GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -The main reason that Wegener’s hypothesis was not accepted was because he suggested no mechanism for moving the continents. He thought the force of Earth’s spin was sufficient to cause continents to move, but geologists knew that rocks are too strong for this to be true.

Detailed explanation-3: -He hypothesized that all of the modern-day continents had previously been clumped together in a supercontinent he called Pangaea (from ancient Greek, meaning “all lands” or “all the Earth”). Over millions of years, Wegener suggested, the continents had drifted apart.

Detailed explanation-4: -Unfortunately, though Wegener’s explanation of the Permo-Carboniferous ice age impressed even his critics, the merit of much of the rest of his supporting evidence was not widely recognized at the time. As a result, most geologists eventually dismissed his theory as a fairy tale or “mere geopoetry."

Detailed explanation-5: -The drift according to him, might have occurred due to centrifugal forces of earth or astronomical changes. Continents could not possibly the way he described it because he did not provide any hard evidence that would give the ultimate cause or mechanism for the continents to move.