Important Scientists and Evidence of the Theory of Plate Tectonics -Nicole&Delaney

Seismograph

Mar 21, 1880

Seismographs pick up tremors of earthquakes. They find patterns in it and watch a volcano. It graphs P waves, S waves, and Surface waves. The first modern was made in 1880.

Sir Edward Bullard

Mar 22, 1907

Sir Edward Bullard was a British geophysicist. He researched the ocean floor quite a bit. He lived from 1907 to 1980. He did some research on Earth's crust.

Alfred Wegner

Jan 6, 1912

Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German meteorologist. He discovered the Continental Drift Theory. He realized that that the larger landmasses seemed to fit together. Wegener introduced Pangaea.

Arthur Holmes

Mar 22, 1913

Arthur Holmes was a British geologist. He published a booklet called The Age of the Earth in 1913. He believed in Continental Drift –he lived when no one wanted to even believe it at all.

Robert Dietz

Mar 22, 1914

Robert S. Dietz was a scientist for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. He studied along with Harry Hess about seafloor spreading. He lived from 1914 to 1995.

Kiyoo Wadati

Mar 22, 1928

Kiyoo Wadati is a Japanese seismologist. He researched subduction zone earthquakes. He wrote a paper about shallow and deep earthquakes in 1928. There is a seismic place named after him and Hugo Benioff, called theWadati-Benioff zone.

U.S. Research Ship: Atlantis

Mar 21, 1931

Atlantis was a research ship for the United States. This was the first ship built for studying marine biology, geology, and physical oceanography.

Hugo Benioff

Mar 22, 1932

Hugo Benioff is an American seismologist. He charted the spots of deep earthquakes. He invented the Benioff seismometer in 1932.There is a seismic place named after him and Kiyoo Wadati, called the Wadati-Benioff zone.

Alexander Du Toit

Mar 17, 1937

Alexander Du Toit was a professor of Geology at Johannesburg University. He named Lurasia (northern continental masses) and placed them so that extensive coal deposits on them were located at the equator in 1937.

Harry H. Hess

Mar 17, 1960

Harry H. Hess was a Princeton University geologist, who studied mid-ocean ridges and a Naval Reserve Rear Admiral. Hess studied the conclusion that Wegner may have been accurate. In 1960, he suggested the process of sea-floor spreading.

Drummond Matthews and Fred Vine

Mar 21, 1960

Drummond Matthews and Fred Vine were Cambridge scientists. They found that there are stripes that are magnetic that switch direction.

The Glomar Challenger

Mar 23, 1968

Glomar Challenger went and drilled into the surface and scientists studied the samples. They found out the age of the rocks, found that the farther away from the ridge they were, the older the rocks were, which proved that sea-floor spreading truly has happened.The expedition began March 23, 1968.

Technology (date: past, present, and future)

Mar 22, 2011

Some technology is age dating of rocks, ocean floor mapping, and magnetometer. Scientists have found a few ways to decipher the age of a rock. Ocean floor mapping has improved immensely. A magnetometer is a useful tool, which calculates the magnetic field. (Date: past, present, and future)