Ninety-four years of the theory of continental drift by Alfred Lothar Wegener [Noventa y cuatro anos de la teoria de la deriva continental de Alfred Lothar Wegener]
Por:
Pérez-Malváez C., Alfredo Bueno H., Manuel Feria O., Rosaura Ruiz R.
Publicada:
1 ene 2006
Resumen:
The theory of continental drift was propounded by Alfred Wegener since 1912. It represents a major advance in the history of science, because it revolutionized the concepts about the terrestrial dynamics. Since it was conceived, the idea of the movement of continents was not only overwhelming but polemic. Alfred Wegener had the merits of being the first to build a congruent explanation about the horizontal movement of continents. He was a soldier of the German army, professor of meteorology, and tireless traveler. Wegener developed a brand new theory with paleontological, geological and geophysical evidences. This work deals with a brief historical reconstruction about the rise and development of the theory of continental drift. At the beginning, it caused a strong polemic among the geologists, paleontologists and geophysicists' communities. Later on, the development of paleomagnetic studies led to the modem theory of plate tectonics. Wegener's theory was unable to give a clear explanation about the mechanism of such horizontal movements, contrary to plate tectonic theory, which later could construct a convincing explanation based upon studies of the oceanic floor and paleomagnetic data. Although Wegener could not find a satisfactory mechanism to explain the continental drift, he had the merit of gathering all the evidence available at his time to establish in a solid manner the horizontal movement of continents.
Filiaciones:
UNAM, Mexico
Museo de Zoología, Campo II, Batalla 5 de mayo s/n, Iztapalapa. 09230 Mexico DF, Mexico
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