What are some pieces of evidence to support the theory of continental drift?

Answer 1

The 8 pieces of evidence are that 1) the land masses fit together like a puzzle; 2) the fossil evidence is similar; 3) the age and type of rocks are the same; 4) the mountain chains seem to continue from continent to continent; 5) climate changes; 6) coal deposits in the eastern U.S. and Siberia; 7) sea floor spreading; and 8) paleomagnetism.
pangea, all continents were once joined, there are fossil remains to prove it

Answer 2

The theory of Continental Drift was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 but was more fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. Wegener's five main pieces of evidence he used to support the theory are:

1. The earth's plates seem to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
2. Presence of coal deposits in South Pole regions
3. Fossils of identical plants and animals found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
4. Rock strata in the Appalachian Mountains in North America match the Scottish Highlands
5. Fossils of tropical plants found in the Arctic

Answer 3

(1) Numerous fossil matches exist on continents that are separate today. Fossils are most similar from the time of Pangaea (200 mya). Fossils from different continents become progressively more dissimilar as their ages approach the present. The fossil record suggests that when Pangaea existed, organisms could migrate freely, but when it broke apart, migration became progressively more difficult. (2) Numerous rock matches also exist between separated continents in places that would have been adjacent when Pangaea was intact. Like the fossil matches, the best rock matches come from rocks the same age as Pangaea. Rocks younger than Pangaea do not match well. (3) paleoclimates (ancient climates), as indicated from the distribution of certain climate-indicative rocks, do not match the current distribution of climates. For example: In Kenya, which is on the equator, there are ancient tillites (rocks composed of glacial debris), while rocks of the same age in Canada may include limestone and coal (formed in tropical environments). When the continents are reassembled into their Pangaea configurations these apparent climatic discrepancies become resolved. At the time of Pangaea, Kenya was positioned near the South Pole while North America was centered on the equator. (4) Paleomagnetism (ancient magnetism) recorded in rocks of the same age as Pangaea but from different continents, apparently indicates multiple positions for the earth's North Magnetic Pole at the same time! The physical impossibility of having the North Magnetic Pole in many different places at the same time is resolved when the continents are moved back into their Pangaea configurations. Moving a continent also moves their paleomagnetically imprinted rocks and the positions of the indicated magnetic poles. When returned to their Pangaea positions, rocks of the same age on different continents indicate the same position for the Magnetic North Pole.

Answer 4

the continents are moving apart, the same fossils at far away places.

Answer 5

Mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes.