Continental drift is a geological theory proposed by Alfred Wegener in the early 20th century, which posits that the continents were once part of a single, large landmass called Pangaea. According to this theory, Pangaea gradually broke apart and the continents drifted to their current positions over millions of years. Wegener presented various lines of evidence to support his idea, including the matching shapes of continents (like South America and Africa), similar rock formations and fossil remains found across different continents, and the distribution of climate zones.
Although Wegener's theory was initially met with skepticism and did not account for the mechanism behind the movement of continents, it laid the groundwork for the later development of the plate tectonics theory. Plate tectonics provides a better understanding of how the Earth's lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates that move and interact at their boundaries, leading to geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the formation of mountain ranges.