

this metaphysical theory of the universe in his. Scuba diving on the mid Atlantic ridge in Iceland. Franciscus Monachus, Abraham Ortelius, Guillaume Postel, Michael Servetus, Joachim Vadianus, Johannes. By proving that Pangea existed between 300 and 200 million years ago, you have taken a big step towards proving the theory of Plate Tectonics.įirst known illustration of the Opening of the Atlantic Ocean, by Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, 1858.ģ) The presence of the Mid Atlantic Ridge Ortelius, was named after the geographer. A purpose-built polar exploration ship, m.v. Four hundred years later Alfred Wegener incorporated some of Ortelius’ ideas into his theory of Continental Drift, which later led to the current theory of Plate Tectonics.

the advantage you have is that today there is a lot more evidence than in Wegner’s day.īefore we go any further, it is important to mention Pangaea. Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was a Flemish cartographer who produced the first modern atlas. In this lesson you are going to try to prove the theory. Proposed the theory of sea-floor spreading Frederick J Vine Drummond H.

It took until the 1950’s for Wegner’s ideas to be accepted by the scientific community. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is the world’s first atlas, illuminating not only the modern world but the ways in which it’s viewed. However this is not enough to prove the theory of Plate Tectonics.Īlfred Wegnerwas the first person to suggest the theory of continental drift in 1912, although Abraham Ortelius had suggested that continents could have moved in 1596. Abraham Ortelius map of the PacificWikicommons It would take another 300 years for Ortelius’s theory to be scientifically explored, but his other contributions were immediately felt. Proving the Theory of Plate Tectonics So far you have seen how we can use the distribution of earthquakes, volcanoes and fold mountains to mark the position of plate boundaries.
