Alfred Wegener first introduced the theory of continental drift in 1915, which proposed that the continents were once joined together in a supercontinent called Pangaea before slowly drifting apart. Wegener provided two key pieces of evidence to support this theory - the fit of the continental outlines and matching fossil records found on different continents. However, his theory was initially rejected because he could not explain the mechanism of how the continents moved. It is now accepted that the continents sit on tectonic plates that slowly move due to convection currents in the Earth's mantle, providing the explanation Wegener lacked.

1. James Kuznetsov
Earth Science
April 11,2015
Class L
The Theory of Continental Drift
Scientists are still arguing about how the Earth’s lands were created. The most popular
theory is continental drift. Continental drift was a theory that all the continents are drifting across
the Earth. I believe in this theory because of the facts that support it. Alfred Wegener was the
first to introduce this theory. Many people didnt believe him when in 1915 he published his
theory. Wegener’s evidence were the puzzle and fossils, but he didnt have an explanation of
how did the continents move apart.
First evidence that Wegener has is the puzzle. When you look at the continents, they
seem to fit together. He thought that all continents were once together. The supercontinent was
called Pangaea. Pangaea was existing about 220-240 million years ago ,according to the
theory, and about 200 million years ago it started to break up into continents that we know
today.
Second evidence was fossils. Many similar types of fossils were found on different
continents. This evidence shows that many living things died on the Pangaea before it broke
into pieces. For example, same fossils were only found in Southern Africa and South America,
which seem to fit together as well.
Despite the evidence that Wegener introduced, his theory was rejected. Wegener could
not explain how did the continents move apart and thats was a good reason not to believe him.
The continental theory was rejected , however, today the scientists know that the
continents stand on huge moving tectonic plates. Now the theory has even more evidence and
the explanation of how the continents move was found. The continents stand on rock sections
called tectonic plates. The plates together create the Earth’s crust, which is constantly being

2. moved by the convection currents. At the end, the theory got accepted by many scientists, but
Alfred Wegener died without knowing it.