Scientists began thinking differently about the continents when:

the sea floor began to shrink

Alfred Wegener presented his idea about plates

similar fossils were found in South America and Africa

minerals in North America were identical to those in Europe

The answer is Alfred Wegener presented his idea about plates.

Explanation:

Alfred Wegener proposed The Continental Drift Theory in 1912, which he formulated based on the way the plates of the continents seemed to fit on each side of the Atlantic Ocean, such as Africa and South America. It also took into account the distribution of certain geological formations and the fossil record of the northern continents, which stated that they could have shared floras and faunas in earlier geological times.

Scientists began thinking differently about the continents when:

Alfred Wegener presented his idea about plates.

Wegener's Continental Drift Theory research asserted that continents fit together like puzzle pieces and were originally one land mass called Pangea.