Alfred Wegener

incomplete state knowledge opposite conclusion prehistoric

"It is a strange fact, characteristic of the incomplete state of our current knowledge, that totally opposite conclusions are drawn about prehistoric conditions on Earth, depending on whether the problem is approached from the biological or the geophysical viewpoint."

— Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

judge defendant answer circumstantial evidence

"We are like a judge confronted by a defendant who declines to answer, and we must determine the truth from the circumstantial evidence."

— Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

New Clippinggeophysics law continent ocean

"In the whole of geophysics there is probably hardly another law of such clarity and reliability as this—that there are two preferential levels for the world’s surface which occur in alternation side by side and are represented by the continents and the ocean floors, respectively. It is therefore very surprising that scarcely anyone has tried to explain this law."

— Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

South America Africa split separate

"South America must have lain alongside Africa and formed a unified block which was split in two in the Cretaceous; the two parts must then have become increasingly separated over a period of millions of years like pieces of a cracked ice floe in water."

— Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

force displace continent drift earthquake volcano

"The forces which displace continents are the same as those which produce great fold-mountain ranges. Continental drift, faults and compressions, earthquakes, volcanicity, transgression cycles and polar wandering are undoubtedly connected causally on a grand scale. Their common intensification in certain periods of the earth's history shows this to be true. However, what is cause and what effect, only the future will unveil."

— Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

continental drift Brazil Africa

"The first concept of continental drift first came to me as far back as 1910, when considering the map of the world, under the direct impression produced by the congruence of the coast lines on either side of the Atlantic. At first I did not pay attention to the ideas because I regarded it as improbable. In the fall of 1911, I came quite accidentally upon a synoptic report in which I learned for the first time of palaeontological evidence for a former land bridge between Brazil and Africa. As a result I undertook a cursory examination of relevant research in the fields of geology and palaeontology, and this provided immediately such weighty corroboration that a conviction of the fundamental soundness of the idea took root in my mind."

— Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)