Alfred Wegener

Alfred Lothar Wegener (/ˈveɪɡənər/;[1] German:

[ˈʔalfʁeːt ˈveːɡənɐ];[2][3] 1 November 1880 – Alfred Wegener
November 1930) was a German climatologist,
geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar
researcher.

During his lifetime he was primarily known for

his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer
of polar research, but today he is most
remembered as the originator of continental drift
hypothesis by suggesting in 1912 that the
continents are slowly drifting around the Earth
(German: Kontinentalverschiebung).

His hypothesis was not accepted by mainstream

geology until the 1950s, when numerous Wegener, c. 1924–1930
discoveries such as palaeomagnetism provided Born Alfred Lothar Wegener
strong support for continental drift, and thereby a 1 November 1880
substantial basis for today's model of plate Berlin, German Empire
tectonics.[4][5] Died November 1930 (aged 50)
Greenland
Wegener was involved in several expeditions to
Nationality German
Greenland to study polar air circulation before the
existence of the jet stream was accepted. Citizenship German
Expedition participants made many Alma mater University of Berlin (PhD)
meteorological observations and were the first to Known for Continental drift theory
overwinter on the inland Greenland ice sheet and Plate tectonics
the first to bore ice cores on a moving Arctic Polflucht
glacier. Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process
Relatives Kurt Wegener (brother)
Paul Wegener (cousin)
Biography Wladimir Köppen (father-in-law)
Heinrich Harrer (son-in-law)
Siegfried Uiberreither (son-in-law)
Early life and education
Scientific career
Alfred Wegener was born in Berlin on 1
Fields Climatology, geology, geophysics,
November 1880, the youngest of five children, to meteorology
Richard Wegener and his wife Anna. His father
Thesis The Alfonsine Tables for the Use of a
was a theologian and teacher of classical
Modern Computer (https://www.digi-hu
languages at the Joachimsthalschen
Gymnasium[6] and Berlinisches Gymnasium zum b.de/viewer/image/BV041981724/3/LO
Grauen Kloster. In 1886 his family purchased a G_0000/) (1905)
former manor house near Rheinsberg, which they Doctoral Julius Bauschinger, Wilhelm Förster
used as a vacation home.[7] advisor
Signature

Wegener attended school at the Köllnische Gymnasium on Wallstrasse in

Berlin, completing his Abitur in 1899,[6] graduating as the best in his
class.

Wegener studied physics, meteorology and astronomy at the Friedrich

Wilhelm University in Berlin, completing two external semesters at
Heidelberg and Innsbruck. His teachers included Wilhelm Förster for
astronomy and Max Planck for thermodynamics.[8][6]
Commemorative plaque on
From 1902 to 1903 during his studies he was an assistant at the Urania
Wegener's former school in
Wallstrasse
astronomical observatory. He completed his doctoral dissertation on the
subject of applying the astronomical data of Alfonsine tables to
contemporary computational methods in 1905 under the supervision of
Julius Bauschinger and Wilhelm Förster.[9] Despite becoming a doctor in the field of astronomy, Wegener
had always maintained a strong interest in the developing fields of meteorology and climatology and his
studies afterwards focused on these disciplines.

In 1905 Wegener became an assistant at the Aeronautisches Observatorium Lindenberg near Beeskow. He
worked there with his brother Kurt, who was likewise a scientist with an interest in meteorology and
polar research. The two pioneered the use of weather balloons to track air masses. On a balloon ascent
undertaken to carry out meteorological investigations and to test a celestial navigation method using a
particular type of quadrant ("Libellenquadrant"), the Wegener brothers set a new record for a continuous
balloon flight, remaining aloft 52.5 hours from 5–7 April 1906.[10] His observations during his time at the
Observatorium made a significant contribution to the field of atmospheric physics.[6]

First Greenland expedition and years in Marburg

In 1906, Wegener participated in the first of his four Greenland expeditions, later regarding this
experience as marking a decisive turning point in his life. The Denmark expedition was led by the Dane
Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen and charged with studying the last unknown portion of the northeastern coast of
Greenland. During the expedition Wegener constructed the first meteorological station in Greenland near
Danmarkshavn, where he launched kites and tethered balloons to make meteorological measurements in
an Arctic climatic zone. Here Wegener also made his first acquaintance with death in a wilderness of ice
when the expedition leader and two of his colleagues died on an exploratory trip undertaken with sled
dogs.

After his return in 1908 and until World War I, Wegener was a lecturer in meteorology, applied astronomy
and cosmic physics at the University of Marburg. His students and colleagues in Marburg particularly
valued his ability to clearly and understandably explain even complex topics and current research
findings without sacrificing precision. His lectures formed the basis of what was to become a standard
textbook in meteorology, first written In 1909/1910: Thermodynamik der Atmosphäre (Thermodynamics
of the Atmosphere), in which he incorporated many of the results of the Greenland expedition.

On 6 January 1912 he presented his first proposal of continental drift in a lecture to the Geologische
Vereinigung (Geological Association) at the Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt am Main. Later in 1912 he
made the case for the theory in a long, three-part article[11] and a shorter summary.[12]

Second Greenland expedition

Plans for a new Greenland expedition grew out of Wegener and Johan Peter Koch's frustration with the
disorganisation and meager scientific results of the Danmark expedition. The new Danish Expedition to
Queen Louise Land would involve only four men, take place in 1912–1913, and have Koch for leader.[8]

After a stopover in Iceland to purchase and test ponies as pack animals, the expedition arrived in
Danmarkshavn. Even before the trip to the inland ice began the expedition was almost annihilated by a
calving glacier. Koch broke his leg when he fell into a glacier crevasse and spent months recovering in a
sickbed. Wegener and Koch were the first to winter on the inland ice in northeast Greenland.[13] Inside
their hut they drilled to a depth of 25 m with an auger. In summer 1913 the team crossed the inland ice,
the four expedition participants covering a distance twice as long as Fridtjof Nansen's southern Greenland
crossing in 1888. Only a few kilometres from the western Greenland settlement of Kangersuatsiaq the
small team ran out of food while struggling to find their way through difficult glacial break-up terrain.
But at the last moment, after the last pony and dog had been eaten, they were picked up at a fjord by the
clergyman of Upernavik, who just happened to be visiting a remote congregation at the time.

Family
Later in 1913, after his return Wegener married Else Köppen, the daughter of his former teacher and
mentor, the meteorologist Wladimir Köppen. The young pair lived in Marburg, where Wegener resumed
his university lectureship. There his two older daughters were born, Hilde (1914–1936) and Sophie
("Käte", 1918–2012). Their third daughter Hanna Charlotte ("Lotte", 1920–1989) was born in Hamburg.
Lotte would in 1938 marry the famous Austrian mountaineer and adventurer Heinrich Harrer, while in
1939, Käte married Siegfried Uiberreither, Austrian Nazi Gauleiter of Styria.[14]

World War I
As an infantry reserve officer Wegener was immediately called up when the First World War began in
1914. On the war front in Belgium he experienced fierce fighting but his term lasted only a few months:
after being wounded twice he was declared unfit for active service and assigned to the army weather
service. This activity required him to travel constantly between various weather stations in Germany, on
the Balkans, on the Western Front and in the Baltic region.

Nevertheless, he was able in 1915 to complete the first version of his major work, Die Entstehung der
Kontinente und Ozeane ("The Origin of Continents and Oceans"). His brother Kurt remarked that Alfred
Wegener's motivation was to "reestablish the connection between geophysics on the one hand and
geography and geology on the other, which had become completely ruptured because of the specialized
development of these branches of science."
Interest in this small publication was however low, also because of wartime chaos. By the end of the war
Wegener had published almost 20 additional meteorological and geophysical papers in which he
repeatedly embarked for new scientific frontiers. In 1917 he undertook a scientific investigation of the
Treysa meteorite.

Postwar period
In 1919, Wegener replaced Köppen as head of the Meteorological Department at the German Naval
Observatory (Deutsche Seewarte) and moved to Hamburg with his wife and their two daughters.[8] In
1921 he was moreover appointed senior lecturer at the new University of Hamburg. From 1919 to 1923
Wegener did pioneering work on reconstructing the climate of past eras (now known as
"paleoclimatology"), closely in collaboration with Milutin Milanković,[15] publishing Die Klimate der
geologischen Vorzeit ("The Climates of the Geological Past") together with his father-in-law, Wladimir
Köppen, in 1924.[16] In 1922 the third, fully revised edition of "The Origin of Continents and Oceans"
appeared, and discussion began on his theory of continental drift, first in the German language area and
later internationally. Withering criticism was the response of most experts.

In 1924 Wegener was appointed to a professorship in meteorology and geophysics in Graz, a position that
was both secure and free of administrative duties.[8] He concentrated on physics and the optics of the
atmosphere as well as the study of tornadoes. He had studied tornadoes for several years by this point,
publishing the first thorough European tornado climatology in 1917. He also posited tornado vortex
structures and formative processes.[17] Scientific assessment of his second Greenland expedition (ice
measurements, atmospheric optics, etc.) continued to the end of the 1920s.

In November 1926 Wegener presented his continental drift theory at a symposium of the American
Association of Petroleum Geologists in New York City, again earning rejection from everyone but the
chairman. Three years later the fourth and final expanded edition of "The Origin of Continents and
Oceans" appeared.

Third Greenland expedition

In April–October 1929, Wegener embarked on his third expedition to
Greenland, which laid the groundwork for the German Greenland
Expedition which he was planning to lead in 1930–1931.

Fourth Greenland expedition: Death

Wegener's last Greenland expedition was in 1930. The 14 participants
under his leadership were to establish three permanent stations from
which the thickness of the Greenland ice sheet could be measured and
year-round Arctic weather observations made. They would travel on the
ice cap using two innovative, propeller-driven snowmobiles, in addition to
Wegener (left) and ponies and dog sleds. Wegener felt personally responsible for the
Villumsen (right) in expedition's success, as the German government had contributed $120,000
Greenland; 1 November ($1.5 million in 2007 dollars). Success depended on enough provisions
1930.
being transferred from West camp to Eismitte ("mid-ice", also known as
Central Station) for two men to winter there, and this was a factor in the
decision that led to his death. Owing to a late thaw, the expedition was six weeks behind schedule and, as
summer ended, the men at Eismitte sent a message that they had insufficient fuel and so would return on
20 October.

On 24 September, although the route markers were by now largely

buried under snow, Wegener set out with thirteen Greenlanders
and his meteorologist Fritz Loewe to supply the camp by dog sled.
During the journey, the temperature reached −60 °C (−76 °F) and
Loewe's toes became so frostbitten they had to be amputated with
a penknife without anaesthetic. Twelve of the Greenlanders
returned to West camp. On 19 October the remaining three
members of the expedition reached Eismitte.

Expedition member Johannes Georgi estimated that there were Snowmobiles used by the 1930
only enough supplies for three at Eismitte, so Wegener and 27 expedition (stored)
year-old native Greenlander Rasmus Villumsen took two dog sleds
and made for West camp. (Georgi later found that he had
underestimated the supplies, and that Wegener and Villumsen could have overwintered at Eismitte.[8])
They took no food for the dogs and killed them one by one to feed the rest until they could run only one
sled. While Villumsen rode the sled, Wegener had to use skis, but they never reached the camp. Wegener
died in his tent around 90 miles from Eismitte and was hastily buried with his skis stuck upright in the
snow. Villumsen resumed his journey, but he was never seen again. Six months later, on 12 May 1931,
Wegener's skis were discovered. Expedition members built a pyramid-shaped mausoleum in the ice and
snow, and Alfred Wegener's body was laid to rest. Wegener had been 50 years of age and a heavy smoker,
and it was believed that he had died of heart failure brought on by overexertion. Kurt Wegener took over
the expedition's leadership in July, according to the prearranged plan for such an eventuality.[8][18][19]

Continental drift theory

Wegener first thought of this idea by noticing that the different large landmasses of the Earth almost fit
together like a jigsaw puzzle. The continental shelf of the Americas fits closely to Africa and Europe.
Antarctica, Australia, India and Madagascar fit next to the tip of Southern Africa. But Wegener only
published his idea after reading a paper in 1911 which criticised the prevalent hypothesis, that a bridge of
land once connected Europe and America, on the grounds that this contradicts isostasy.[20] Wegener's
main interest was meteorology, and he wanted to join the Denmark-Greenland expedition scheduled for
mid-1912. He presented his continental drift hypothesis on 6 January 1912. He analysed both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean for rock type, geological structures and fossils. He noticed that there was a significant
similarity between matching sides of the continents, especially in fossil plants.

From 1912, Wegener publicly advocated the existence of "continental drift", arguing that all the
continents were once joined in a single landmass and had since drifted apart. He supposed that the
mechanisms causing the drift might be the centrifugal force of the Earth's rotation ("Polflucht") or the
astronomical precession. Wegener also speculated about sea-floor spreading and the role of the mid-ocean
ridges, stating that "the Mid-Atlantic Ridge ... zone in which the floor of the Atlantic, as it keeps
spreading, is continuously tearing open and making space for fresh, relatively fluid and hot sima [rising]
from depth."[21] However, he did not pursue these ideas in his later works.
 In 1915, in the first edition
of his book, Die
Entstehung der Kontinente
und Ozeane, written in
German,[22] Wegener drew
together evidence from
various fields to advance
the theory that there had
once been a giant
Fossil patterns across continents
continent, which he named
(Gondwana)
"Urkontinent"[23] (German
for "primal continent",
analogous to the Greek "Pangaea", [24] meaning "All-Lands" or
"All-Earth"). Expanded editions during the 1920s presented
further evidence. (The first English edition was published in 1924
as The Origin of Continents and Oceans, a translation of the 1922
third German edition.) The last German edition, published in
1929, revealed the significant observation that shallower oceans
were geologically younger. It was not translated into English until Original world maps created by
1962.[22] Wegener showing Pangaea and the
continents drifting apart. Its spatial
Note prior advocates for various forms of continental dynamics: and temporal classification
Abraham Ortelius, Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, Eduard Suess, corresponds to his conception at
that time, not to the later proven
Roberto Mantovani, Otto Ampferer, and Frank Bursley Taylor.
positions and geological epochs.

Reactions
In his work, Wegener presented a large amount of observational
evidence in support of continental drift, but the mechanism
remained a problem, partly because Wegener's estimate of the
velocity of continental motion, 250 cm/year, was too high.[25]
(The currently accepted rate for the separation of the Americas
from Europe and Africa is about 2.5 cm/year.)[26]

While his ideas attracted a few early supporters such as Alexander Wegener during J.P. Koch's
Du Toit from South Africa, Arthur Holmes in England [27] and Expedition 1912–1913 in the winter
Milutin Milanković in Serbia, for whom continental drift theory base "Borg"
was the premise for investigating polar wandering, [28][29] the
hypothesis was initially met with scepticism from geologists, who
viewed Wegener as an outsider and were resistant to change.[27] The German geologist Max Semper
wrote a critique of the theory, which culminated in this mockery against Wegener:[30]

"... so one can only ask for the necessary distance to be maintained and the request to stop
honouring geology in the future, but to visit specialist areas that have so far forgotten to write
above their gate: "Oh holy Saint Florian, spare this house, set others on fire!" (Max Semper,
1917)
Nevertheless, the eminent Swiss geologist Émile Argand advocated Wegener's theory in his inaugural
address to the 1922 International Geological Congress.[8]

The one American edition of Wegener's work, published in 1925, was written in "a dogmatic style that
often results from German translations".[27] In 1926, at the initiative of Willem van der Gracht, the
American Association of Petroleum Geologists organised a symposium on the continental drift
hypothesis.[31][8] The opponents argued, as did the Leipziger geologist Franz Kossmat, that the oceanic
crust was too firm for the continents to "simply plough through".

From at least 1910, Wegener imagined the continents once fitting together not at the current shore line,
but 200 m below this, at the level of the continental shelves, where they match well.[27] Part of the reason
Wegener's ideas were not initially accepted was the misapprehension that he was suggesting the
continents had fit along the current coastline.[27] Charles Schuchert commented:

During this vast time [of the split of Pangea] the sea waves have been continuously pounding
against Africa and Brazil and in many places rivers have been bringing into the ocean great
amounts of eroded material, yet everywhere the geographic shore lines are said to have
remained practically unchanged! It apparently makes no difference to Wegener how hard or
how soft are the rocks of these shore lines, what are their geological structures that might aid or
retard land or marine erosion, how often the strand lines have been elevated or depressed, and
how far peneplanation has gone on during each period of continental stability. Furthermore,
sea-level in itself has not been constant, especially during the Pleistocene, when the lands were
covered by millions of square miles of ice made from water subtracted out of the oceans. In the
equatorial regions, this level fluctuated three times during the Pleistocene, and during each
period of ice accumulation the sea-level sank about 250 feet [75 m].

Wegener was in the audience for this lecture, but made no attempt to defend his work, possibly because
of an inadequate command of the English language.

In 1943, George Gaylord Simpson wrote a strong critique of the theory (as well as the rival theory of
sunken land bridges) and gave evidence for the idea that similarities of flora and fauna between the
continents could best be explained by these being fixed land masses which over time were connected and
disconnected by periodic flooding, a theory known as permanentism.[32] Alexander du Toit wrote a
rejoinder to this the following year.[33]

Alfred Wegener has been mischaracterised as a lone genius whose theory of continental drift met
widespread rejection until well after his death. In fact, the main tenets of the theory gained widespread
acceptance by European researchers already in the 1920s, and the debates were mostly about specific
details. However, the theory took longer to be accepted in North America.[8]

Modern developments
In the early 1950s, the new science of paleomagnetism pioneered at the University of Cambridge by S. K.
Runcorn and at Imperial College by P.M.S. Blackett was soon producing data in favour of Wegener's
theory. By early 1953 samples taken from India showed that the country had previously been in the
Southern hemisphere as predicted by Wegener. By
1959, the theory had enough supporting data that
minds were starting to change, particularly in the
United Kingdom where, in 1964, the Royal Society
held a symposium on the subject.[34]

The 1960s saw several relevant developments in

geology, notably the discoveries of seafloor spreading
and Wadati–Benioff zones, and this led to the rapid
resurrection of the continental drift hypothesis in the
form of its direct descendant, the theory of plate
The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in
tectonics. Maps of the geomorphology of the ocean the second half of the 20th century.
floors created by Marie Tharp in cooperation with
Bruce Heezen were an important contribution to the
paradigm shift that was starting. Wegener was then recognised as the founding father of one of the major
scientific revolutions of the 20th century.

With the advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in 1993, it became possible to measure
continental drift directly.[35]

Awards and honours

The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, was established
in 1980 on Wegener's centenary. It awards the Wegener Medal in his name.[36] The crater Wegener on the
Moon and the crater Wegener on Mars, as well as the asteroid 29227 Wegener, the Wegener Peninsula in
Eastern Greenland and the peninsula where he died in Western Greenland near Ummannaq, 71°12′N
51°50′W, are named after him.[37]

The European Geosciences Union sponsors an Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership "for
scientists who have achieved exceptional international standing in atmospheric, hydrological or ocean
sciences, defined in their widest senses, for their merit and their scientific achievements."[38]

Selected works
Wegener, Alfred (1911). Thermodynamik der Atmosphäre (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=slxDAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR1) [Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere] (in German). Leipzig:
Verlag Von Johann Ambrosius Barth.
Wegener, Alfred (1912). "Die Herausbildung der Grossformen der Erdrinde (Kontinente und
Ozeane), auf geophysikalischer Grundlage". Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen (in
German). 63: 185–195, 253–256, 305–309. (Presented at the annual meeting of the
German Geological Society, Frankfurt am Main, 6 January 1912).
Wegener, Alfred (July 1912). "Die Entstehung der Kontinente". Geologische Rundschau (in
German). 3 (4): 276–292. Bibcode:1912GeoRu...3..276W (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/ab
s/1912GeoRu...3..276W). doi:10.1007/BF02202896 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF0220289
6). S2CID 129316588 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:129316588).
Wegener, Alfred (1922). Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane [The Origin of
Continents and Oceans] (in German). Borntraeger. ISBN 3-443-01056-3.
 LCCN unk83068007 (https://lccn.loc.gov/unk83068007).
Wegener, Alfred (1929). Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane [The Origin of
Continents and Oceans] (in German) (4th ed.). Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn Akt.
Ges. ISBN 3-443-01056-3.
English language edition: Wegener, Alfred (1966). The Origin of Continents and Oceans.
Translated by John Biram, from the fourth revised German edition. New York: Dover.
ISBN 0-486-61708-4. British edition: Methuen, London (1968).
Köppen, W. & Wegener, A. (1924): Die Klimate der geologischen Vorzeit, Borntraeger
Science Publishers. English language edition: The Climates of the Geological Past (http://bo
rntraeger-cramer.com/9783443010881) 2015.
Wegener, Elsie; Loewe, Fritz, eds. (1939). Greenland Journey, The Story of Wegener's
German Expedition to Greenland in 1930–31 as told by Members of the Expedition and the
Leader's Diary. Translated by Winifred M. Deans, from the seventh German edition. London:
Blackie & Son Ltd.

See also
Hair ice – Wegener introduced a theory on the growth of hair ice in 1918.

References
1. "Wegener" (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/wegener) Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20180329121055/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/wegener) 29 March 2018 at the
Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962]. Das
Aussprachewörterbuch (https://books.google.com/books?id=T6vWCgAAQBAJ) [The
Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German) (7th ed.). Berlin: Dudenverlag. pp. 177, 897.
ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4.
3. Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009).
Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (https://books.google.com/books?id=E-1tr_oVkW4C)
[German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 302, 1047.
ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
4. Spaulding, Nancy E.; Namowitz, Samuel N. (2005). Earth Science. Boston: McDougal Littell.
ISBN 0-618-11550-1.
5. McIntyre, Michael; Eilers, H. Peter; Mairs, John (1991). Physical geography (https://archive.
org/details/physicalgeograph00mcinrich/page/273). New York: Wiley. p. 273 (https://archive.
org/details/physicalgeograph00mcinrich/page/273). ISBN 0-471-62017-3.
6. Wutzke, Ulrich (2020). "Wegener, Alfred - Deutsche Biographie" (https://www.deutsche-biogr
aphie.de/pnd118629913.html). www.deutsche-biographie.de (in German). Retrieved
5 February 2024.
7. The memorial site is the Gedenkstätte Zechlinerhütte, see "Zechlinerhütte – Alfred Wegener
Gedenkstätte" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120702081455/http://www.zechlinerhuette.co
m/de/tourismusinfo/wegener_gedenkstaette.php). Archived from the original (http://www.zec
hlinerhuette.com/de/tourismusinfo/wegener_gedenkstaette.php) on 2 July 2012. Retrieved
18 April 2012. (in German)
8. Greene, Mott T. (15 October 2018). Alfred Wegener : science, exploration, and the theory of
continental drift. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-2709-6.
OCLC 1030902106 (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1030902106).
 9. Wegener, Alfred (1905). Die Alfonsinischen Tafeln für den Gebrauch eines modernen
Rechners (https://www.digi-hub.de/viewer/image/BV041981724/3/LOG_0000/). Berlin:
Ebering.
10. Victor Silberer: Die Dauerfahrt von 52½ Stunden. In: Wiener Luftschiffer-Zeitung 5, Heft 8,
1906, S. 156–157
11. Wegener, Alfred (1912). "Die Entstehung der Kontinente" (https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/receiv
e/jportal_jpvolume_00155009). Dr. A. Petermanns Mitteilungen aus Justus Perthes'
geographischer Anstalt. 58: 185–195, 253–256, 305–309 – via The journals@UrMEL portal
operated by the Thuringian University and State Library Jena (ThULB).
12. Wegener, Alfred (1 July 1912). "Die Entstehung der Kontinente" (https://doi.org/10.1007/BF0
2202896). Geologische Rundschau (in German). 3 (4): 276–292.
Bibcode:1912GeoRu...3..276W (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1912GeoRu...3..276W).
doi:10.1007/BF02202896 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02202896). ISSN 1432-1149 (http
s://search.worldcat.org/issn/1432-1149). S2CID 129316588 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/
CorpusID:129316588).
13. Dansgaard W (2004). Frozen Annals Greenland Ice Sheet Research. Odder, Denmark:
Narayana Press. p. 124. ISBN 87-990078-0-0.
14. Michaël Stürm, Account of Uiberreither postwar incognito life (https://www.afa-boeblingen.d
e/dl/BBKZNSGauleiter.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190510013509/https://
www.afa-boeblingen.de/dl/BBKZNSGauleiter.pdf) 10 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine, in
Stadt und Kreis Böbblingen, 21 February 2017
15. introduction to the English edition (http://borntraeger-cramer.com/9783443010881), The
Climates of the Geological Past, (2015), retrieved 28 August 2015
16. Köppen, W. & Wegener, A. (1924): Die Klimate der geologischen Vorzeit, Borntraeger
Science Publishers. In English as The Climates of the Geological Past (2015).
17. Antonescu, Bogdan; H. M. A. M. Ricketts; D. M. Schultz (2019). "100 Years Later: Reflecting
on Alfred Wegener's Contributions to Tornado Research in Europe" (https://www.research.m
anchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/100-years-later-reflecting-on-alfredwegeners-contribu
tions-to-tornado-research-in-europe(9f6b8924-67ba-48d3-b81a-b76c1606db31).html). Bull.
Amer. Meteor. Soc. 100 (4): 567–578. Bibcode:2019BAMS..100..567A (https://ui.adsabs.har
vard.edu/abs/2019BAMS..100..567A). doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0316.1 (https://doi.org/10.11
75%2FBAMS-D-17-0316.1). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190727090843/https://
www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/100-years-later-reflecting-on-alfredw
egeners-contributions-to-tornado-research-in-europe(9f6b8924-67ba-48d3-b81a-b76c1606d
b31).html) from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
18. "Reached Central Station with No Supplies After a Forty-day Trek" (https://timesmachine.nyti
mes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/14/96197407.pdf) (PDF). The New York Times. 12 May
1931. Retrieved 12 March 2024 – via Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
19. Lüdecke, C (27 October 2009). "Lifting the veil: the circumstances that caused Alfred
Wegener's death on the Greenland icecap, 1930". Polar Record. 36 (197): 139–154.
doi:10.1017/S0032247400016247 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0032247400016247).
20. Arldt, Th. (1910). "Referat Scharff: Ueber die Beweissgruende fuer eine fruehere
Landbruecke zwischen Nordeuropa und Nordamerika". Naturwiss. Rdsch. (in German). 25:
86–87., Scharff, R. F. (1909). "Ueber die Beweissgruende fuer eine fruehere Landbruecke
zwischen Nordeuropa und Nordamerika". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (in
German). 28: 1–28. cited in Flügel, Helmut W. (December 1980). "Wegener-Ampferer-
Schwinner: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Geologie in Österreich" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20120308204257/http://www2.uibk.ac.at/downloads/oegg/Band_73_237_254.pdf)
[Wegener-Ampferer-Schwinner: A Contribution to the History of the Geology in Austria]
(PDF). Mitt. österr. Geol. Ges. (in German). 73. Archived from the original (http://www2.uibk.
ac.at/downloads/oegg/Band_73_237_254.pdf) (PDF) on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 1 October
2010.
21. Jacoby, W. R. (January 1981). "Modern concepts of earth dynamics anticipated by Alfred
Wegener in 1912". Geology. 9 (1): 25–27. Bibcode:1981Geo.....9...25J (https://ui.adsabs.har
vard.edu/abs/1981Geo.....9...25J). doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1981)9<25:MCOEDA>2.0.CO;2
(https://doi.org/10.1130%2F0091-7613%281981%299%3C25%3AMCOEDA%3E2.0.CO%3
B2).
22. Frankel, Henry R. (2012). The Continental Drift Controversy: Volume 1, Wegener and the
Early Debate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 152, 584. ISBN 978-0-521-
87504-2.
23. According to the OED, 2nd edition (1989), the word is not found in the 1915 edition of
Wegener's text; it appears in the 1920 edition but with no indication that Wegener coined it.
24. W.A.J.M. van Waterschoot van der Gracht; Bailey Willis; Rollin T. Chamberlin; et al. (1928).
W.A.J.M. van Waterschoot van der Gracht (ed.). Theory of Continental Drift: a Symposium
on the Origin and Movement of Land Masses, both Inter-Continental and Intra-Continental,
as proposed by Alfred Wegener. Tulsa, Okla.: American Association of Petroleum
Geologists.
25. University of California Museum of Paleontology, Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) (http://www.u
cmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2017120801
1353/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html) 8 December 2017 at the
Wayback Machine (accessed 30 April 2015).
26. Unavco Plate Motion Calculator (http://www.unavco.org/software/geodetic-utilities/plate-moti
on-calculator/plate-motion-calculator.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201504250
02611/http://www.unavco.org/software/geodetic-utilities/plate-motion-calculator/plate-motion
-calculator.html) 25 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 30 April 2015).
27. Drake, Ellen T. (1 January 1976). "Alfred Wegener's reconstruction of Pangea". Geology. 4
(1): 41. Bibcode:1976Geo.....4...41D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976Geo.....4...41
D). doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1976)4<41:AWROP>2.0.CO;2 (https://doi.org/10.1130%2F0091-
7613%281976%294%3C41%3AAWROP%3E2.0.CO%3B2).
28. "Mathematische Klimalehre und astronomische Theorie der Klimaschwankungen", in W.
Köppen & R. Geiger (eds): Handbuch der Klimatologie Bd. 1: Allgemeine Klimalehre.
Borntraeger, Berlin, 1930.
29. Milanković, Milutin. "Numerical trajectory of secular changes of pole's rotation" (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20160103010313/http://elibrary.matf.bg.ac.rs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3
675/mm35F.pdf?sequence=1) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://elibrary.matf.bg.ac.rs/
bitstream/handle/123456789/3675/mm35F.pdf?sequence=1) (PDF) on 3 January 2016.
Retrieved 25 April 2016.
30. Semper, Max: "Was ist eine Arbeitshypothese?" (https://ia804501.us.archive.org/16/items/ce
ntralblattfurm1917unse/centralblattfurm1917unse.pdf), Centralblatt für Mineralogie,
Geologie und Paläontologie, 1917, pp. 146–163, quote p. 157.
31. Engelhardt Jr, H. Tristam; Arthur L. Caplan, eds. (1987). Scientific Controversies: Case
studies in the resolution and closure of disputes in science and technology (https://archive.o
rg/details/scientificcontro00jrht). pp. 210 (https://archive.org/details/scientificcontro00jrht/pag
e/n222)–211.
32. Simpson, G.G. (1943). "Mammals and the Nature of Continents" (http://people.wku.edu/char
les.smith/biogeog/SIMP943A.htm). American Journal of Science. 241 (1): 1–31.
Bibcode:1943AmJS..241....1S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1943AmJS..241....1S).
doi:10.2475/ajs.241.1.1 (https://doi.org/10.2475%2Fajs.241.1.1). Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20170729180219/http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/biogeog/SIMP943A.htm)
from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
33. du Toit, A. (1944). "Tertiary Mammals and Continental Drift" (https://doi.org/10.2475%2Fajs.2
42.3.145). American Journal of Science. 242 (3): 145–63. Bibcode:1944AmJS..242..145D (h
ttps://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1944AmJS..242..145D). doi:10.2475/ajs.242.3.145 (https://
doi.org/10.2475%2Fajs.242.3.145).
34. Frankel, H. (1987). "The Continental Drift Debate" (https://books.google.com/books?id=lp_n-
Ng-hhoC&pg=PA203). In H.T. Engelhardt Jr and A.L. Caplan (ed.). Scientific Controversies:
Case Solutions in the resolution and closure of disputes in science and technology.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-27560-6.
35. Brady Haran (4 June 2003). "The millimetre men" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engla
nd/nottinghamshire/2956026.stm). BBC News UK. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20
111105042558/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/2956026.stm)
from the original on 5 November 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
36. "2005 Annual report" (http://www.awi.de/fileadmin/user_upload/News/Print_Products/PDF/2
52-265_Kap12.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20130630052409/http://www.awi.
de/fileadmin/user_upload/News/Print_Products/PDF/252-265_Kap12.pdf) 30 June 2013 at
the Wayback Machine, page 259, Alfred Wegener Institute
37. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser" (https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=29227).
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140815022526/http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sst
r=29227) from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
38. "EGU: Awards & Medals" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110718070142/http://www.egu.eu/
en/awards-medals/awards-medals.html?file=alfred_wegener_overview&cHash=f431498f54
9e2878936516b2a644ecac). Archived from the original (http://www.egu.eu/en/awards-medal
s/awards-medals.html?file=alfred_wegener_overview&cHash=f431498f549e2878936516b2
a644ecac) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2009.

External links
Works by Alfred Wegener (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/43299) at Project
Gutenberg
Works by or about Alfred Wegener (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%
3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%20Lothar%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Wegener%2C%
20Alfred%20L%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Wegener%2C%20A%2E%20L%2E%2
2%20OR%20subject%3A%22Alfred%20Lothar%20Wegener%22%20OR%20subject%3A%
22Alfred%20L%2E%20Wegener%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22A%2E%20L%2E%20Weg
ener%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%22%20OR%20subject%3
A%22Alfred%20Wegener%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Alfred%20Lothar%20Wegener%
22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Alfred%20L%2E%20Wegener%22%20OR%20creator%3A%
22A%2E%20L%2E%20Wegener%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22A%2E%20Lothar%20We
gener%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%20Lothar%22%20OR%20
creator%3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%20L%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Wegen
er%2C%20A%2E%20L%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Wegener%2C%20A%2E%20L
othar%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Alfred%20Wegener%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22
Wegener%2C%20Alfred%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Alfred%20Lothar%20Wegener%22%
20OR%20title%3A%22Alfred%20L%2E%20Wegener%22%20OR%20title%3A%22A%2E%
20L%2E%20Wegener%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Alfred%20Wegener%22%20OR%20des
cription%3A%22Alfred%20Lothar%20Wegener%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Alfred%
20L%2E%20Wegener%22%20OR%20description%3A%22A%2E%20L%2E%20Wegener%
22%20OR%20description%3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%20Lothar%22%20OR%20des
cription%3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%20L%2E%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Alfr
ed%20Wegener%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Wegener%2C%20Alfred%22%29%20
OR%20%28%221880-1930%22%20AND%20Wegener%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediaty
pe:software%29) at the Internet Archive
Works by Alfred Wegener (https://librivox.org/author/3040) at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
Wegener Institute website (http://www.awi.de/en)
USGS biography of Wegener (https://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/wegener.html)
 Wegener biography at Pangaea.org (http://pangaea.org/wegener.htm)
Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html) –
Biographical material
Wegener's paper (1912) online and analysed, BibNum (http://www.bibnum.education.fr/scie
ncesdelaterre/g%C3%A9ologie/la-formation-des-continents) (for English text go to "A
télécharger")
Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/e
arththeory/id/16311) – full digital facsimile at Linda Hall Library
Newspaper clippings about Alfred Wegener (http://purl.org/pressemappe20/folder/pe/01826
6) in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alfred_Wegener&oldid=1267795564"