Alfred Wegener

"Scientists still do not appear to understand sufficiently that all earth sciences must contribute evidence toward unveiling the state of our planet in earlier times, and that the truth of the matter can only be reached by combing all this evidence. . . It is only by combing the information furnished by all the earth sciences that we can hope to determine 'truth' here, that is to say, to find the picture that sets out all the known facts in the best arrangement and that therefore has the highest degree of probability. Further, we have to be prepared always for the possibility that each new discovery, no matter what science furnishes it, may modify the conclusions we draw." (Alfred Wegener)

The majority of scientific discoveries take decades to gain acceptance. The scientists that first introduce these ideas are often the target of skepticism and ridicule. This is true of the revolutionary geologist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener.

Alfred Lothar Wegener was born in Berlin on November 1, 1880. Young Alfred excelled in academics at an early age, winning top marks in school. After finishing the equivalent of high school in the US, he began a position as an assistant at a Berlin observatory, working towards a doctoral degree. Wegener completed his PhD in 1905, focusing on Physics Meteorology and Astronomy at Humboldt University.

After graduating, Alfred began working with his older brother Kurt on understanding polar weather patterns. He pioneered the use of weather balloons to track air circulation, and wrote a textbook that became standard throughout Germany. In 1906 Wegener joined a life-altering expedition to Greenland to study polar air circulation. He set up the first weather station ever in Greenland, measuring all kinds of condition using balloons and kites. Unfortunately the expedition leader and another died while exploring using sled dogs. After returning in 1908, he accepted a professor position at the University of Marburg. He returned to Greenland in 1912, and his whole team got stuck/lost in glacial break-up. They were starving, and only after they finished eating the last of the Ponies and Dogs were they saved by a local clergyman leaving his congregation. It wasn’t long after that Wegener first proposed his theory of “Continental Drift.”

World events caught up with Wegener. In 1914 he was drafted into the German army. He saw fierce fighting, but injuries sustained in battle ended his service on the front lines after only a few months. He spent the rest of the war predicting weather for the German weather service. Amazingly… he published his most important work outlining the case for “Continental Drift” in 1915, smack dab in the middle of World War I. It was published in an unpopular journal, and was largely ignored.

Wegener then took a position at the University of Hamburg. In 1922 a revised version of Wegener’s original 1915 paper was re-published and his theory of “Continental Drift” started gaining traction. However, his idea was NOT popular. In fact, when he presented his idea to other scientists, he was routinely put down. On a trip to New York in 1926 to present his ideas at a Geological symposium, all attendees (except the chairman) of the symposium rejected his ideas.

Wegener went on his 3rd trip to Greenland in 1929 in preparation for a BIG expedition the following year. His fourth expedition to Greenland in 1930 would be his last. The plan was to bring 14 team members to create three permanent weather stations. After arriving on Greenland six weeks late due to a late thaw, he set up the stations. One station sent a message that they were running out of fuel and would return in late October. On September 24th 1930 Wegener and 13 Greenlanders set out to check on the weather station and bring supplies. The journey was a disaster. The route markers were mostly buried in snow at the time.The temperatures were as low as -76 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the Greenlanders went back to camp, leaving Wegener, his colleague Fritz Loewe, and an inuit guide Rasmus Villumsen to complete the journey and supply the camp. They arrived at the camp, but quickly ran out of supplies themselves as horrible winter storms rolled in. Loewe got such bad frost bite that his toes had to be amputated with a pocket knife, making it impossible for him to walk. A day after his 50th birthday Wegener and Rasmus attempted a trip back to the safe coastal camp(see gallery). There was no Radio, or way to communicate between camps, so it wasn’t until spring the next year that his body was found. Rasmus’ remains were never found. He was buried there with great care by his colleagues. The German government wanted to bring his body back home, but his wife refused, explaining that Alfred would prefer to be laid to rest in his beloved arctic.

“Today his grave is long vanished beneath the ice, slowly drifting west – not only carried by the flow of the ice towards the sea, but also by the westward movement of the North American Plate.”

So what is Wegener’s theory of Continental Drift? It’s the long proven theory that the earth’s crust is slowly drifting on top of the earth’s liquid core. What evidence did Wegener have? The most obvious comes from looking at a map of the world. If you look the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa, they seem to fit like a puzzle(see gallery). Other continents show similar patterns. Additionally, he observed that the rock types and fossil record of long separated continents match perfectly(see gallery). Wegener also found that the fossils found in a certain place often indicated a climate totally different from the climate of today. For example, fossils of tropical plants, such as ferns and cycads, are found today in the Arctic, suggesting that at one time the continent must have been warmer, and closer to the equator. All of these facts supported Wegener's theory of "continental drift."

Wegener proposed that the continents had once formed a single mass, called Pangaea (from the Greek for "all the Earth"). Pangaea had rifted, or split, and its pieces had been moving away from each other ever since. Wegener knew the earth’s crust was moving, but did not understand how or why they moved. It wasn’t until the pioneering work of Harry Hess and the discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that the theory of Plate Tectonic filled in the gaps.

To solve this puzzle, simple use the story of Alfred Wegener above to fill in the blanks.

N40 AB.CDE W105 FG.HIJ

A = Wegener’s embarrassing trip to New York was in 19__6

B = Wegner’s last trip to Greenland was in 193__

C = Wegner’s third trip to Greenland was in 192__

D = Wegner’s final trip to Greenland was a disaster. Winter storms dumped snow, and temperatures were as low as -__6 degrees Fahrenheit.

E = Wegener’s most influential paper was re-published multiple times, but was first published in 191_

F = Wegener died shortly after his 5__th birthday.

G = Wegener was born in 18__0.

H = 7

I = Wegener completed his PhD in 19__5

J = Wegener die in 193__

You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.

This Geocache was created and is maintained by Stanley Polley, a Science teacher at Loveland Classical Schools.

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