Alfred Wegner Speech
By: Neala Edward Good morning fellow scientists, peers, and public my name is Alfred Wegner and I am here to talk about continental drift. Have you ever wondered why the Earth’s continents are located where they are, and not somewhere else? Well I’m here to tell you. My theory that I have developed of continental drift, can explain the present location of the continents. About 300 million years ago, all of Earth’s land masses collided to form one supercontinent, which I call Pangaea. They were not separated like they are now, but joined together to form one massive land mass with water surrounding it. Also some land that is visible now was under water 300 million years ago; which explains how the continents were able to form one land mass. Obviously Pangaea did not last forever. About 200 million years ago this supercontinent started to break up, and the broken up land masses (continents) drifted apart to their current position. You may not believe my theory, but I have evidence to prove that this is true. If you look at a world atlas you can notice that by the shapes of South America and Africa, they could probably fit together. The pointed area on the east side of South America could fit perfectly like a puzzle with the indented western area of Africa. This proves that all the continents were once fitted together to form Pangaea. Also while studying the lands of South America and Africa I have discovered fossils of the same plants and animals on both continents. These fossils could only exist in both continents if they were once joined together. This is because these animals could not have possibly travelled over the Atlantic Ocean from one continent to another. Therefore South America and Africa must have been joined together at some point. Another piece of evidence I have discovered is that there are mountain ranges similar in age and structure on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States and Canada, and the Caledonia Mountains in the northern British Isles and Europe have similar structures and were both formed about 300 million years ago. That was the same time Pangaea was formed, where North America and Europe collided together. Mountains that have the same age and structure could have only been formed if in the same area. Just like how identical twins could have only come from one mother. Moreover I have noticed ice sheets had once covered the Southern parts of South America, Africa, India, and Australia 250 million years ago. How is that possible when these areas have extremely warm climates today? My answer to this question is that these continents must have been closer to Antarctica, the South Pole. Antarctica is extremely cold and so its climate must have been spread to the southern areas of South America, Africa, India and Australia. But when these areas drifted away from the South Pole, their climate had warmed. All of these pieces of evidence could have only occurred if all of Earth’s land had started off as Pangaea. If the Earth started off as one supercontinent, it explains how the same fossils were found in different countries, how warm countries used to be extremely cold, and many more. But over time continental drift has caused these continents to drift across the water apart from each other; which explains how these similarities were found in different areas. In conclusion, I believe that continental drift is the reason why our continents are where they are today. Thank you for listening.