Alfred Wegener

History of Plate Tectonics

Alfred Wegener



November 1, 1880 – November, 1930

Alfred Wegener was born in Germany on November 1, 1880. During his childhood years, Alfred became interested in the island of Greenland, where exciting new studies of geophysics were being made. He became determined to visit Greenland someday. He made it a point to build and test his physical endurance so that one day he could endure the harsh climate of the desolate island.

Wegener became an educated man and received his doctorate degree in 1904. He specialized in the area of astronomy and the new science of meteorology, which is the study of weather. In 1906, his dream came true when he was invited to join a Danish expedition to Greenland as its chief meteorologist. While on the expedition, Wegener discovered a piece of data that bothered him for years to come. The data he collected about the island's longitudinal location did not match data that had been collected by others in the past.

In 1912, Wegener proposed a theory that at one time all the Earth's landmasses were joined together forming one giant super continent. He named the giant super continent Pangaea, which means "all lands" in Greek. Wegener's theory, called continental drift, was not well received by other scientists.

While fighting in World War I, Wagener was wounded in 1914. While recuperating, he wrote a book to express his theory of continental drift. The following year, in 1915, the book titled Origin of Continents and Oceans was published. The book was not favorably received.

In 1928, Wegener was invited to New York to present his theory to the exclusive American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Wegener based his theory on five major pieces of evidence.

1) The shapes of the

continents of South
America and Africa
seem to fit together
like the pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle. This is
especially true when
you consider the
actual edges of the
continents, which
extend beneath sea
level.

2) Matching fossils of both plants and animals are found along the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa.

3) Matching folded mountain belts are found along the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa.

4) Evidence of ancient climates show that landmasses were once located on different parts of the Earth than where they are located today. For example, glacial deposits are found in the hot, tropical areas of Africa and coal deposits, which come from lush, tropical swamps, are found under the ice of Antarctica.

5) The data that Wegener collected about the longitudinal location of Greenland did not match the data collected by earlier expeditions. Therefore, Wegener believed Greenland was moving away from the continent of Europe.

After Wegener presented his theory and supporting evidence to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, hew as met with strong opposition and ridicule. He received comments such as he was eccentric, preposterous, lacked common sense, and was an obvious crackpot. One member even ridiculed Wegener by asking, " What can you expect? He is only a meteorologist!"

After the debate in New York, Wegener’s theory was dropped by most of the scientific community. However, Wegener became more determined than ever to find answers to his questions. Why did the shapes of South America and Africa fit so well together? How did coal form at the South Pole? How did glaciers exist in a tropical climate in Africa? Wegener continued leading expeditions across the Earth looking for further evidence to support his theory.

In the 1930s, Wegener returned to Greenland for his fourth visit. Ironically, the meteorologist became stranded in a blizzard and died. He was very close to finding the answer and was only off by one island. The island of Iceland actually held the answers to some of his questions.

Today, Wegener’s research is accepted in a different light. Even though he did not have all the answers necessary to fully understand the movement of the continents, he did lay the foundation for today’s understanding of our planet’s geophysics. He is not referred to as a scientific hero that was ahead of his time and the “Father of Continental Drift”.

Plate Tectonic Theory

The theory of plate tectonics is the culminating product of evidence supporting the theories of continental drift and seafloor spreading. The theory of continental drift is based on Alfred Wegener’s idea that all of Earth’s continents were originally one large landmass, fossils, and climate; he was unable to adequately explain the forces that moved the continents. It was not until nearly fifty years later, when scientists found new evidence supporting seafloor spreading, that scientists began to revisit Wegener’s theory of continental drift.

Hess proved Wegener's basic idea right and clarified the mechanism that broke the once-joined continents into the seven with which we are familiar. The continents are attached to the plates and do not move independently of them. But the plates themselves shift and change shape, carrying the continents along due in part to convection currents.

In 1965, Canadian scientist J. Tuzo Wilson combines the theories of continental drift and seafloor spreading to propose the theory of plate tectonics.