P1a Theory of plate tectonics Nomaan Tufail
Alfred Wegner was a German scientist who came up with the theory of plate tectonics and continental drift. He noticed that plates were drifting away from each other, constantly. He called this process continental drift. He was really interested in metrology and climatology. Wegner made many contributions towards metrology and also earned a Ph.D. in astronomy. He died when he was fifty. In 1915 he also published his ideas in a book to support scientists in the future with their research.
Wegner observed very carefully that the east coast of South America match perfectly with the west coast of Africa. This observation was noticed previously however, it was ignored. On the other hand Wegner used this evidence to support his theory. He noticed that the plates were almost like a jigsaw puzzle. Wegner made a statement that the continents were connected together millions of years ago but due to continental drift, the plates began to move away from each other. Wegner had also found the same type of fossils for plants and animals in both continents and
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He wanted to prove his theory that because of continental drift and convection currents, the tectonic plates were drifting apart from each other. The evidence that the scientist provided to support his theory included; studying fossil records, geological evidence such as maps and rock formations which he used to support his opinion regarding the connection between South America and Africa. Wegner said that the tectonic plates show why volcanoes and other natural disasters were concentrated, mainly around the boundaries of the moving plates. He used similar rocks in different places and sedimentary rock data to prove the connection between the continents and the tectonic plates. He also used mountain chains to show the perfect match in the two