Asked by james
b. Who proposed the idea of plate tectonics/continental drift?
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
Alfred Wegener.
He proposed the idea of continental drift in 1912 (popularized in his 1915 book Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane). Wegener suggested continents had once been joined and later drifted apart, but his idea lacked a convincing mechanism and was initially rejected.
The modern theory of plate tectonics — which provides the mechanism (sea‑floor spreading, subduction, rigid plates) — was developed in the 1960s by several scientists (notably Harry Hess and Robert Dietz for sea‑floor spreading, Vine & Matthews for magnetic striping, John Tuzo Wilson for plate concepts; Arthur Holmes had earlier proposed mantle convection as a driving mechanism).
He proposed the idea of continental drift in 1912 (popularized in his 1915 book Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane). Wegener suggested continents had once been joined and later drifted apart, but his idea lacked a convincing mechanism and was initially rejected.
The modern theory of plate tectonics — which provides the mechanism (sea‑floor spreading, subduction, rigid plates) — was developed in the 1960s by several scientists (notably Harry Hess and Robert Dietz for sea‑floor spreading, Vine & Matthews for magnetic striping, John Tuzo Wilson for plate concepts; Arthur Holmes had earlier proposed mantle convection as a driving mechanism).
Submit Your Answer
We prioritize human answers over AI answers.
If you are human, and you can answer this question, please submit your answer.