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Theory before Continental Drift
Abraham Ortelius was a Flemish cartographer and geographer who noticed that the continents across the Atlantic Ocean fit like puzzle pieces.He proposed that North and South America had been seperated by Europe and Africa by phenomenas such as earthquakes and floods.He was the first one to theorize and hypothesize that continents 'drift' pre-1910. -
The Theory of Continental Drift
Alfred Wegener came up with the theory of continental drift in 1912.His theory stated that the continents had once been joined as a single landmass called pangea and it began to break apart 250Myears ago.The continents have been moving since then to now.Wegeners evidence included similar rock types being on the opposite sides of the Atlantic, similar types of fossils on the continents and similar climate. His theory was rejected since he couldnt explain what was causing the continents to move. -
The Theory of Plate Tectonics
The theory of plate tectonics began with Alfred Wegener however there were many "founding fathers" of the unifying theory such as Harry Hess and Tuzo Wilson.It expanded with Wegeners 1915 book on The Origin of Continents and Oceans and the scientific debate started that would end up fifty years later in the theory of plate tectonics.It was supported by similar fossils,rocks,species,positions of volcanoes/earthquakes, etc. The plates can move by convection currents,slab pull, and ridge push,etc. -
The Theory of Hot Spots
J. Tuzo Wilson came up with the "hotspot" theory in 1963 to explain why most earthquake and volcanic activity happens at plate boundaries and why there are some which are located well away from any boundaries. Wilsons evidence was that the Hawaiian Islands were created as a tectonic plate which shifted to the northwest over a fixed hotspot, spawning a long series of volcanoes. This was evidence of his theory therefore his theory was approved by other people because he had good evidence.
