What did Wegener study?

What did Wegener study?

He specialized in astronomy, meteorology, and physics. In 1902, he began a PhD degree in astronomy. He spent a year at Berlin’s famous Urania Observatory, whose purpose was (and still is) to bring astronomy to the public. Alfred Wegener completed his PhD in 1905, age 24.

What did Alfred Wegener study and what became his passions?

(Exploring Greenland was his lifelong passion.) In 1910, Wegener happened to notice on a map that the coastlines of South America and Africa looked as though they had once fitted together, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

What did scientist eventually learn that led them to accept Wegener’s theory?

By the 1960s, scientists had amassed enough evidence to support the missing mechanism—namely, seafloor spreading—for Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift to be accepted as the theory of plate tectonics.

How did Wegener come up with his theory?

Fossils of similar organisms across widely disparate continents encouraged the revolutionary theory of continental drift. In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other.

What did Alfred Wegener do?

Alfred Wegener, in full Alfred Lothar Wegener, (born November 1, 1880, Berlin, Germany—died November 1930, Greenland), German meteorologist and geophysicist who formulated the first complete statement of the continental drift hypothesis. He made three more expeditions to Greenland, in 1912–13, 1929, and 1930.

What did Alfred Wegener do as a child?

From an early age he took an interest in Greenland, and always walked, skated, and hiked as though training for an expedition.

What was Alfred Wegener’s theory of Pangaea?

Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once united into a single supercontinent named Pangaea, meaning all earth in ancient Greek. He suggested that Pangaea broke up long ago and that the continents then moved to their current positions. He called his hypothesis continental drift.

When was Alfred Wegener’s theory accepted?

THE THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT. The drifting of tectonic plates is an on-going process that has changed the configuration of the continents since their formation in Archean time. This hypothesis first proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a German Meteorologist, was not widely accepted until after 1960.

Why did Alfred Wegener switch fields of study?

He studied the natural sciences at the University of Berlin, receiving a doctorate in astronomy in 1904. He did not pursue a career in astronomy, however, but turned instead to meteorology, where the telegraph, Atlantic cable, and wireless were fostering rapid advances in storm tracking and forecasting.

What was the main reason why Alfred Wegener’s theory about the movement of the continents was dismissed in 1912?

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.

What is the meaning of Pangea?

all the Earth
Pangea’s existence was first proposed in 1912 by German meteorologist Alfred Wegener as a part of his theory of continental drift. Its name is derived from the Greek pangaia, meaning “all the Earth.”

What was Wegener PHD in from the University of Berlin?

The son of an orphanage director, Wegener earned a Ph. D. degree in astronomy from the University of Berlin in 1905. He had meanwhile become interested in paleoclimatology, and in 1906–08 he took part in an expedition to Greenland to study polar air circulation.

What did Alfred Wegener contribution to science?

Alfred Wegener, in full Alfred Lothar Wegener, (born November 1, 1880, Berlin, Germany—died November 1930, Greenland), German meteorologist and geophysicist who formulated the first complete statement of the continental drift hypothesis. Top Questions.

Was Alfred Wegener right about continental drift?

Alfred Wegener’s Scientific Legacy Today, we recognize that Wegener was right. It was only in the 1960s, when the theory of plate tectonics was recognized as correct, that geologists finally accepted Wegener’s continental drift theory and his concept of Pangaea were also correct.

What happened to the Wegener Expedition?

Wegener and two others continued on, reaching the final destination of Eismitte (Mid-Ice, a site near the center of Greenland) five weeks after the start of the expedition. On the return trip to the base camp, Wegener became lost and is believed to have died sometime in November 1930 at the age of 50.

What did Alfred Wegener discover about the jet stream?

Alfred Wegener. Wegener was involved in several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation before the existence of the jet stream was accepted. Expedition participants made many meteorological observations and were the first to overwinter on the inland Greenland ice sheet and the first to bore ice cores on a moving Arctic glacier.