How Did Wegener's Failure To Predict An Earthquake?

Overall the plate tectonics theory does seem valid as there is lots of evidence to prove it right. For example fossils on either side of the ocean, climates being the same in different continents and hot spots. But there are some stronger pieces of evidence like the ring of

The theory of plate tectonics was first developed by Alfred Wegener. He concluded that the continents seem to have a similar shape and could potentially fit together. This suggested that they were at one time joined together as part of 2 super continents called Gondwanaland and Laurasia was in the north. This theory was said to be proven by the discovery of fossilised remains of a mesosaurus that were found on the coasts of Brazil and Gabon. Sea floor spreading is another theory that supports the idea of plate tectonics; this theory discovered that rock is being formed under the ocean as a new sea floor. Sea floor spreading was shown in the Atlantic, where it is believed the Eurasian and North American plates are moving apart on a

Fortunate and merciful; yet brutal and poignant. Heinrich von Kleist’s The Earthquake in Chile (1807) was indeed a story of love, but also contained a definite twist of ferociousness. In Isak Winkel Holm’s “Earthquake in Haiti: Kleist and the Birth of Modern Disaster Discourse,” Holm portrays two different interpretations of Kleist’s story. He believes that the earthquake could mean the beginning of a siege of disaster or a merciful act for Josefa and Jeronimo’s love. The two analyses are different and yet they equally correspond to each other’s ideas. Thus, it is fair to say that the deconstruction led by the earthquake was an introduction to the catastrophe that will come in the near future and also the period where Josefa and Jeronimo could

James Hutton was the first scientist to address the Earth was millions of years old, as well as alive and is continuously being formed. Charles Lyell popularized uniformitarianism, and believed the Earth was being shaped by slow moving forces. Alfred Wegener introduced the foundation for the theory of continental drift. Wegener was one of the first to recognize and have an understanding of how the Earth works which required data and information from earth sciences. In the 1960s, the theory for the continental drift became known as the theory of plate tectonics or plate building.

It is hoped that by understanding the patterns of these catastrophic environmental events. That lives can be saved in the future. In the case of the previously undiscovered fault line in Seattle, it is hoped that this information will reduce casualties in the event that the fault line slips again. Brian Atwater a paleoseismologist, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle said, “Myth can sometimes

Wegener also found some evidence for continental drift from fossils of plants and animals. The same type of plant/animal fossils are found on continents that are now far apart from each other. These Plants & Animals would not have been able to swim the oceans.

Wegener provided numerous explanations and documentation in support of his continental drift theory. He provided two fossils as evidence. Glossopteris because it had been found on several continents that were widely separated. Glossopteris, also known as a seed fern fossil, was too large to be transported by the wind. The other was Mesosaurus which was a small aquatic freshwater reptile (Lutgens & Tarbuck, 2014, p. 154). Other scientists believed this was possible because land bridges had once existed or explained it away as drafting. Wegener most likely did not offer fossil sharks or jellyfish as evidence due to the fact that these fish inhabit all major oceans on the planet.

Rather than assuming that physical laws always operated as they currently do, some people think that the earth operated differently in the past. More specifically, they think that there were frequent major catastrophes, and that those instances are what caused fossils and rocks to form in the way they did (McClure, 2009, p. 191). Since such catastrophes happened relatively fast, it has led some people to conclude that the earth is not as old as scientists think it is (McClure, 2009). Catastrophism also offers an explanation for fossil records. Different species may be in different geological strata as a result of major floods (McClure, 2009). Rather than being in a specific layer of rock as a result of living during a time period, some people think that fossils are in certain layers of rock as a result of major floods. Water levels rise and fall during floods, which is what some people have offered as an explanation for why there are different layers of rock and different fossils that correspond to

This is because of the fact that technology these days leave people incapable of predicting earthquakes. People knew that earthquakes were unpredictable as it states in a BBC News article “After the verdict was announced, David Rothery, of the UK's Open University, said earthquakes were "inherently unpredictable" Also the 2012 Washington DC earthquake was the most unpredictable thing that I have ever experienced. In this situation it is as if you were going to charge someone that has access to the public and gives them false information about something. Just like forecast people, they are wrong about the weather all the time but they are charged for giving the public false information about the weather. But in this sense science is all about observation and the things that you learn as you go along. Therefore there was no way for the scientist to be able to predict the magnitude of the

The Lisbon earthquake was a natural disaster that evoked mixed responses from various eighteenth century thinkers. Although some opinions were birthed from historical perspectives, others were a product of new ideas brought about during the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment era. The selected excerpts show this range of thought through the written words of clerics, scientists, and philosophers.

He was the first person to come up with the idea of Pangea. Kenneth Deffeyes is best known for his discovery of a connection between what was happening on the seafloor and in the state of Nevada. His first encounter with the concept of continental drift was when scientist J. Tuzo Wilson of The University of Toronto and Fred Vine from Cambridge University published a paper which they defined "an oddly isolated piece of the mid-ocean ridge off the coasts of Oregon and Washington. It was a spreading center of what would eventually become known as Juan de Fuca Plate, one of the smallest of all the crustal plates in the world. The volcanoes of the Cascades- Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, Mt.St. Helens, Glacier Peak- were lined up behind its trench" (Mcphee, Pg 136). This idea was only a hypothesis at the time, but Deffeyes was eager to either confirm or disprove it. He made it very clear that “Continental drift is one hypothesis ill get seasick for”(Mcphee, Pg.136). Deffeyes proximity to the area in question and clearance to use high-tech equipment made going on this voyage a no-brainer. "Deffeyes went out to dredge the rock, but first he had to find the ridge, so he made a long pass with his echo sounder tracing the profile of the bottom. The ridge-axis rock, when he dredged it up, was extremely young. But what at the end

Almost two-hundred million years ago, all of the earth's continents formed an immense supercontinent, Pangea. The land that made up Pangea formed on several different geological plates instead of just one plate. This caused Pangea to break apart into several different continents. After the continents broke apart, they started to move away from each other. Alfred Wegener and Frank Taylor, a pair of scientists of 1912, first developed the "Continental Drift" theory. While this occurred about two-hundred millennia ago, continental drift still happens today, but people can't feel it. Even though the continents can't be seen moving, evidence proves that, in fact, the continents still drift around today. Scientists have found multiple pieces

My hypothesis was that it was due to the amount of earthquakes that were constantly shifting the Earth. I thought it was the Earth knocking into one another to create tension. I also though that the tension must have taken a great amount of time. I felt like it had a great amount of influence on the formation on landmasses. My hypothesis was very much accurate to what my research informed me. The shift that I was talking about was the collision of tectonic plates. When I thought about Pangea I thought it happened a very long time ago,and It happened close to 500-200 million years ago. The collision very much formed the way the entire world looks. I was also right about it maybe happening again in the future. I think that first the world rejects the theories and research of scientists and their hard work. The world is scared of new ideas and discovery's,but later enjoys them. I feel like that is exactly what happened to Wegener. I feel like my hypothesis was not excatly right but very close, and to the best of my abilites of not really knowing what

The earthquakes above give a brief glimpse into the importance of analyzing past and present fault configurations. If scientists could make a breakthrough in this area perhaps we could better predict earthquake activity and better prepare ourselves if it is deemed a potential disaster is looming.

pg:1 my theory is when the plates moved he seen that the same fossils were on the plates that they were on the wrong plates in the wrong weathering. Places this show that his theory was right because the fossils were in a place that they could die in because of many reasons from being cold and frozen and it could be hot in those is this pg i wanted to say that the fossils will die in the wrong weathering