Continental drift, a groundbreaking hypothesis primarily put forth by Alfred Wegener in 1912, posits that the Earth's continents are not stationary but have slowly moved across the planet's surface over geological timescales. He proposed that all continents were once joined together in a supercontinent, Pangaea, which subsequently fragmented and drifted apart to their current positions. This idea was initially met with skepticism, but Wegener presented compelling geological evidence, even without a clear mechanism for the movement.

Several geological evidences strongly supported the concept of continental drift:

Firstly, the "jigsaw fit" of the continents, most notably the striking resemblance between the coastlines of South America and Africa, provided a visual, intuitive argument. When hypothetically reassembled, these landmasses seem to fit together almost perfectly along their continental shelves.

Secondly, paleoclimatic evidence pointed to drastically different past climates. Ancient glacial deposits (tillites) dating back to the Carboniferous and Permian periods are found in regions now tropical, such as India, Australia, South Africa, and South America. Conversely, coal deposits, indicative of ancient tropical forests, are found in Antarctica. This global distribution is inexplicable unless these continents were once positioned differently, likely grouped around the South Pole in the supercontinent Gondwanaland.

Thirdly, the distribution of identical fossil species across widely separated continents offered compelling biological proof. For instance, the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus fossils are found exclusively in South Africa and Brazil. Similarly, the fern Glossopteris and the reptile Lystrosaurus appear across continents now separated by vast oceans, suggesting a contiguous landmass when these organisms lived. It's improbable these creatures could have traversed such immense marine barriers.

Lastly, geological structures and rock types show remarkable correlations. Mountain ranges like the Appalachian Mountains in North America and the Caledonian Mountains in Europe, along with ancient shield areas (cratons) in Brazil and West Africa, align perfectly in terms of age and structure when the continents are reassembled, demonstrating their shared geological history before separation.

These diverse lines of evidence, spanning geography, climate, biology, and structural geology, built a powerful case for the radical idea of continents on the move, laying the groundwork for the modern theory of plate tectonics.