• Sir Francis Bacon (1620)

  
  
  Figure 25.1 The jigsaw fit of Africa and South America shows rocks of equivalent age matching when the continents are reassembled.
  
  
  

• Antonio Snyder (1858)

• Frank B. Taylor (1908)

  
  
  Figure 25.2 Mountains of the continents tend to align when continents are reassembled.
  
  
  

• Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

  ==> The Origin of Continents & Oceans (1915)

  ==> PANGEA = Laurasia + Gondwana

  
  
  Figure 25.3 Reconstruction of Pangaea as it is thought to have appeared 200 million years ago (from The Earth - An Introduction to Physical Geology (2nd ed.), by Tarbuck & Lutgens, Merrill Publishing Co., 1984).
  
  
  

• Fit of the continents

  
  
  Figure 25.4 Geometric fit of the continents.
  
  
  
  
  Figure 25.5 Gemini XI (at 872 km) view of Red Sea rift, Gulf of Aquaba, and Dead Sea.
  
  
  
  
  Figure 25.6 Gemini XI view of Red Sea.
  
  
  
  
  Figure 25.7 Gemini XI view of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
  
  
  

• Paleontological evidence ==> Mesosaurus, Glossopteris, and Lystrosaurus

  
  
  Figure 25.8 Paleontological evidence of continental drift.
  
  
  

• Paleoclimatic evidence

  
  
  Figure 25.9 Paleoclimatic evidence for continental drift.
  
  
  
  
  
  Figure 25.10 Paleozoic glaciation as evidence for continental drift.
  
  
  

• Rock type and structural correlations

  
  
  Figure 25.11 Rock type and structural correlations supporting continental drift.
  
  
  

Figure 25.12 Earth's magnetic field modeled by iron (Fe) filings.




Figure 25.13 The earth's magnetic field consists of lines of force much like a giant bar magnet would produce if placed at the center of the earth (from The Earth - An Introduction to Physical Geology (2nd ed.), by Tarbuck & Lutgens, Merrill Publishing Co., 1984).




Figure 25.14 The earth's magnetic field causes a dip needle (compass oriented in a vertical plane) to align with the lines of magnetic force. The dip angle decreases uniformly from 90 degrees at the magnetic poles to 0 degrees at the magnetic equator. Consequently, the distance to the magnetic poles can be determined from the dip angle (from The Earth - An Introduction to Physical Geology (2nd ed.), by Tarbuck & Lutgens, Merrill Publishing Co., 1984).




Figure 25.15 Orientation of Fe-particles in the absence (upper) and presence (lower) of an applied magnetic field.




Figure 25.16 Simplified apparent polar wandering paths for North America and Europe. If these landmasses are brought together to close the North Atlantic, the paths roughly coincide (from The Earth - An Introduction to Physical Geology (2nd ed.), by Tarbuck & Lutgens, Merrill Publishing Co., 1984).




Figure 25.17 Apparent migration of north magnetic pole.




Figure 25.18 Common magnetic pole for predrift reconstruction of the continents.