Admin Why did scientists not believe in Pangea?
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 problem with Alfred Wegener’s theory?
The main issue with Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory was he did not have a mechanism behind the drifting of continents. He had a substantial amount of evidence that made sense; nonetheless, without a driving force behind it, the scientific community simply discredited his entire idea.
What did Alfred Wegener think made Pangaea break apart?
Wegener suggested that perhaps the rotation of the Earth caused the continents to shift towards and apart from each other.
When did scientists believe Wegener?
Wegener’s main interest was meteorology, and he wanted to join the Denmark-Greenland expedition scheduled for mid-1912. He presented his Continental Drift hypothesis on 6 January 1912.
What caused Pangaea to break apart?
He argued that Pangaea was originally located near the south pole and that centrifugal force and tidal pull caused the continent to break up and drift apart. Scientists quickly rejected this explanation, stating that these two forces were not strong enough to cause continental drift.
Why did Alfred Wegener’s contemporaries reject his theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener’s contemporaries rejected his theory of continental drift because it challenged many established scientific theories at the time, and he lacked a compelling explanation for the cause of continental drift.
Is Pangaea the worst mass extinction in history?
But the existence of Pangaea overlapped with the worst mass extinction in history, the Permian-Triassic (P-TR) extinction event. Also called the Great Dying, it occurred around 252 million years ago and caused most species on Earth to go extinct.
How many continents did Earth have before Pangaea?
About 300 million years ago, Earth didn’t have seven continents, but instead one massive supercontinent called Pangaea, which was surrounded by a single ocean called Panthalassa. The explanation for Pangaea’s formation ushered in the modern theory of plate tectonics, which posits that the Earth’s outer shell is broken up into several plates