Wegener develops continental drift

Similar coastlines, fossils, and rock formations on continents separated by oceans invited explanations. Some geologists proposed submerged land bridges. Wegener argued instead that continents had once been joined and later separated. He compared geological, biological, and climatic evidence from different regions. Ancient glacial marks and coal deposits suggested environments difficult to explain solely through present geographical positions, adding further observations to his reconstruction of changing land arrangements.

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Wegener proposed drift in 1912 and published The Origin of Continents and Oceans in 1915, revising it in later editions. He reconstructed formerly joined land and discussed its movement. His proposed driving forces did not satisfy physical objections, and many geologists rejected the account. Debates concerned crustal structure, resistance of the ocean floor, and movement within Earth. Supporters and critics continued examining the evidence while the mechanism remained unresolved.

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After the Second World War, seafloor surveys, palaeomagnetism, and ocean drilling produced extensive new observations. Mid-ocean ridges and symmetrical magnetic stripes supported seafloor spreading. Plate tectonics developed during the 1960s, placing continents within moving lithospheric plates and describing ocean crust creation and consumption. Fossil and climatic comparisons retained value within this revised framework. Land and ocean histories could now be tested together through measurements that had been unavailable during the earlier controversy.

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