1912 (theory proposed) / Europe
Wegener connects evidence for drifting continents
Continental outlines, rocks, fossils and evidence of past climates support Wegener’s argument that separated continents had once been joined.
Image unavailable. The caption and source are still available.
The story
Wegener presented and published continental drift in 1912, expanding it in The Origin of Continents and Oceans in 1915. His case went beyond matching coastlines to geological and fossil evidence across oceans. His proposed driving forces were inadequate, however. Later plate tectonics did not simply describe continents ploughing through a fixed ocean floor: seafloor mapping, palaeomagnetism and earthquake patterns supported a broader framework of moving lithospheric plates.
Connections and context
The later plate-tectonics story continues this one. Observations can retain value even when the proposed mechanism has to be replaced.
Dates and precision
1912 (theory proposed) Documented date
Positioned by the documented year, month or day. Missing precision is not inferred.
Representative map location
Frankfurt
The point represents the city of a 1912 presentation, not the many places where the supporting evidence was collected.
Representative coordinates · 50.1109°, 8.6821°
A marker identifies one representative place, such as a manuscript collection, laboratory or observing site. It does not mean the work happened only there, or assign a shared discovery to one country.
Bibliography
- USGS: This Dynamic Earth — Historical perspective
- Alfred Wegener Institute: Alfred Wegener (1912 Frankfurt presentation and 1915 book)
References are listed as plain bibliography titles. They support particular facts or context; a reference does not certify every interpretation in a story.