Who proposed the continental drift theory?

• A. Alfred Wegener
• B. Albert Einstein
• C. Isaac Newton
• D. Charles Darwin

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that continents were once joined in a single landmass and have drifted apart over time. This was proposed by Alfred Wegener in the early 20th century. He gathered a wide range of evidence to support his claim: the coastlines of continents like South America and Africa fit together like puzzle pieces; fossils of the same species appear on now-separated continents; rock types and mountain ranges line up when continents are reassembled; and clues from ancient climates show tropical and polar indicators in places where they wouldn’t fit if the land were in its present positions. Although Wegener couldn’t explain the mechanism for moving the continents, his idea laid the groundwork for plate tectonics, which later provided the physical processes that moved the continents.