What was missing from the continental drift theory?

What was missing from the continental drift theory?

The greatest problem facing Wegener was the lack of direct evidence for the movements of continents (no GPS at the time!) and no mechanism was known to be powerful enough to move entire continents.

What was the major weakness of Wegener’s theory of continental drift?

His greatest weakness of Alfred Wegeners’ continental drift theory was he could not explain what kind of force that caused this continents to move far from each other.

What were at least 2 pieces of support for the continental drift theory that Alfred Wegener provided?

In the early part of the 20th century, scientists began to put together evidence that the continents could move around on Earth’s surface. The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones.

Who rejected continental drift theory?

The idea was moonshine, I was informed.” As late as 1953—just five years before Carey introduced the theory of plate tectonics—the theory of continental drift was rejected by the physicist Scheidegger on the following grounds.

What are the 4 evidence of continental drift?

They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils.

Why is the continental drift theory not accepted?

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.

Why was Pangea not accepted?

Despite having this geological and paleontological evidence, Wegener’s theory of continental drift was not accepted by the scientific community, because his explanation of the driving forces behind continental movement (which he said stemmed from the pulling force that created Earth’s equatorial bulge or the …

What was the response to Wegener’s hypothesis?

“That was always his response: Just assert it again, even more strongly.” By the time Wegener published the final version of his theory, in 1929, he was certain it would sweep other theories aside and pull together all the accumulating evidence into a unifying vision of the earth’s history.

Who came up with the theory of seafloor spreading?

Harry H. Hess

What are 3 types of evidence for seafloor spreading?

Several types of evidence from the oceans supported Hess’s theory of sea-floor spreading-evidence from molten material, magnetic stripes, and drilling samples.

What is the importance of seafloor spreading?

Significance. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere.

What is the importance of seafloor spreading How does it affect the earth?

Magnetic polarity stripes give clues to seafloor ages and the importance of mid-ocean ridges in the creation of oceanic crust. Seafloor spreading processes create new oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges and destroy older crust at deep sea trenches.

What are the steps in the process of seafloor spreading?

What are the steps in the process of sea floor spreading?

1. Magma comes out of the rift valley.
2. Magma cools to rock and hardens.
3. Rock is pushed away as new rock is formed at MOR.
4. Oceanic crust and continental crust meet at the trench.
5. Oceanic crust bends down under the continental crust.
6. Gravity pulls rock towards mantle.

What causes the formation of new seafloor?

Explanation: Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.At a spreading center, basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new seabed.

Why do you think it would be important to know what the seafloor looks like?

Sea floor sediment provide an invaluable key to past climate change. Finely varved sediments from areas of rapid deposition provide a high-resolution record of past climate variation, and volcanic ash layers contribute to the comprehensive study of climate change on relatively short timescales.

What are 4 types of ocean floor?

Underwater landforms

• Continental shelf. Starting from land, a trip across an ocean basin along the seafloor would begin with crossing the continental shelf.
• Abyssal plains. Continuing your journey across the ocean basin, you would descend the steep continental slope to the abyssal plain.
• Mid-ocean ridge.
• Ocean trenches.

What does seafloor look like?

All the way down At depths below about 4,000 m (2.5 mi), the seafloor is called the abyssal plain. It is essentially flat because the rugged topography of the underlying basaltic crust is draped in sediment that can be up to five km (three mi) thick. The abyssal plains cover 25% of the Earth’s surface.