Why is Continental Drift important to evolution?
How does continental drift affect evolution? As continents broke apart from Pangaea, species got separated by seas and oceans and speciation occurred. This drove evolution by creating new species. Also, as the continents drift, they move into new climates.
Why is continental drift a hypothesis?
Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth’s surface. Set forth in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a geophysicist and meteorologist, continental drift also explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents.
What is the concept of continental drift?
Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.
What were the problems with the continental drift theory?
The greatest problem facing Wegener was the lack of direct evidence for the movements of continents (no GPS at the time!) and no mechanism was known to be powerful enough to move entire continents.
What is wrong continental drift?
Although now accepted, the theory of continental drift was rejected for many years, with evidence in its favor considered insufficient. One problem was that a plausible driving force was missing. A second problem was that Wegener’s estimate of the speed of continental motion, 250 cm/year, was implausibly high.
Why is Wegener’s concept of continental drift not accepted today?
The main reason that Wegener’s hypothesis was not accepted was because he suggested no mechanism for moving the continents. He thought the force of Earth’s spin was sufficient to cause continents to move, but geologists knew that rocks are too strong for this to be true.