The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science)
by Alfred Wegener
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Since its inception modern geology has been faced with an important group of problems: explaining parallel formations that are separated by great distances of sea; accounting for isolated life forms in widely separated areas (such as lemurs in Madagascar and India); explaining pre-pleistocene glaciations, and similar problems. The usual explanation has been to assume the one-time existence of land bridges (such as the hypothetical Lemuria) or parallelisms or diffusion with lost intermediary show more steps. In 1915, however, one of the most influential and most controversial books in the history of science provided a new solution. This was Alfred Wegener's Entstehung der Kontinente, which dispensed with land bridges and parallel evolutions and offered a more economical concept. Wegener proposed that in the remote past the earth's continents were not separate (as now), but formed one supercontinent which later split apart, the fragments gradually drifting away from one another. Wegener created his supercontinent with attractive simplicity by tucking the point of South America into the Gulf of Guinea, coalescing North America, Greenland, and Europe, rotating Australia and Antarctica up through the Indian Ocean, and closing the remaining gaps. Wegener then explained various phenomena in historical geology, geomorphy, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and similar areas of science in terms of this continental drift. To back up his revolutionary theory he drew upon a seemingly inexhaustible find of data. Later editions of his book added new data to refute his opponents or to strengthen his own views in the violent scientific quarrel that arose. Even today this important question remains undecided, and geologists are divided into strongly opposed groups about the Wegener hypothesis. At the moment it seems to be gaining steadily in acceptance. It is one of the two basic theories of earth history, and since it has often been misrepresented in summary, every earth scientist owes it to himself to examine its theories and data. show lessTags
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- Original title
- Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane
- Original publication date
- 1915
- First words*
- [1. Auflage]
Im Sommer 1914 forderte mich der Verlag auf, meine 1912 noch kurz vor meiner Teilnahme an der Grönlanddurchquerung unter Hauptmann J. P. K o c h skizzenhaft veröffentlichten Hypothese der Kontinentalverschie... (show all)bungen in etwas ausführlicher Form in der "Sammlung Vieweg" darzustellen, doch wünschte ich damals, erst die Beendigung der durch meine erste Arbeit veranlassten deutsch-amerikanischen Längenbestimmung abzuwarten, welche gemeinsam von dem Preussischen Geodätischen Institut Potsdam und der Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington begonnen war und im Herbst 1914 abgeschlossen werden sollte; denn diese Messung musste die theoretisch geforderte Vergrösserung des Längenunterschiedes, wenn sie bestand, erkennen lassen und konnte somit als ein "experimentum crucis" für die Richtigkeit oder Unrichtigkeit der Hypothese gelten. - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)[4. Auflage]
Sinn wie Beitrag dieser Änderung stehen in bester Übereinstimmung mit den im 3. Kapitel erläuterten Folgerungen aus der Verschiebungstheorie. - Original language*
- Alemán
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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