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Abraham Ortelius
He was the first one to believe that continents are slowly drifting apart. He noticed that either side of the Atlantic Ocean seem to fit together. Africa and South America fit together. Other geologists agreed with this theory because seafloor spreading at mid-oceanic ridges became interesting to geologists and continental drift as an ongoing global mechanism. -
Alfred Wegener
He hypothesized that the continents are slowly drifting aound the earth. He studied land features, fossils and evidence of climate change. He saw that there were fossils from different continents in different places separated by oceans. People disagreed with his theory because couldn't prove what force caused them to move and it was a long process. -
Arthur Holmes
He believed that currents of heat and thermal expansion in the earths mantle could force continents slowly away from each other. He believed that radioactive forces in earth's interior had to escape earth. People disagreed because he didn't have substantial evidence to back up his theory. -
Hugo Benioff
Benioff noticed that earthquake sources get deeper under the overriding tectonic plate proceeding away from the trench at a subduction zone. Inclined array of Earthquake sources indicate the position of the portion of the plate that has already been subducted. People agreed because he had substantial evidence to support this. -
Frederick J. Vine
He showed that the seafloor spreads from mid-ocean ridges with a symmetrical pattern which was magnetism in the seafloor. Vine showed that basalt created at a mid-ocean ridge records earth's current magnetic field. Geologists disagreed with his theory due to some skepticism about underlying assumptions and people weren't convinced that rocks could act as a recorder. -
Harry Hess
He hypothesized that seafloor spreading was responsible for the motion of continents. Oceans were shallow in the middle and mid-ocean ridges raised above the surrounding flat floor. They disagreed with his hypothesis because he needed convincing geophysical evidence. -
Drummond Hoyle Matthews
He worked with Fred Vine and discovered that the magnetic strips on the sides of ridges on the ocean floor were the result of seafloor spreading. Matthew made observations of the Carlsberg mid-ocean ridge in the northwest Indian Ocean, and it showed a pattern of magnetic anomalies, specifically reverse polarities. People validated the Matthew and Vine hypothesis because it provided a timescale allowing the rate of spreading to be estimated. -
Lawrence Morley
He presented the idea that there was a magnetic pattern of igneous rock on the ocean floor. Over time on earth magnetic poles reverse, locking the new elements in the rock at the mid-ocean ridge in the opposite orientation. They agreed with his theory because it coincided with other research in this field.
