Wegener also suggested that India drifted northward into the asian continent thus forming the Himalayas. ... This idea was quickly rejected by the scientific community primarily because the actual forces generated by the rotation of the earth were calculated to be insufficient to move continents .
Why was Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory not accepted immediately?
The main reason that Wegener’s hypothesis was not accepted was because he suggested no mechanism for moving the continents . He thought the force of Earth’s spin was sufficient to cause continents to move, but geologists knew that rocks are too strong for this to be true.
Why could Wegener not answer objections?
Wegener also suggested that India drifted northward into the asian continent thus forming the Himalayas. ... This idea was quickly rejected by the scientific community primarily because the actual forces generated by the rotation of the earth were calculated to be insufficient to move continents .
What were the two drawbacks or failures in Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis?
Drawbacks of Continental Drift Theory
Wegener failed to explain why the drift began only in Mesozoic era and not before . The theory doesn’t consider oceans. Proofs heavily depend on assumptions that are generalistic. Forces like buoyancy, tidal currents and gravity are too weak to be able to move continents.
What was the major weakness of Wegener’s theory?
A fatal weakness in Wegener’s theory was that it could not satisfactorily answer the most fundamental question raised by his critics: What kind of forces could be strong enough to move such large masses of solid rock over such great distances?
Why was Pangea not accepted?
Despite having this geological and paleontological evidence, Wegener’s theory of continental drift was not accepted by the scientific community, because his explanation of the driving forces behind continental movement (which he said stemmed from the pulling force that created Earth’s equatorial bulge or the ...
What was the response to Wegener’s hypothesis?
“That was always his response: Just assert it again, even more strongly .” By the time Wegener published the final version of his theory, in 1929, he was certain it would sweep other theories aside and pull together all the accumulating evidence into a unifying vision of the earth’s history.
What are the 4 evidence of continental drift?
The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones .
What was Wegener’s theory?
Alfred Wegener in Greenland. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s land masses are in constant motion . The realization that Earth’s land masses move was first proposed by Alfred Wegener, which he called continental drift.
What do scientists now think is causing the continents to move?
Plate tectonic theory explains why continents continue to move. The planet’s outer shell consists of plates that move a few centimeters a year. Heat from the Earth’s interior causes this motion to happen via convection currents in the mantle.
What is the force that moves the continents?
The movement of these tectonic plates is likely caused by convection currents in the molten rock in Earth’s mantle below the crust. Earthquakes and volcanoes are the short-term results of this tectonic movement. The long-term result of plate tectonics is the movement of entire continents over millions of years (Fig.
What is the problem with the continental drift theory?
The problem that was used to reject Continental Drift is that the theory had no mechanism or explanation for what could cause the movement of the massive continents .
Who came up with the theory of seafloor spreading?
Harry Hess : One of the Discoverers of Seafloor Spreading.
Who mapped the ocean floor and finally proved Wegener’s theory?
That was the case in 1953, when a young geologist named Marie Tharp made a map that vindicated the controversial theory of plate tectonics. But Tharp’s discovery of the 10,000-mile-long Mid-Atlantic Ridge*—a find that showed that the sea floor was spreading—was initially dismissed as “girl talk.”
What do Earth’s plates move on top of?
In plate tectonics, Earth’s outermost layer, or lithosphere—made up of the crust and upper mantle—is broken into large rocky plates. These plates lie on top of a partially molten layer of rock called the asthenosphere .
Did dinosaurs live on Pangea?
Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents . At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.
