Alfred Wegener proposed that Earth's landmasses once formed a single supercontinent called Pangaea. What is this theory commonly called?

Alfred Wegener proposed that Earth's landmasses once formed a single supercontinent called Pangaea. What is this theory commonly called?

• A. Continental Drift Theory
• B. Plate Tectonics
• C. Seafloor Spreading
• D. Isostasy

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is naming Wegener’s proposal that continents were once connected and have drifted apart over time. This is called continental drift theory. Wegener argued that a single supercontinent, Pangaea, split apart and the pieces slowly moved to their current places. He supported this with clues like the way coastlines seem to fit together, matching fossils found on now-separated continents, and similar rock types and ancient climates across continents. In modern geology, the idea is incorporated into plate tectonics, which explains how continents move in terms of moving lithospheric plates and the processes that drive that movement. The other terms refer to parts of that broader framework or to mechanisms within it: seafloor spreading describes how new oceanic crust forms and pushes plates apart, and isostasy describes how crust floats buoyantly on the mantle.

The main idea here is naming Wegener’s proposal that continents were once connected and have drifted apart over time. This is called continental drift theory. Wegener argued that a single supercontinent, Pangaea, split apart and the pieces slowly moved to their current places. He supported this with clues like the way coastlines seem to fit together, matching fossils found on now-separated continents, and similar rock types and ancient climates across continents.

In modern geology, the idea is incorporated into plate tectonics, which explains how continents move in terms of moving lithospheric plates and the processes that drive that movement. The other terms refer to parts of that broader framework or to mechanisms within it: seafloor spreading describes how new oceanic crust forms and pushes plates apart, and isostasy describes how crust floats buoyantly on the mantle.