Evidence for Continental Drift Evidence that South America and Africa might once have been joined to each other came from the research of the German geographer, Alexander von Humboldt. Von Humboldt traveled throughout South America, Africa, and other parts of the world, collecting plant and animal specimens and studying geography and geology. He observed many similarities between South America and Africa in addition to the apparent fit of continental coastlines. For example, von Humboldt noticed that the mountain ranges near Buenos Aires, Argentina, match mountain ranges in South Africa. Other mountain ranges in Brazil extend to near the seashore and stop. Similar mountain ranges begin at the corresponding seashore in Ghana in Africa. All of these mountain ranges appear to have the same age and to be formed of the same kinds of rock. The rock strata in these and other mountain ranges would match perfectly if the coastlines of the two continents were lined up. Von Humboldt also observed similar patterns among mountain ranges in Europe and North America. Von Humboldt and other naturalists also noticed many similarities among fossils of plants and animals on either side of the Atlantic. Although fossil species in eastern South America are somewhat different from fossil species in western Africa, their similarities are often striking. Before long, similarities across other oceanic gaps were observed. Plant and animal fossils found in India, for example, are often remarkably similar to those found in Australia....~ source .....
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 06:07:27 +0000
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