Alfred Wegener: The Birth of Continental Drift

In 1911, Alfred Wegner, a German meteorologist suggested his theory of Continental Drift. Wegener closely studied how the layers of rock in South Africa matched those found in Brazil. He also noticed how the Appalachian Mountains in North America matched the Highlands of Scottland.

Wegener didn't just studied similar geological features of the continents but he also examined how fossils in various places often showed that the climate had been different in the past.

With all this evidence to back him up, Wegner developed his theory of continental drift stating that about 300 million years ago all the continents formed a vast supercontinent called Pangaea. The supercontinent broke apart like cracked ice and today's continents have been slowly drifting away from each other ever since. When questioned about what makes the continents drift apart Wegener answered that it was due to the Earth's source of energy rotating on its' axis along with the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon tidal system, a magnetic system. However, many scientist rejected his theory because the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon were too weak to move continents. This made his theory seem ridiculous to many scientists.

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