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Continental drift and plate tectonics

Alfred WegenerHarry HessFred VineDrummond MatthewsLawrence Morley

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

In 1915 Wegener proposed that the continents were once joined and are slowly drifting apart. Because he could show no mechanism to move them, his view was largely rejected for some 40 years. With the discovery of magnetic stripes on the sea floor in the 1960s, plate tectonics came to be accepted. Earthquakes in Turkey are explained by this theory too.

For specialists

Wegener's evidence was the fit of coastlines, similarities of fossils and rocks on both sides of the ocean, and glacial traces. The Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis explained symmetric magnetic anomaly stripes on either side of mid-ocean ridges by sea-floor spreading and geomagnetic reversals. Earthquakes occur on the North and East Anatolian faults in Turkey. They result from the westward escape of the Anatolian plate and the strike-slip motion along these faults.

Claims

Evidence

Supporting

Observation

Magnetic stripes forming mirror images of each other were measured on either side of mid-ocean ridges.[2]

Measurement

GPS measurements directly show plates moving at a few centimetres per year.[3]

Challenging

Theoretical argument

In the 1920s geophysicists argued that solid continents could not plough through oceanic crust and that the forces Wegener proposed were far too weak.[4]

Connections

Parent

Earth sciences

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Sources

  1. BookWegener, A. (1915). Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane. Vieweg, Braunschweig
  2. ArticleVine, F. J.; Matthews, D. H. (1963). Magnetic anomalies over oceanic ridges. Nature 199, 947–949DOI 10.1038/199947a0archive
  3. ArticleReilinger, R. et al. (2006). GPS constraints on continental deformation in the Africa-Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone and implications for the dynamics of plate interactions. Journal of Geophysical Research 111, B05411DOI 10.1029/2005JB004051archive
  4. BookOreskes, N. (1999). The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science. Oxford University Press

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Continental drift and plate tectonics. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/levha-tektonigi/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_levha_tektonigi,
  title        = {Continental drift and plate tectonics},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/levha-tektonigi/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history

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