Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

CLIMATOLOGISTS – The study of climate Wegener was born in Germany. He earned a doctorate degree in astronomy from the University of Berlin. However, his interests were redirected to the study of weather and climate.

Continental Drift

Plant and Animal Fossils One method used to study climates of the past is to look at the fossil record to determine what conditions existed when the fossilized organisms lived. As Wegener was browsing through scientific papers that listed fossils, he discovered that identical plants and animal were found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Many of these animals were too small to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. He also found plant & animal fossils that could not have grown or survived in what is now a frozen continent, Antarctica.

Fossils of warm weather plants and animals have been found across continents and in the colder regions of our globe.

Fossils of the same species have been found on the coastlines of continents separated by an ocean.

THEY FIT TOGETHER! As he pondered this, he put the fossil information together with his observation that the Atlantic coasts of South America and Africa appeared to fit together as if it were a puzzle. He wondered if the continents had been joined together at one time. Wegener began to look for supporting evidence for this idea.

Past scientists noticed the edges of one continent could almost fit like a puzzle with the edges of another continent.

ROCKS and MOUNTAINS In 1915, he published a book called the Origins of Continents and Oceans. He explained that at one time Earth’s landmasses created a supercontinent that he called Pangaea. He explained that the supercontinent broke up into smaller continents that drifted apart. Wegener’s theory was called continental drift. When he search mountains and rock structures, he found that the same rocks were found on North America and Africa. Also the same structures on South America and Africa.

How could this comparison of soil and rock study help prove continental drift?

Identical broken mountain chains have been found on two different continents separated by an ocean.

Glaciers on the move! While on his many expeditions he found evidence of glaciers moving. The glaciers left many marks as they moved over the land. These marks are like scratches in the surface of the Earth. The scratches at the edge of Antarctica match up to scratches on South America, Africa, and Australia.

Evidence of glaciers have been found on continents near the equator where it is very warm all year long.

But, HOW do they move? There were many things that Wegener could not explain with this theory. For one, he did not know what allowed the continents to drift or move. He wanted to know HOW they moved!

Greenland Expedition Claims Wegener’s Life Wegener died while on a climatological expedition in Greenland. Scientists and historians marvel at how Wegener used information from climatology, paleontology, and geology to develop his theory. Today, scientists accept parts of the continental drift theory while rejecting other parts. Wegener’s Continental Drift theory led to the later Theory of Plate Tectonics.

What scientist is responsible for this Theory of Continental Drift? Alfred Wegener!! He’s the man!