Earth Science Honors

Alex Burke
2/15/06

Alfred Lothar Wegener is known for formulating the theory

of “continental drift” which describes the earth’s continents as

originally one mass of land that became separated and eventually

drifted apart.

Born in Germany on November 1, 1880, Wegener was the son

of an orphanage director. He had the opportunity to pursue his

scientific interests by being formally educated. He achieved a

doctorate in astronomy in 1905 from the University of Berlin in

Germany. He had many scientific interests which actually

prevented him from achieving a position in a university since most

colleges prefer that professors be specialized in one field.

Finally, he was hired as a professor at the University of Graz in

Austria. He also served as professor at the University of

Hamburg. During his life, he wrote several books explaining his

theories. His “continental drift” theory did not become popular

until 30 years after his death.

His many scientific fields included geophysics, meteorology,

and climatology. He loved to take scientific expeditions in order

to study these sciences. Some of his scientific contributions

include polar air circulation, tracking air circulation through

balloons, and the theory of plate tectonics.

His “continental drift” theory is his main contribution to

science. In proving his hypothesis, he found evidence such as

matching geological features of the continents when brought

together, fossils found were actually from a different climate,

and mountain ranges, volcanoes and the ocean floor indicated that

the earth was at one time one large land mass. Wegener called

this large landmass “Pangaea” from the Greek for “all the Earth”.

He believed this land mass was formed 300 million years ago.

Wegener’s last arctic expedition to Greenland was in

November 1930. During this expedition in which he was studying

meteorology in the arctic climate, he died shortly after his 50th

birthday.