#ARTHUR WEGENER SKIN#

If this were so, however, they should be spread evenly over the Earth instead mountain ranges

#ARTHUR WEGENER SKIN#

According to the cooling,Ĭontracting-Earth theory, they formed on the Earth's crust as wrinkles form on the skin of a dryingĪpple. Wegener also offered a more plausible explanation for mountain ranges. (Map courtesy This Dynamic Earth, United States Brown indicates fossil evidence of the Triassic land reptile Lystrosaurus. Green indicates fossils of the fern Glossopteris,įound in all of the southern continents. Dark blue indicates fossil remains of the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus. In the above map, orange indicates the fossil remains of Cynognathus, a Wegener believed thisįact was one of the strongest pieces of evidence for his theory.

Was that the continents themselves had been joined and had since drifted apart.įossils appear in continuous bands across continents that are now separated by thousands of miles of ocean. Geological evidence clearly showed the continents were once connected, the only logical alternative Wegener reasoned that if continent-size land bridges had existed and somehow been forced to the oceanīottom, they would have 'bobbed-up' again when the force was released. Given the difference in density between continents and sea floor, plus the process of isostasy, The weight of continental ice sheets in the last ice age, and their rise since the ice melted some As an example he cited the sinking of Northern Hemisphere lands under Wegener also noted that the continents move up and down to maintain equilibrium That makes up the deep-sea floor in which Wegener proposed that the continents floated somewhat like Out that the continents are made of a different, less dense rock (granite) than the volcanic basalt Wegener began by demolishing the theory that large land bridges had once connected the continentsĪnd had since sunk into the sea as part of a general cooling and contraction of the Earth. At the time of publication, it represented the best available science. This page contains archived content and is no longer being updated.

Arthur wegener