From Theory To Science: The Evolution Of Tectonics

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are slowly moving—at a rate of about one yard per century.” (U.S. Dept. Geology www) Wegener’s first ideas for his theory, “Continental Drift” (Schwarzbach p.81), came from his observations between the similarities of various fossils in South America and Africa and the similarities of South America’s east coastline with Africa’s west coastline. He hypothesized the continents at some time where one landmass. “Pangaea” (U.S. Geological Survey www), is the name for the landmass, before the Dinosaur era, before all the Continents hypothetically split to their current dimensions. In Wegener’s hypothesis he likened-- the continents moved like the icebergs floated on water. Wegener found the Continents are made of lighter rock, granite and the crust, beneath the Continents, when pressurized, the heat makes that rock fluid-like and the Continents move on that material. For years, after Wegener went public with the idea of Continental Drift, his theory was scrutinized throughout the science world, but ironically Wegener’s theories for “Continental Drift” would become the basis for the science of Tectonics.
The idea of ‘Plate Tectonics’ from Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory developed further from R...