Scientists
Alfred Wegener
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
Alfred Wegener was a German meteorologist and geophysicist who formulated the first complete statement of continental drift. His theory was rejected by most geologists during his lifetime but was revived in the 1960s as part of plate tectonics.
Facts
FieldMeteorology and geophysics 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Precursor To
Wegener's continental drift proposal, put forward between 1912 and 1915, correctly identified a former single landmass and drew on real evidence, matching coastlines, matching fossil taxa such as Glossopteris and Lystrosaurus found across separated continents, and matching rock strata, but he could not supply a physical mechanism for how continents moved and the idea was rejected in his lifetime; the seafloor spreading and magnetic reversal evidence gathered between 1959 and 1963 by researchers including Harry Hess supplied that missing mechanism, and plate tectonics was formally defined by 1965 to 1967, confirming Wegener's core insight with the physics he lacked rather than replacing it outright.
Proposed
Works In
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.