Why was continental drift not accepted by the scientific community at large?

Answer 1

because Wegener was a meteorologist (weatherman ) and they were set on the idea of land bridges. Scientists at the time also believed that the plates did not move. Finally Wegener could suggest no plausible driving force for the plates to move.

Answer 2

There were already competing theories that connected the fields of Paleontology and geology, and the process of drift is so slow that it could not be directly measured. At the time, there were still unexplored areas of the world, and as these were investigated, more evidence supporting continental drift was found. It was not until the 1950s that a plausible energy source (heat-driven plate tectonics) was suggested.

Answer 3

The Theory of Continental Drift drew skepticism from scientists due the fact that while Alfred Wagner found that the continents fit together like a puzzle piece, he could not explain how they moved.

Answer 4

The idea of continental drift proposed by Alfred Wegener in the early 20th century was not widely accepted because he was unable to provide a convincing mechanism for how continents could move. Additionally, Wegener's initial ideas were met with skepticism because the evidence for continental movement was not well understood or supported at the time. It was only after the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s that continental drift gained wider acceptance in the scientific community.

Answer 5

because scientists at the time were reluctant to believe that the earth's plates could or did move, especially on their own.

Answer 6

Some scientists rejected the idea because of the calculated strength of the rocks, it didn't seem possible for the crust to move in this way.