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gwaydms t1_iqxi1a2 wrote

Reply to comment by MechTheDane in TIL a German scientist named Alfred Wegener was ridiculed in 1912 for advancing the idea that the continents were adrift. Ridiculed as having “wandering pole plague.” or “Germanic pseudo­-science” and accused Wegener of toying with the evidence to spin himself into “a state of auto-intoxication." by Hot----------Dog

>He wasn’t able to explain WHY it was happening though.

Wegener apparently thought continents plowed through the ocean floor.

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Gyalgatine t1_iqznmdp wrote

That's... not exactly wrong. Continental crusts ARE significantly thicker than oceanic crusts. You can kind of think of them like icebreaking ships drifting through ice sheets.

https://cdn.britannica.com/83/99283-050-AEC2FFB6/cross-section-layers-Earth-mantle-crust.jpg

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dreeter00 t1_iqzyw67 wrote

But mostly wrong. They're not plowing through as much as they are riding over/oceanic plates are subducting under them. Continental crust is not pushing through an oceanic plate.

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gwaydms t1_ir0m6g2 wrote

Wegener didn't understand that a crustal plate could contain continental crust, oceanic crust, or both. The continents move as parts of the plates spread and/or subduct.

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