· The coasts of the continents surrounding the Atlantic Ocean could fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

· Living animals in widely separated lands are similar.

· Fossil plants and animals in India, South Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America are similar to each other and different from plants and animals found in other parts of the world at the same time.

· There are numerous geological similarities between eastern South America and western Africa.

· Paleomagnetism tells us how far from the poles rocks were when they formed, by looking at the angle of their magnetic field. Apparent contradictions can only be explained if we assume the continents have moved over time.

In 1620, Francis Bacon noted that the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America looked as if they would fit together. In 1912, Alfred Wegener published a theory to explain why the Earth looked like a huge jigsaw.

He suggested that a very long time ago all the land that covered the Earth had been joined together into one huge continent. He suggested

The theory of Plate Tectonics suggests that the crust of the Earth is split up into seven large plates and a few smaller ones, all of which are able to slowly move around on the Earth's surface. They float on the semi-molten mantle rocks, and are moved around by convection currents within the very hot rocks.

He was able to show that fossils of a small reptile called Mesosaurus were found only in South Africa and Brazil. The chance of this reptile crossing the ocean was very small and, even if it did, why did it stop in these two places? To Wegener it seemed that the only sensible explanation was that South Africa and Brazil had been joined together at the time when Mesosaurus lived.

For example, if something is moving at 5 MPH and is 5 miles from the starting place, then it has been moving for one hour. One problem is that you have to first of all assume a constant rate of speed, and second agree upon a starting point. Without an eyewitness, it is assumed that Africa has remained stationary and everything else departed from it. What makes Africa so stable? It is decided that since everything appears to be moving away from Africa, that it must be stable.

Some topics in this essay:
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Plate Tectonics, South Africa, Alfred Wegener, South America, Atlantic Ocean, Africa Brazil, Francis Bacon, continental drift, south africa, south america, plate tectonics, south africa brazil, continents moved, millions billions, africa stable, africa brazil, rate speed, atlantic ocean,