THE APPARENT FIT OF THE CONTINENT

Wegener also provided evidence of continental drift by looking at the physical shape of
continental coastlines

What is JIGSAW FIT?

The east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa seem to fit together like pieces of
a jigsaw puzzle, and Wegener discovered their rock layers “fit” just as clearly. South America
and Africa were not the only continents with similar geology.
The Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America appear to fit together neatly, like the pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle. The same shape is also traced out by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, shown on this map
by the light-colored area (representing relatively shallow seas) between the two continents.
If you were to look at a world map, you may have noticed that the western coast of Africa
appears to fit perfectly with the eastern coast of South America. Alfred Wegener also noticed
this feature about our coastlines.

What is GEOLOGICAL FIT?

Geological “fit” evidence is the matching of large-scale geological features on different
continents. It has been noted that the coastlines of South America and West Africa seem to
match up, however more particularly the terrains of separate continents conform as well.
Examples include: the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America linked with the Scottish
Highlands, the familiar rock strata of the Karroo system of South Africa matched correctly with
the Santa Catarina system in Brazil, and the Brazil and Ghana mountain ranges agreeing over
the Atlantic Ocean.
When the geology of eastern South America and West Africa was mapped it revealed that
ancient rock outcrops (cratons) over 2,000 million years old were continuous from one continent
to the other.
For example, the Appalachian Mountains, located along the eastern coast of North America,
appear to be similar in age and structure to the mountain ranges found in Greenland and
Scotland.

WHAT IS TECTONIC FIT?

Fragments of an old fold mountain belt between 450 and 400 million years ago are found on
widely separated continents today. Pieces of the Caledonian fold mountain belt are found in
Greenland, Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and Scandinavia. When these land masses are
re-assembled the mountain belt forms a continuous linear feature. Tectonic shift is the
movement of the plates that make up Earth's crust. ... Earth's crust, called the lithosphere,
consists of 15 to 20 moving tectonic plates. The plates can be thought of like pieces of a
cracked shell that rest on the hot, molten rock of Earth's mantle and fit snugly against one
another.