The discovery of continental shapes served not only as worthy evidence for the theory of continental drift, but also encouraged geologists to further study the geological formations of continents that were believed to be once joined and compared them.
For instance when Wegener fitted South America and Africa together along their continental shelves, he found that large blocks of ancient rock formed patterns continuously across the dividing line, resulting in:
-The mountains that run from east to west across South Africa link with the range near Buenos Aires in Argentina
-The distinctive rock strata of the Karoo system in South Africa consisting of sandstone, shale and clay laced with seams of coal, were identical to those of the Santa Catarina system in Brazil.
With these continents joined and geological features mapped out, they acted as the pictures on jig-saw pieces.
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| This diagram highlights major rock formations in Africa and South America and shows how they can act as 'pictures on jig-saw pieces' once joined together |
These formations, together with continental shapes, proves as impecible evidence in support of continental drift, giving us no other option than to believe that the continents were once joined.
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