What did Alfred Wegener theorize about?

What did Alfred Wegener theorize about?

Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth’s surface. Set forth in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a geophysicist and meteorologist, continental drift also explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents.

What did Alfred Wegener theorize quizlet?

Alfred Wegener’s theory that the continents moved from one part of the Earth to another. The theory explaining how and why Earth’s plates move on top of the asthenosphere.

What kind of information did Alfred use to support his theory?

He strengthen his theory by providing fossil,similarity of rocks at same age,glaciation ,and geometric fit of continents if they are resumed back to their initial position.

What is the best explanation for the movement of plates?

The driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in the mantle. Hot material near the Earth’s core rises, and colder mantle rock sinks.

Why was Alfred Wegeners theory first rejected?

However, his theory was rejected because of two reasons: The first reason was that his theory of continental drift was just too weak for most geologists to accept. Even though he believed the supercontinent that broke up into different continents moved, he did not have a clear explanation to how the continents moved.

Why did Alfred Wegener think of Pangaea?

In 1912 a German meteorologist named Alfred Wegener (1880-1931) hypothesized a single proto-supercontinent that divided up into the continents we now know because of continental drift and plate tectonics. This hypothesis is called Pangaea because the Greek word “pan” means “all”…

Why did Alfred Wegener believe in continental drift?

Alfred Wegener first supported continental drift. Wegener’s explanation of continental drift in 1912 was that drifting occurred because of the earth’s rotation. This explanation and his theory were not widely accepted. Prior to Wegener, however, many had noted that the shapes of the continents seem to fit together,…

What theory did Alfred Wegener proposed first?

Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift – the idea that Earth’s continents move. Despite publishing a large body of compelling fossil and rock evidence for his theory between 1912 and 1929, it was rejected by most other scientists. It was only in the 1960s that continental drift finally became part of mainstream science.