The gradual movement of Earth's continents relative to one another across geological time, first proposed as a coherent theory by Alfred Wegener in 1912 from the fit of coastlines and matching fossil and rock records across oceans. It was later explained mechanistically by plate tectonics and seafloor spreading, which showed continents riding passively atop moving tectonic plates rather than plowing through oceanic crust.
Facts
Process Type First Proposed Year Scientific Consensus Year Continental Drift
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Associated With
Source Supercontinent Cycle (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Continental drift, Wikipedia
Road to acceptance, Modern evidence
By 1967, barely two decades after discovery of the mid-oceanic rifts, and a decade after discovery of the striping, plate tectonics had become axiomatic to modern geophysics.
History, Wegener and his predecessors
Alfred Wegener first presented his hypothesis to the German Geological Society on 6 January 1912.
Road to acceptance, Modern evidence, second citation
By 1967, barely two decades after discovery of the mid-oceanic rifts, and a decade after discovery of the striping, plate tectonics had become axiomatic to modern geophysics.
View the SourceSupercontinent Cycle (Wikipedia)
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