Scenario 4: Tectonic Movement
Part 1: Pangaea Split
Q1: Using the geochronology data, how many years ago did the Supercontinent Pangaea
split at North America and Africa? What evidence from the map leads you to this
inference?
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Q2: Using the geochronology data, how many years ago did the South American and
African continents separate? What evidence from the map leads you to this inference?
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Q3: Using the geochronology data, how many years ago did the Australian and Antarctic
continents separate? What evidence from the map leads you to this inference?
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Part 2: India versus Asia
Q1: Using the above figure, estimate how many years ago India collided with the
Eurasian plate? What evidence from the map leads you to this inference?
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Part 3: Fossil Evidence
Q1: If Cynognathus, a large, terrestrial reptile, fossils have been dated between 237 to
247 million years old, what conclusions can you draw about how the Earth looked during
that time? How do you know this?
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Q2: If Lystrosaurus fossils have been dated at 250 million years old, Glossopteridales at
299 to 250 million years, and Mesosaurus from 280 to 248 million years, what
conclusions can you draw about how the earth looked during that time? How do you
know this?
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Projection into the future here?