Which of the following are the evidences of the phenomenon of continental drift?
- I.The belt of ancient rocks from Brazil coast matches with those from Western Africa.
- II.The gold deposits of Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the two continents lay side by side.
- III.The Gondwana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) I, II and III
All three are classic evidences Wegener's supporters used to show the southern continents were once joined: matching ancient rock belts on either side of the South Atlantic, placer gold in Ghana whose source veins lie in Brazil, and the same glacial Gondwana sediments in India and five other southern landmasses.
- ✓ I Rocks about 2,000 million years old on the Brazilian coast match those of western Africa, and the oldest marine deposits along both coasts are only Jurassic, so the ocean between them is young.
- ✓ II Ghana has rich placer gold but no source rock; the gold-bearing veins are in Brazil, so the deposits must have come from the Brazil plateau when the continents touched.
- ✓ III The Gondwana sediments of India, with thick glacial tillite at the base, are matched in Africa, the Falkland Islands, Madagascar, Antarctica and Australia.
Remember · Continental drift evidence: jig-saw fit, matching rocks across the Atlantic (Brazil–West Africa), Ghana's placer gold from Brazil, Gondwana tillite in six southern landmasses, fossils like Mesosaurus and Glossopteris.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 4 “The belt of ancient rocks of 2,000 million years from Brazil coast matches with those from western Africa.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 4 “The gold bearing veins are in Brazil and it is obvious that the gold deposits of the Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the two continents lay side by side.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 4 “The Gondawana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·