Question

What are the evidences in support of the continental drift theory

chapter 3 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Answer 1

Answer. (i) The evidences in support of the continental drift theory are:

The Matching of Continents (Jigsaw-Fit): The shorelines of Africa and South America facing each other have a remarkable and unmistakable match.

Rocks of Same Age Across the Oceans: The belt of ancient rocks of 2,000 million years from Brazil coast matches with those from western Africa. The earliest marine deposits along the coastline of South America and Africa are of the Jurassic age. This suggests that the ocean did not exist prior to that time.

Tillite: It is the sedimentary rock formed out of deposits of glaciers. The Gondwana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere. The glacial tillite provides unambiguous evidence of palaeoclimates and also of drifting of continents.

Placer Deposits: The occurrence of rich placer deposits of gold in the Ghana coast and the absolute absence of source rock in the region is an amazing fact. The gold bearing veins are in Brazil and it is obvious that the gold deposits of the Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the continents lay side by side.

Distribution of Fossils: When identical species of plants and animals adapted to living on land or in fresh water are found on either side of the marine barriers, a problem arises regarding accounting for such distribution. The observations that Lemurs occur in India, Madagascar and Africa led some to consider a contiguous landmass "Lemu linking this three landmasses