GK Questions NCERT Solutions (Part-24)

ANSWER- Abraham Ortelius

No wonder, many scientists thought of this similarity and considered the possibility of the two Americas, Europe and Africa, to be once joined together. From the known records of the history of science, it was Abraham Ortelius, a Dutch mapmaker, who first proposed such a possibility as early as 1596. Antonio Pellegrini drew a map showing the three continents together. However, it was Alfred Wegener—a German meteorologist who put forth a comprehensive argument in the form of “the continental drift theory” in 1912. This was regarding the distribution of the oceans and the continents.

ANSWER- Rotation of the earth

Wegener suggested that the movement responsible for the drifting of the continents was caused by pole-fleeing force and tidal force. The polar-fleeing force relates to the rotation of the earth. You are aware of the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere; it has a bulge at the equator. This bulge is due to the rotation of the earth. The second force that was suggested by Wegener—the tidal force—is due to the attraction of the moon and the sun that develops tides in oceanic waters. Wegener believed that these forces would become effective when applied over many million years. However, most of the scholars considered these forces to be totally inadequate.

ANSWER-Antarctica

ANSWER- Continent-continent convergence

The Indian plate includes Peninsular India and the Australian continental portions. The subduction zone along the Himalayas forms the northern plate boundary in the form of the continent— continent convergence. In the east, it extends through Rakinyoma Mountains of Myanmar towards the island arc along the Java Trench. The eastern margin is a spreading site lying to the east of Australia in the form of an oceanic ridge in SW Pacific. The Western margin follows Kirthar Mountain of Pakistan. It further extends along the Makrana coast and joins the spreading site from the Red Sea rift southeastward along the Chagos Archipelago.