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Theory before continental drift
Abraham Ortellius predicted that all continents were once joined together, however did not have many proof of how mechanisms worked. When a natural event would occur people believed that they were being punished or "old witches" were the causeof this. -
Alfred Wegener's Theory
Alfred Wegener a geophysicists was the originator of the Continental drift theory in 1912. He proposed that all continents on Earth all slowly drifting apart from each other everyday. His theory was not widely accepted by people because he was a geophysicists not a geologist, so people did not believe in his "mechanism". However by 1950's after he died, scientists dicovered that he was correct. -
Theory of Plate Tectonics
Theory that the lithosphere of the Earth is composed of dozens of tectonic plates, and they move across the Eart's surface. Many natural phenomenons occur because of late movement such as Earthquakes and volcanic activities. Many scientists came up with the Plate Tectonic theory in the 1950's but the main originator was Alfred Wegener, because of his theory of the Continental drift more people discovered the reason behind it. -
Theory of the Hotspots
A.k.a the "volcanic regions" under the Earth's mantle and provide a great deal of molten magma. J. Tuzo Wilson was the man who came with the hotspot's theory that the slow movement of the tectonic plates result from a hot region beneath the surface. There is still some controversy about this theory because some geologists believe that about 20 thousand hotspots exist, and some believe that only 10 thousand hotspots exist.