GEOLOGY

EARTH SCIENCE

TECTONICS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Alfred Wegener’s theory was not immediately accepted by scientists because:
A
he was a meteorologist
B
he was a geologist
C
he could not explain how the continents moved
D
both a and c
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Answer and Explanation: Wegener’s idea of continental drift was not accepted by the scientific community because he was unable to explain how the continents moved. He was only able to show that at one point, the continents were all connected into one large landmass.

Detailed explanation-2: -Wegener first presented his idea of continental drift in 1912, but it was widely ridiculed and soon, mostly, forgotten. Wegener never lived to see his theory accepted-he died at the age of 50 while on an expedition in Greenland. Only decades later, in the 1960s, did the idea of continental drift resurface.

Detailed explanation-3: -Alfred Wegener produced evidence in 1912 that the continents are in motion, but because he could not explain what forces could move them, geologists rejected his ideas. Almost 50 years later Harry Hess confirmed Wegener’s ideas by using the evidence of seafloor spreading to explain what moved continents.

Detailed explanation-4: -Answer and Explanation: The primary reason Alfred Wegner’s idea of continental drift was rejected by his peers was that he provided no mechanism to explain why the continents moved.

Detailed explanation-5: -Because Wegener could not identify the cause of continental drift, most geologists rejected his idea. Continental drift was what Wegener invented. Wegener’s hypothesis was rejected from geologists because he couldn’t identify the cause of continental drift.

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