Essay about Alfred Wegener and the Continental Drift

When you look at a map, doesn’t it seem like all the continents fit together like pieces of a puzzle? Well if you said “yes” then you would be right. Meet Mr. Alfred Wegner, born on November 1st, 1880 in Berlin, Germany to Mr. Richard Wegener and  Mrs. Anna Wegener. Alfred Wegner, who worked as a meteorologist and geophysicist,  is most known for his theory of continental drift, which he first proposed in 1915. His theory stated that the earth was once a single continent which he called Pangea (meaning "all lands"). This idea came to him whilst looking at a map. Wegener saw that if you take away the Atlantic Ocean, South America and Africa looked like they would fit together just like pieces of a puzzle. The idea that the earth once had a single continent captured his attention so much that he began investigating for more information to support his theory.

It was during this hunt that he came across an article that claimed Africa and Brazil were once united by a land bridge. This supposed land bridge was an attempt to explain why the same fossilized plants and animals from the same time period were found in South America and Africa. The same may be said for fossils discovered in Europe, North America, Madagascar, and India. Many of these organisms would not have been able to migrate across today's massive oceans. Although Wegener's concept of continental drift appeared to be more realistic than land bridges connecting all continents, there was still not enough evidence to back up his claim. During another search, grooves created by glaciers scratching the earth surface revealed that Africa and South America were nearby at the period of this ancient ice age. Along the beaches of South America and South Africa, the same scraped patterns can be detected. Wegener suggested that the continents had drifted apart over millions of years. However, he had no idea what was driving this movement. Wegener first introduced the theory of continental drift in 1915, but it was severely mocked and sadly he died at the age of 50 while on a Greenland expedition and never lived to see his theory accepted.

The concept of continental drift was only revived decades after Wegener's death, in the 1960s. That's when technologies adapted from warfare allowed for a more thorough study of the Earth. Seismometers  used to monitor ground shaking caused by nuclear testing and magnetometers used for submarine detection were among the innovations. Researchers used seismometers to uncover that earthquakes tended to occur in certain locations rather than evenly around the globe. Scientists using magnetometers to investigate the seafloor discovered evidence of unexpected magnetic changes along underwater ridges. These findings were in line with a theory offered by researchers based on Wegener's initial idea of continental drift and the theory of plate tectonics. According to this theory, Earth’s crust is broken into roughly 20 sections called tectonic plates on which the continents ride. When these plates press together and move, energy is released within the form of earthquakes. that's why earthquakes don't occur everywhere on Earth—they’re clustered around the boundaries of tectonic plates. plate tectonics also explains the stripes of rock on the seafloor with alternating magnetic properties: As molten rock rises up from within Earth, it emerges from the space between spreading tectonic plates and hardens, creating a ridge. Plate tectonics also explains why Earth’s continents are moving; the theory of continental drift which Alfred Wegener was working on, failed to provide an explanation Therefore, the new theory of plate tectonics is more complete and has gained widespread acceptance among scientists.