How do we know Pangea existed?

Question from Naomi Paulson

German meteorologist Alfred Wegener first presented the concept of the Pangea supercontinent in 1912, giving three reasons for his theory. The first was how well the continents’ coastlines could fit together. The second was the similarity in the geology and climate of regions that could once have been joined.

The third was the fossils of identical plants and animals found on different continents with no obvious route for them to have travelled between them. It wasn’t until after his death that geologists could prove him right thanks to progress in rock and mineral dating, sonar and geophysics.

Answered by Jo Stass for Brain Dump in How It Works issue 117 

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