Reconstruction of the world map according to the continental drift theory (from Wegener’s book “Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane”) (Credit: C. Pichler)
EGU Blogs has an informative page on continental drift. Originating with Alfred Wegener around 1912, continental drift seemed somewhat ridiculous at the time. How could something so large as a continent move?!? The evidence was there... matching geologic formations across oceans, mountain building, and sea floor spreading. There were no good explanations until Plate Tectonics in the 1960's.
German scientist Alfred Wegener spent most of his life defending a shocking theory: that all the world’s continents were once part of the same land mass before they drifted away. For many years after he passed, his theory continued to be shunned, ridiculed, and labelled as pseudoscience. And then, several decades later, geologists began to find more and more proof to support his continental drift theory, proof that Wegener sadly never lived to see.
This week marks 140 years since Wegener’s birthday on 1 November 1880. In his brief life of fifty years, he was recognized as a climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher. The European Geosciences Union recognizes his contributions to the geosciences with the Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership: a prestigious award bestowed by the Union to scientists who have achieved exceptional international standing in atmospheric, hydrological or ocean sciences, for their merit and their scientific achievements.
