What are 4 examples of continental drift?

What are 4 examples of continental drift?

The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones.

How does continental drift affect marine life?

Summary: An international research team has studied the geographical pattern of the evolution of corals and reef fish. The scientists were able to show that the drift of the continental plates was the likely driving force behind the emergence of new species. …

How did the continental drift affect dinosaurs?

A gradual decline in the number of dinosaur species would likely mirror an equally gradual cause of their ultimate extinction. According to many scientists, continental drift and ocean regression would have caused continents to become drier, cooler, and less hospitable to dinosaur life than they had been previously.

Are the continents floating?

The continents do not float on a sea of molten rock. Under the continents is a layer of solid rock known as the upper mantle or asthenosphere. Though solid, this layer is weak and ductile enough to slowly flow under heat convection, causing the tectonic plates to move.

How did the continents fit together?

The continents fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once united into a single supercontinent named Pangaea, meaning all earth in ancient Greek. He suggested that Pangaea broke up long ago and that the continents then moved to their current positions.

What broke up Pangea?

During the Triassic Period, the immense Pangea landmass began breaking apart as a result of continental rifting. A rift zone running the width of the supercontinent began to open up an ocean that would eventually separate the landmass into two enormous continents.

Do continents touch the ocean floor?

The continents rise about 2.5 miles (4 km) above the ocean floor. Composed of more buoyant materials than seafloor crust, they’re an average about 21 miles (35 km) deep, in contrast to about 4 miles (7 km) thick for the crust below the oceans.

Will Pangea form again?

The answer is yes. Pangea wasn’t the first supercontinent to form during Earth’s 4.5-billion-year geologic history, and it won’t be the last. Next came Rodinia, which dominated the planet between 1.2 billion and 750 million years ago.

Did dinosaurs live during Pangea?

Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.

What does Pangaea mean in Greek?

Pangea was surrounded by a global ocean called Panthalassa, and it was fully assembled by the Early Permian Epoch (some 299 million to 273 million years ago). Its name is derived from the Greek pangaia, meaning “all the Earth.”