Question

One day in 1910.....

I'm so excited I could burst. It's this cracking idea I've had. It's been worrying away at me for weeks.
It all started, you see, when I was showing some of my students where a map. I suddenly notice
something very strange. Get this. The East Coast of South America looked like it fitted snugly into
the west coast of Africa. just like 2 pieces of a giant jigsaw! But how can that be? Before I get too
carried away, I'm going to tear up some newspaper and test out my idea. (I've decided not to tell
anyone about it just yet just in case it doesn't work)
Next day...
It works! I tore up the newspaper, like I said and guess what? The two bits fitted perfectly. It's
amazing. You can hardly see the joints. But there's a very long way to go. I mean if the two
continents were once joined up, how on earth did they drift so far apart? I really hope I can crack the
problem.
Sometime later...
I really think I've done it this time and it's ground-breaking stuff. This is what I think has happened.
By the way, I based my ideas on my last Greenland trip when I was watching some icebergs drifting
out to see.
1 - About 200 million years ago all the continents (including Africa and South America) were one
massive chunk of land. I've called it Pangaea (that's ancient Greek for all lands) I reckon it was
surrounded by a huge sea.
2- About 150 million years ago Pangea split in two
3- Then the two big pieces split into lots of smaller bits which began, ever so slowly to drift apart...
millions and millions and millions of years later, these bits ended up as the continents we have today
(including Africa and South America). Brilliant!
Note: I'm calling my theory "continental drift". I know it's boring but it'll do for now. Annoyingly I still
can't work out exactly what gets the continents drifting. Never mind.
Two years later...
I've been so busy giving talks about my theory that I haven't had any time for notes. If I'd known it
would be such a shaky ride, I'd have jolly well stuck to teaching. It's been pretty depressing actually.
The problem is no one believes me. No one at all. They say I've made the whole thing up and the
whole thing is just coincidence. I'll show them I'm right if it's the last thing I do.
My proof
1 Mesosaurus was an ancient reptile that lived about 300 million years ago. These days it's extinct
but get this, you only find fossils in Africa and South America. This proves that the continents were
once joined up and drifted apart later. I mean how else would you find identical reptile remains in two
different places separated by thousands of kilometres of sea?
2 It's the same with rocks. You get identical rocks in Africa and South America. They are the same
age, the same type, in fact there are perfect match. And you don't find them anywhere else in the
world.
3 The weather is another crucial clue. Coal formed millions of years ago in warm wet places. So
Antarctica is out, you might think. Wrong! Coal has been found in icy Antarctic are proving the place
was once toasty nowhere near the South Pole. You also get the opposite happening.
Some of the rocks in Africa and South America are covered in scratches, made years ago by ancient
glaciers so you see Once Upon a time these continents were a lot closer to the South Pole than they
today and if that doesn't prove I'm rights once and for all and going to Greenland and I'm not
coming back and thats a promise.

1) What did Alfred notice about Africa and South America?

Answer 1

Alfred Wegener observed that the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa fit together, leading to his theory of continental drift. Despite presenting substantial evidence, his ideas were initially rejected due to a lack of a mechanism to explain the drift that was later understood with plate tectonics.

Step-by-step explanation:

Alfred Wegener noticed that the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa seemed to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. This observation led him to propose the theory of continental drift in the early 20th century. Wegener suggested that about 200 million years ago, all continents were united in a single supercontinent known as Pangaea, which later split into smaller landmasses that drifted to their current positions.

Despite collecting substantial evidence, including matching fossils and rock formations found on separate continents, Wegener's theory was initially met with skepticism because he could not provide a mechanism explaining the movement of the continents. It wasn't until the development of plate tectonics theory in the 1960s that the scientific community accepted continental drift as a reality.

Answer 2

Alfred Wegener, in 1910, observed an intriguing similarity between the coastlines of Africa and South America.

How to explain

He noticed that the eastern coast of South America appeared to fit remarkably well into the western coast of Africa, resembling interlocking puzzle pieces.

This observation led him to hypothesize that these continents might have once been connected or joined together.

Alfred's realization of the striking resemblance between the shapes of these continents initiated his groundbreaking theory of "continental drift," suggesting that the landmasses were once part of a larger supercontinent before gradually drifting apart over millions of years.