EARTH SCIENCE
TECTONICS
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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There was a competing theory at the time that was more believable.
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There was no data showing the continents ever moved.
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The scientists did not know the force responsible for moving the continents.
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The scientist presenting the data was unreliable.
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Detailed explanation-1: -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: -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: -Although the evidence for continental drift was extremely strong, scientists rejected the idea because no mechanism for how solid continents could move around on the solid earth was developed.
Detailed explanation-4: -The main issue with Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory was he did not have a mechanism behind the drifting of continents. He had a substantial amount of evidence that made sense; nonetheless, without a driving force behind it, the scientific community simply discredited his entire idea.
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.