He suggested that Australia would make up the eastern-most continent, while Africa was on the West. This meant that Antarctica would be used as the root continent and the others would be formed around it. Wegener used fossil patterns to help shape the map of Pangaea as he saw it. Much of the resistance to Wegener’s continental drift theory came about because of how he suggested the continents once fit together. When you’re trying to find where a piece should go, however, there may be places in the puzzle which seem to be correct, but are eventually proven to be incorrect. When you put a puzzle together, there is only one solution that is the correct one. The One Main Problem with Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory Eventually, he would come to suggest that Polflucht would be the primary method of movement. The orbit of the moon, for example, creates tidal patterns and larger bodies could have exhibited a larger influence that allowed for continental drift.Īlthough Wegener had several ideas about how the mechanisms of continental drift occurred, he did not pursue each one as he developed his theory. The continents could have been encouraged to drive because of slow and continuous changes that were induced by gravity from heavenly bodies. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a zone of floor for the Atlantic Ocean which replicates a mountain range, tearing apart to make room for rising magma, and this could encourage the continents to continue moving. In this idea, the mechanisms that caused the drift could have been the centrifugal forces that are generated by the rotation of the planet. There were several different ideas that Wegener suggested that could be responsible for the continental drifting process. These land masses were now in their current position because of a drifting mechanism that had occurred. His argument was one of the first from a scientific foundation that there was once a single landmass on Earth. The idea of Pangaea is essentially the beginning of Wegener’s continental drift theory. What Are the Mechanisms of Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory? By analyzing fossilized plants, geological structures, and rock types on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, he realized that there were significant similarities to what he was seeing. This caused him to pursue ideas about how Pangaea could have produced how the continents exist today.īy 1912, Wegener was ready to present his continental drift theory. His primary interest in life was meterology, but then he realized a flooded land bridge would contradict the balance between the mantle and crust of the planet. This single large landmass, referred to as “Pangaea,” intrigued Wegener. That idea was something that Alfred Wegener wanted to pursue. Have you ever looked at the various continents on Earth and thought: “They look like they could be put together like a jigsaw puzzle?”
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