Why do the outlines of South America and Africa look as though they could fit together?
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Answer: They were once joined and later separated by moving plates
They were once joined and later separated by moving plates ✓ — South America and Africa were once joined within the supercontinent Pangaea and later moved apart as tectonic plates shifted. Their outlines retain that history, though modern coastlines are not a perfect jigsaw fit.
Ocean waves carved matching outlines on opposite sides of the Atlantic — Waves reshape individual coasts, but they do not coordinate matching outlines across an ocean. A former land connection explains the broad fit and the matching geological evidence.
The resemblance arose by chance as the coastlines changed — The resemblance is evidence of a past connection, not just a chance arrangement. Matching rocks and fossils on continents now separated by an ocean support the same reconstruction.