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  1. Continental drift

    continental drift, large-scale horizontal movements of continents relative to one another and to the ocean basins during one or more episodes of geologic time.This concept was an important precursor to the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which incorporates it.. The idea of a large-scale displacement of continents has a long history. Noting the apparent fit of the bulge of eastern ...

  2. Continental drift

    Continental drift is the theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. [1] The theory of continental drift has since been validated and incorporated into the science of plate tectonics, which studies the movement of the continents as they ride on plates of the Earth's lithosphere.

  3. 5.1: Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Hypothesis

    Opponents of continental drift insisted trans-oceanic land bridges allowed animals and plants to move between continents. The land bridges eventually eroded, leaving the continents permanently separated. The problem with this hypothesis is the improbability of a land bridge being tall and long enough to stretch across a broad, deep ocean.

  4. 2.1: Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Hypothesis

    However, in the 1950s, evidence started to trickle in that made continental drift a more viable idea. By the 1960s, scientists had amassed enough evidence to support the missing mechanism—namely, seafloor spreading—for Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift to be accepted as the theory of plate tectonics. Ongoing GPS and earthquake ...

  5. Continental Drift: The groundbreaking theory of moving continents

    Continental drift was a revolutionary theory explaining that continents shift position on Earth's surface. The theory was proposed by geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912, but was ...

  6. Continental Drift

    Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time. Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.. The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist Alfred Wegener.In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were ...

  7. What Is Continental Drift Theory?

    Continental drift was a revolutionary scientific theory developed in the years 1908-1912 by Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), a German meteorologist, climatologist, and geophysicist, that put forth the hypothesis that the continents had all originally been a part of one enormous landmass or supercontinent about 240 million years ago before breaking apart and drifting to their current locations.

  8. What is continental drift?

    Continental drift During the 20th Century, scientists developed the theory of Plate Tectonics. The theory suggests that the crust of the Earth is split up into seven large plates (see map below) and a few smaller ones, all of which can slowly move around on the Earth's surface.

  9. 2.1: Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Hypothesis

    Opponents of continental drift insisted trans-oceanic land bridges allowed animals and plants to move between continents . The land bridges eventually eroded away, leaving the continents permanently separated. The problem with this hypothesis is the improbability of a land bridge being tall and long enough to stretch across a broad, deep ocean.

  10. Theory of Continental Drift

    The continental drift hypothesis was developed in the early part of the 20th century, mostly by Alfred Wegener. Wegener said that continents move around on Earth's surface and that they were once joined together as a single supercontinent. While Wegener was alive, scientists did not believe that the continents could move.Find a map of the ...

  11. Continental Drift versus Plate Tectonics

    Together, these observations were consistent with a new theory proposed by researchers who built on Wegener's original idea of continental drift—the theory of plate tectonics. According to this theory, Earth's crust is broken into roughly 20 sections called tectonic plates on which the continents ride. When these plates press together and ...

  12. What is Continental Drift?

    The continental drift theory was replaced by the plate tectonic theory which illustrates how the continents drift. The Continental Drift Theory . The hypothesis of continental drift was developed during the early parts of the twentieth century by Wegener. He believed that all eight continents were once a single supercontinent before separating.

  13. 5.4: Theory of Continental Drift

    The continental drift hypothesis was developed in the early part of the 20th century, mostly by Alfred Wegener. Wegener said that continents move around on Earth's surface and that they were once joined together as a single supercontinent. While Wegener was alive, scientists did not believe that the continents could move.Find a map of the ...

  14. continental drift summary

    continental drift, Large-scale movements of continents over the course of geologic time.The first complete theory of continental drift was proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, who postulated that a single supercontinent, which he called Pangea, fragmented late in the Triassic Period (approximately 250-200 million years ago) and that the parts began to move away from one another.

  15. Continental Drift 101

    Plate tectonics have shuffled the earth's landmasses around—and continue to do so. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe Get More 101 Videos: http://bit...

  16. 100 years of continental drift

    Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was a leading explorer, geophysicist, and meteorologist from Germany, and pioneer in the exploration of Greenland ().His seminal volume of meteorology is universally considered a fundamental manual for this discipline and was long a reference text for students and specialists.Wegener's preeminent scientific legacy, however, is the continental drift hypothesis.

  17. 15.1: Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift

    Modern Theory of Plate Movement and Continental Drift. The movement of lithospheric plates referred to as continental drift, is believed to be caused by the radioactive decay of elements in the core and mantle that produces heat. The heat in turn creates convection currents in the mantle which "drive" the plates along their path of movement.

  18. Continental Drift

    The Theory of Continental Drift is defined as the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other, thereby appearing to drift together across the oceanic bed. Although Alfred Wegener was able to produce a viable hypothesis with evidence and specifically state the theory, it should be noted there were previous geologists and ...

  19. 5.5: Continental Drift

    The continental drift hypothesis was developed in the early part of the 20 th century, mostly by Alfred Wegener. Wegener said that continents move around on Earth's surface and that they were once joined together as a single supercontinent. While Wegener was alive, scientists did not believe that the continents could move. ...

  20. 2.1: Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Hypothesis

    However, in the 1950s, evidence started to trickle in that made continental drift a more viable idea. By the 1960s, scientists had amassed enough evidence to support the missing mechanism—namely, seafloor spreading—for Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift to be accepted as the theory of plate tectonics.