6 January

On 6 January 1912, the German geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener presented for the first time the theory of continental drift during a meeting of the German Geological Association held at the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt. In this lecture, Wegener proposed that the Earth’s continents had not always occupied their present positions but were once part of a single large landmass and gradually separated from one another over time.

According to Wegener, all continents were once part of a supercontinent which he named Pangaea. In support of his theory, he presented evidence such as the matching shapes of continental coastlines, the presence of similar fossils on different continents, similarities in rock formations and mountain ranges, and ancient climatic indicators. Although these observations were compelling, Wegener was unable to provide a scientific explanation for the physical mechanism by which continents move. As a result, his theory remained controversial in his own time and was not immediately accepted.

This image shows that all of the Earth’s continents were once joined together as a single supercontinent, Pangaea, and gradually broke apart over time, resulting in the formation of the present day continents.

Later, particularly after the 1950s and 1960s, scientists demonstrated that the oceanic crust gradually spreads and that the Earth’s plates are in constant motion. This research provided a scientific foundation for Wegener’s original idea, leading to the gradual acceptance of the concept.

Today, the structure of the Earth and the movement of continents are understood through the theory of plate tectonics, which represents the scientific completion of Alfred Wegener’s original concept. Wegener’s theory has thus come to be regarded as a fundamental milestone in the history of modern geological science. Although he was unable to prove the theory of continental movement on firm scientific grounds during his lifetime, subsequent research confirmed the validity of his core insight. For this reason, Alfred Wegener is recognised in modern geology as the “Father of the Continental Drift Theory,” while the scientific development and detailed explanation of plate tectonics are considered the result of the collective work of later scientists.