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Continental drift is the theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. [1] The theory of continental drift has since been validated and incorporated into the science of plate tectonics, which studies the movement of the continents as they ride on plates of the Earth's lithosphere.
But Wegener only published his idea after reading a paper in 1911 which criticised the prevalent hypothesis, that a bridge of land once connected Europe and America, on the grounds that this contradicts isostasy. [20] Wegener's main interest was meteorology, and he wanted to join the Denmark-Greenland expedition scheduled for mid-1912.
The root of this was Alfred Wegener's 1912 publication of his theory of continental drift, which was a controversy in the field through the 1950s. [2] At that point scientists introduced new evidence in a new way, replacing the idea of continental drift with instead a theory of plate tectonics. [2]
Although Wegener's theory was formed independently and was more complete than those of his predecessors, Wegener later credited a number of past authors with similar ideas: [18] Franklin Coxworthy (between 1848 and 1890), [19] Roberto Mantovani (between 1889 and 1909), William Henry Pickering (1907) [20] and Frank Bursley Taylor (1908). [21]
In 1912 Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift. [36] This theory suggests that the shapes of continents and matching coastline geology between some continents indicates they were joined together in the past and formed a single landmass known as Pangaea; thereafter they separated and drifted like rafts over the ocean floor ...
Alfred Wegener advanced the theory of continental drift, a fringe theory which was later adopted by mainstream science. Most fringe theories never become part of established scholarship. [17] Rejected ideas may help to refine mainstream thought, [30] but most outside theories are simply incorrect and have no wider impact. [17]
In 1912 Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of Continental Drift. [26] This theory suggests that the shapes of continents and matching coastline geology between some continents indicates they were joined in the past and formed a single landmass known as Pangaea; thereafter they separated and drifted like rafts over the ocean floor, currently ...
I think best approach is separate sections that: 1) describe the observation, 2) describe the various theories, 3) discuss Wegener's theory (because it is the most notable of all the theories), and then 4) discuss why Wegener's theory was rejected (because that is, nowadays, its most notable aspect).