Alfred Wegener

geology · continents · explorer

Continents fit together.. Wegener noticed that if you look at a map, South America and Africa look like they could be puzzle pieces that fit snugly together. He realized that all the continents might have once been connected in a supercontinent he called Pangaea, which broke apart over millions of years.

Evidence everywhere.. Wegener found amazing clues that proved his idea: fossils of the same creatures on opposite sides of oceans, matching rock patterns across continents, and coal deposits in places where coal could never form today. All of this suggested the landmasses had once been touching.

Expert explorer.. Wegener was a talented meteorologist and polar researcher who actually traveled to Greenland to study glaciers and weather. His adventures in frozen landscapes helped him understand how Earth's climate had changed dramatically over time.

People didn't believe him.. When Wegener shared his continental drift theory in 1912, most scientists thought he was wrong because they didn't understand how continents could move. It took until after his death for scientists to discover the ocean floor spreads and prove Wegener was brilliant.

Mountains tell stories.. Wegener studied mountain ranges and realized they appeared in straight lines across continents that had drifted apart, like broken pieces of a larger whole that once formed a unified chain.