediterranean Sea and the Alps
• The mountains no longer usually showcase geological affinity

Causes of Drift

• The gravity of the earth, the buoyancy of the seas and the tidal currents were given as the main factors causing the drift, by Wegener

Conclusion 

In summary, the theory of continental drift has become “an idea that defines how continents shift their position on the surface of the Earth.” This idea continued with the help of Alfred Wegener in the early 20th century and helped explain the similarities between plant life and animal fossils on many continents of the globe. He looked for further evidence, found it, and, in 1915, published The Origin of Continents and Oceans. The continental migration theory played an important role in the perception and view of the Earth today. 

This idea did not provide scientists with an exact platform to build, but provided evidence that the continents were all integrated into one giant mass. The  idea of continental waves is a good example of the importance of clinical approaches and clinical discoveries.With the help of  science and Wegener’s observations of fossils of various flora and fauna and the formation of mountain ridges have led scientists to roughly explore the continents we know today.