What was Alfred Wegener contribution to many of theories of the scientific community?

Answer 1

Alfred Wegener was a German geologist from the early 20th century, that was the first to theorize, and provided evidence of continental drift. He provided fossil, land feature, and climate evidence for 'continental drift' and the existence of a previous super- continent called Pangaea. Wegener died before the mechanisms behind plate tectonics, mid-ocean rifts and subduction zones, were discovered in the 1960's.

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Answer 2

Alfred Wegener was criticized initially, because his theory (plate tectonics) was such a novel concept when he first introduced it. However, as is the case with many theories, more and more evidence was discovered that backed it up, and today, although still technically a theory, it is accepted by most scientists. It was about a century ago when he introduced this theory, and the idea that the continents were in motion, albeit slow, was difficult for many people to accept. The time frames of geology are difficult to grasp, because the orders of magnitude are so great, but again, with more evidence such as the development of lasers which can record very slight movements, and advances in paleomagnetism, we have pretty much confirmed that Mr. Wegener was spot on.

Answer 3

While there was evidence to support the theory of "continental drift" there was no mechanism by which the observations could be explained. Because there was no way to explain how continents moved, scientists were reluctant to accept the theory.

This changed when Walter Pitman III of Columbia University discovered that the magnetic pattern on either side of a spreading zone in the ocean were identical - suggesting that the sea floor was spreading from the center. This discovery spurred the creation of a more complete theory of Plate Tectonics, and solved the mystery of continental drift.

Answer 4

For pretty much the same reason other people resisted the idea that the Earth went around the Sun, or that people on the other side of the world didn't fall off. People are reluctant to accept new ideas that seem to contradict appearances. Also, there are certain Comforting Notions about the stability of systems which people don't like to have challenged. In ages gone, it was comforting to think that 1) Earth was the center of the universe 2) the Sun was perfect and unblemished; 3) the orbits of the (other) planets were perfect circles; 4) the continents were immovable; and 5) all the plants and animals that are here today were always here.

Answer 5

New evidence was discovered which lent credence to his ideas. The main finding in this case was the discovery of sea floor spreading.

Answer 6

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