Alfred Wegener
Alfred Wegener’s theory and Evidence
Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift at the beginning of the 20th century. His idea was that the Earth's continents were once joined together, but gradually moved apart over millions of years. It offered an explanation of the existence of similar fossils and rocks on continents that are far apart from each other. But it took a long time for the idea to become accepted by other scientists.
In this Wegener put forth his explanation for the formation of mountain ranges. Wegener noticed that mountain ranges occurred as narrow bands predominantly at the edge of continents. He thus concluded these are formed when the edge of drifting continents crumpled and folded when they collided with other continents as was the case for Himalayas, forming when India collided with Asia. This challenged the cooling, contracting theory accepted at the time according to which mountains form on the Earth’s crust in a similar way as wrinkles form on the skin of a drying apple.
Widespread distribution of Permo-Carboniferous glacial sediments in South America, Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, Antarctica and Australia was one of the major pieces of evidence for the theory of continental drift. The continuity of glaciers, inferred from oriented glacial striations and deposits called tillites, suggested the existence of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which became a central element of the concept of continental drift. Striations indicated glacial flow away from the equator and toward the poles, in modern coordinates, and supported the idea that the southern continents had previously been in dramatically different locations, as well as next to each other
Continental Drift to Plate Tectonics
Alfred Wegener passed away in 1930 at the age of 50 during an expedition to Greenland. His theory found more scattered support after his death, but was still rejected by most geologist. It was not until the 1950’s when increased exploration of the
Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift at the beginning of the 20th century. His idea was that the Earth's continents were once joined together, but gradually moved apart over millions of years. It offered an explanation of the existence of similar fossils and rocks on continents that are far apart from each other. But it took a long time for the idea to become accepted by other scientists.
In this Wegener put forth his explanation for the formation of mountain ranges. Wegener noticed that mountain ranges occurred as narrow bands predominantly at the edge of continents. He thus concluded these are formed when the edge of drifting continents crumpled and folded when they collided with other continents as was the case for Himalayas, forming when India collided with Asia. This challenged the cooling, contracting theory accepted at the time according to which mountains form on the Earth’s crust in a similar way as wrinkles form on the skin of a drying apple.
Widespread distribution of Permo-Carboniferous glacial sediments in South America, Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, Antarctica and Australia was one of the major pieces of evidence for the theory of continental drift. The continuity of glaciers, inferred from oriented glacial striations and deposits called tillites, suggested the existence of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which became a central element of the concept of continental drift. Striations indicated glacial flow away from the equator and toward the poles, in modern coordinates, and supported the idea that the southern continents had previously been in dramatically different locations, as well as next to each other
Continental Drift to Plate Tectonics
Alfred Wegener passed away in 1930 at the age of 50 during an expedition to Greenland. His theory found more scattered support after his death, but was still rejected by most geologist. It was not until the 1950’s when increased exploration of the