Origin of land and sea

Author: (German) Alfred Wegener
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: In this book, Wegener explained the theory that ancient continents were once joined together and later separated due to continental drift, resulting in the formation of oceans between them. Wegener believed that continents were composed of lighter silicate-aluminous rocks like basalt, which floated on heavier silicate-magnesium rocks like granite (the ocean floor is made of silicate-magnesium), and drifted on top of them. During the Permian period, there was only one massive landmass on Earth, which he called Pangaea (or Laurentia). After the calm Permian period, the tumultuous Mesozoic era began. Pangaea first split into two parts, forming the Northern Laurasia and the Southern Gondwana, and gradually broke into smaller landmasses that drifted apart. Some landmasses recombined, and in the end, formed the current configuration of land and sea. Alfred Wegener's work on the continental drift hypothesis was published in 1915. In this book, he systematically elaborated and argued for the continental drift theory he proposed in 1912. The book is divided into three parts and 13 chapters. Part 1 discusses the basic content of continental drift and compares it with the theory of Earth's cooling, the land bridge theory, and the theory of permanent oceans. It points out the flaws and issues of these theories, arguing that only the continental drift theory can explain all the facts. Part 2 argues for the rationality of the continental drift theory from the perspectives of geophysics, geology, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and geodesy. Part 3 is devoted to explanations and conclusions. It discusses the possibility and driving force of continental drift from aspects such as the viscosity of the Earth, the ocean floor, the sialic layer, folding and faulting, and the structural morphology of continental margins. Upon its publication, the book was translated into multiple languages and attracted significant attention from the global geological and geophysical communities.