Since the late 1700's, plate tectonic theory has been argued throughout the scientific community. In the early 1900's Alfred Wegener hypothesized about continental drift and the eventual development of the theory of plate tectonics, but his ideas were not accepted for decades since there was no empirical evidence to support them. Review each point below and sort each one into the columns to represent either "evidence" or an "inference" made by Wegener and other scientists during the development of this theory.Theory of Plate Tectonics1. Wegener suggested there was a fit of the South American and African continents.2. The occurrences of unusual geologic structures and plant and animal fossils found on the matching coastlines of South America and Africa, which were then separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Wegener reasoned that it was physically impossible for most of these organisms to swim or be transported across the ocean.3. Plate movements over periods of months to decades have been measured directly using extremely precise positioning equipment. Plate movements over millions of years can be estimated from seafloor spreading rates.4. Confirmation of repeated reversals of the Earth magnetic field in the geologic past.5. Radiometric dating of the Earth's crust has found that crust in areas where there is sea floor spreading is the youngest crust on Earth.(2 points)Put responses in the correct input to answer the question. Select a response, navigate to the desired input and insert the response. Responses can be selected and inserted using the space bar, enter key, left mouse button or touchpad. Responses can also be moved by dragging with a mouse.Evidence Inference

Question

Since the late 1700's, plate tectonic theory has been argued throughout the scientific community. In the early 1900's Alfred Wegener hypothesized about continental drift and the eventual development of the theory of plate tectonics, but his ideas were not accepted for decades since there was no empirical evidence to support them. Review each point below and sort each one into the columns to represent either "evidence" or an "inference" made by Wegener and other scientists during the development of this theory.Theory of Plate Tectonics1. Wegener suggested there was a fit of the South American and African continents.2. The occurrences of unusual geologic structures and plant and animal fossils found on the matching coastlines of South America and Africa, which were then separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Wegener reasoned that it was physically impossible for most of these organisms to swim or be transported across the ocean.3. Plate movements over periods of months to decades have been measured directly using extremely precise positioning equipment. Plate movements over millions of years can be estimated from seafloor spreading rates.4. Confirmation of repeated reversals of the Earth magnetic field in the geologic past.5. Radiometric dating of the Earth's crust has found that crust in areas where there is sea floor spreading is the youngest crust on Earth.(2 points)Put responses in the correct input to answer the question. Select a response, navigate to the desired input and insert the response. Responses can be selected and inserted using the space bar, enter key, left mouse button or touchpad. Responses can also be moved by dragging with a mouse.Evidence	Inference

GPT-4o mini · Answer

Here's the sorting of the points into "evidence" and "inference":

Evidence:

The occurrences of unusual geologic structures and plant and animal fossils found on the matching coastlines of South America and Africa, which were then separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Wegener reasoned that it was physically impossible for most of these organisms to swim or be transported across the ocean.
Plate movements over periods of months to decades have been measured directly using extremely precise positioning equipment. Plate movements over millions of years can be estimated from seafloor spreading rates.
Confirmation of repeated reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field in the geologic past.
Radiometric dating of the Earth's crust has found that crust in areas where there is sea floor spreading is the youngest crust on Earth.

Inference:

Wegener suggested there was a fit of the South American and African continents.

This classification places the empirical evidence in one column while the reasoning or conclusions derived from that evidence are categorized as inferences.