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Wegener noticed several things about the land masses on the Earth. The first being that some land masses are shaped like the pieces of a jigsaw, Africa's West coast mirroring South America's East coast for example. He looked at the rock layers in these countries and found that the rock layers were the same too. He then looked at the fossils found in the rock and found that they were the same early on in the fossil record but later changed and became more and more different. (He knew that the animals found in these countries were different in the present day.) He was intrigued as his findings would mean that the landmasses were once joined together and had later split apart into there present locations. He started to look for the fossils of tropical climate animals and plants in present day cold climate latitudes and found them. He concluded this was evidence that the land masses had moved over time.

His ideas were not well received as there was no clear way whole continents could move. The science community scoffed at his ideas as it was logically ridiculous that whole continents could move without some huge energy source to drive it. That was until the 1960's and the discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge a series of volcanoes under the sea which are spewing out new rock a phenomenon known as ocean floor spreading. The movement of the continents is due to convection currents in the mantle driven by nuclear fusion reactions which were unheard of in Wegener's time.

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Why wasn't Wegener's theory of Pangaea accepted at first?

His idea was not accepted because people back then did not believe that the plates could move. They also thought you could fall off the Earth but that is a different question. The theory was put forward first by Abraham Orthelius but was fully developed by Alfred Wegner. His theory was not thought of because people thought it was not possible for the tectonic plates of the earth to move.


Why did Wagener's theory of continental drift not accepted?

Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift was not initially accepted because he lacked a mechanism to explain how continents could move. Additionally, his evidence was considered insufficient and geologists at that time did not believe that continents could drift over time. It was not until the theory of plate tectonics was developed in the 1960s that Wegener's ideas gained widespread acceptance.


How did climate support wegener's theory?

Climate supported Wegener's theory of continental drift because similar fossils and rock formations were found on continents that are now separated by oceans. This suggested that these continents were once connected and drifted apart over time. Additionally, Wegener noted that certain climate patterns and geological features, such as glacial striations, lined up when the continents were brought back together into Pangaea.


Why did scientists in 1915 not accept wegeners idea of continental drift?

Scientists in 1915 did not accept Alfred Wegener's idea of continental drift because he lacked a plausible mechanism for how the continents could move. Additionally, Wegener's ideas were seen as radical and went against the prevailing scientific beliefs of the time, so there was resistance to accepting his theory without more concrete evidence. The technology available at the time also did not provide the necessary tools to support Wegener's hypothesis.


What evidence caused Alfred Wegener to develop his hypothesis of continental drift?

One of His Theorys of continental drift was, that you could fit the continents back together if you had pictures. Also it would make up Pangea

Related Questions

Why wasn't Wegener's theory of Pangaea accepted at first?

His idea was not accepted because people back then did not believe that the plates could move. They also thought you could fall off the Earth but that is a different question. The theory was put forward first by Abraham Orthelius but was fully developed by Alfred Wegner. His theory was not thought of because people thought it was not possible for the tectonic plates of the earth to move.


What is an explanation in science that has a lot of evidence to back it up?

I think it is theory


Why did people think wegner's theory was wrong?

YEs, Alfred WEGners theory was accpeted until later BECause This Question IS BEing ASked to aN ELEveN yEar OLdBecaysE sHE wANTs To Know :CAN A THEORY ALREADY ACCEPTED , BE REJECTED LATER WHEN A CONTRADICTION IS FOUND?THANKSI Appreciate if you would help.ByebyeX


Why did Wagener's theory of continental drift not accepted?

Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift was not initially accepted because he lacked a mechanism to explain how continents could move. Additionally, his evidence was considered insufficient and geologists at that time did not believe that continents could drift over time. It was not until the theory of plate tectonics was developed in the 1960s that Wegener's ideas gained widespread acceptance.


Why did most scientists reject wegener theory for nearly a half century?

Most scientists rejected Wegener's theory of continental drift for nearly half a century because he lacked a plausible mechanism to explain how continents moved. Additionally, his ideas went against existing geological beliefs at the time, and he faced strong opposition from influential geologists who defended the prevailing theory of stationary continents. It wasn't until the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which provided a mechanism for the movement of continents, that Wegener's ideas gained widespread acceptance.


How did climate support wegener's theory?

Climate supported Wegener's theory of continental drift because similar fossils and rock formations were found on continents that are now separated by oceans. This suggested that these continents were once connected and drifted apart over time. Additionally, Wegener noted that certain climate patterns and geological features, such as glacial striations, lined up when the continents were brought back together into Pangaea.


What killed the dinosavrs and what evidence do you have to back up the theory?

The Chicxulub Asteroid impact caused the dinosaur extinction, evidence of which the K2 boundary illustrates.


When might a historians point of view become bias?

When the historian has no evidence to back up his theory


Why was wegener's continental drift hypothesis not widely accepted?

People thought he was crazy and not very smart but he proved them. He found a way.


Why didn't scientist believe Alfred Wegener?

Scientists did not initially believe Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift because he lacked a mechanism to explain how the continents moved. Additionally, his theory challenged the prevailing scientific paradigm of the time, which held that the continents were fixed in place. It wasn't until the discovery of plate tectonics in the 1960s that Wegener's ideas gained widespread acceptance.


Why did scientists in 1915 not accept wegeners idea of continental drift?

Scientists in 1915 did not accept Alfred Wegener's idea of continental drift because he lacked a plausible mechanism for how the continents could move. Additionally, Wegener's ideas were seen as radical and went against the prevailing scientific beliefs of the time, so there was resistance to accepting his theory without more concrete evidence. The technology available at the time also did not provide the necessary tools to support Wegener's hypothesis.


How does a scientific hypothesis become an accepted theory?

when there s proof to back it up with evidence or an experiment to test the hypothesis