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Essays about continental drift
The impacts of continental drifts
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Alfred Wegener was the youngest of five children, and was born on November 1, 1880. His father was an evangelical minister who ran an orphanage. Wegener grew up in Berlin Germany, and as a young man always dreamed of exploring Greenland, and had an interest in meteorology at a very young age. Alfred attended Friedrich Wilhelms University where he obtained his degree, and later his Doctorates in Astronomy, but after he graduated, most of his focus was on the study of meteorology. In 1905 Alfred went to work with his older brother at the Aeronautischen Observatorium Lindenberg in Beeskow. The two brothers would be the first ones to pioneer the use of weather balloons to investigate air masses. Alfred Wegener was a meteorologist and explorer who was a pioneer in the studies of not only meteorology, astronomy, and polar exploration, but he also came up with the concept of the Continental Drift Theory.
During his lifetime, Alfred was probably known best for his studies in meteorology and his explorations in Greenland. He participated in four separate Greenland expeditions where he and the team that he was with were charged with the duty of studying the last unknown portion of the Greenland coastal area. After returning home from his first expedition in 1908, Wegener obtained employment with the University of Marburg where he taught Meteorology, Applied Astronomy, and Physics. While teaching at the University of Marburg, he wrote Thermodynamik der Atmosphare (Therodynamics of the Atmosphere). In this text book he included many of the results that were obtained in the first Greenland expedition. This book became the first textbook in the study of meteorology.
Alfred Wegener would go on 3 more Greenland expeditions in his life...
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...misphere. Evidence obtained from fossils in modern day laboratories are much more accurate, and only add to the possibility that Wegener’s theory was indeed correct. While during his lifetime, he was primarily known for his work in meteorology and polar exploration, it is his Continental Drift Theory that will make him remembered for all time.
Works Cited
Hoffman, P. F. (2012). The Tooth of Time: Alfred Wegener. Geoscience Canada, 39(3), 102-111.
CHESTER, R. (2008). Chapter 6: CONTINENTAL DRIFT: A THEORY WITHOUT A CAUSE. In , Furnace of Creation Cradle of Destruction: A Journey to the Birthplace of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, & Tsunamis (p. 86). American Management Association International.
Biography of Alfred Wegener. (n.d.). About.com Geography. Retrieved February 19, 2014, from http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/Biography-Of-Alfred-Wegener.htm
Earthquakes are a natural part of the Earth’s evolution. Scientific evidence leads many geologists to believe that all of the land on Earth was at one point in time connected. Because of plate tectonic movements or earthquakes, continental drift occurred separating the one massive piece of land in to the seven major continents today. Further evidence supports this theory, starting with the Mid-Atlantic ridge, a large mass of plate tectonics, which are increasing the size of the Atlantic Ocean while shrinking the Pacific. Some scientists believe that the major plate moveme...
"The Great Quake: 1906-2006 / Rising from the Ashes." SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
The Little Albert experiment has become a widely known case study that is continuously discussed by a large number of psychology professionals. In 1920, behaviorist John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner began to conduct one of the first experiments done with a child. Stability played a major factor in choosing Albert for this case study, as Watson wanted to ensure that they would do as little harm as possible during the experiment. Watson’s method of choice for this experiment was to use principles of classic conditioning to create a stimulus in children that would result in fear. Since Watson wanted to condition Albert, a variety of objects were used that would otherwise not scare him. These objects included a white rat, blocks, a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, wool, and a Santa Claus mask. Albert’s conditioning began with a series of emotional tests that became part of a routine in which Watson and Rayner were determining whether other stimuli’s could cause fear.
Albrecht Altdorfer had an interest in landscape and atmosphere effects, out of which he developed a highly p...
It is widely considered that media was forever changed with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. The printing press made it easier for people to convey their thoughts and ideas while simultaneously reaching the maximum amount of people possible. Within the last century, the evolution of media has been staggering. We can now read the news online from halfway around the world or watch stories on television as they happen. All of these innovations have not come without their problems. In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote the book The Sorrows of Young Werther, a book that by all accounts was The Catcher in the Rye of its generation. It was banned because it was said to have influenced thousands across Europe to commit a form of copy-cat suicide. Copy-cat suicide is when one person commits a form of suicide that they learned from either local knowledge or accounts of the suicide in the news and other forms of media. This paper will analyze Goethe's influence on what we now know as “The Werther Effect” and its prevalence in other forms of modern media. First I will look at The Sorrows of Young Werther and how it influenced numerous studies.
Before examining the Northridge event, understanding the naturally occurring hazard that is an earthquake will help to better understand exactly what happened and why it was such an important geological event. With four distinct layers, two layers, the crust and upper portion of the mantle, compose the skin that is the surface layer of the Earth. The crust is not a single, continuous piece. It is actually several different pieces, or plates, that come together to form the puzzle that comprises the surface of the Earth. These plates are in constant motion rubbing against one another. These areas, known as fault lines, where the plates rub up against one another have spots where one plate ”gets stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. When the plate has moved far enough, the edges unstick and is how most of the earthquakes around the world occur” (Wald, 2012). The energy stored from the friction of the two plate...
study of the San Andreas fault system." (USGS) When the 1906 earthquake struck scientist set
Alfred Wegener was born on November 1, 1880 in Berlin, Germany. Alfred Wegener was the youngest of five children to be born to Anna and Richard Wegener. However, only three of Ana and Richard Wegener’s children survived. Their names were: Alfred Wegener, Kurt Wegener, and Tony Wegener. Unfortunately, the two other children could not make it. Richard Wegener was an evangelical minister who ran an orphanage. At that time, the German Empire saw many advances of new technologies which included the airship, electricity and the automobile. Most of Alfred Wegener’s significant interests at a young age were exploration, geophysics, and meteorology. At first, Alfred Wegener studied mathematics and astronomy in the city of Berlin and Heidelberg. However, Alfred Wegener was soon drawn into meteorology, and geophysics. Alfred Wegener and his brother, Kurt Wegener, both enjoyed hiking, mountain climbing, kiting, ballooning and sailing. Furthermore, Alfred Wegener went to a lot of expeditions and continued his career as a famous meteorologist and geophysicist. Alfred Wegener even came up with the Continental Drift theory.
Born in Würzburg, Germany in 1901, Heisenberg was the younger son of August and Annie Wecklein Heisenberg. His brother Erwin was one year older and was a constant source of competition. Heisenberg's father was a prominent secondary school teacher. As a boy Heisenberg began playing the piano early and was playing master compositions by the age of thirteen. Heisenberg was also an eager student of classical literature and philosophy. He amazed family and friends when he taught himself calculus and tried to publish a scientific paper as a teen. However it was his father's commitment to academic learning, that led him to pursue the science he loved.
Source 4. A map of the Earth’s fault lines and plates with the direction of their movement.
the bulk to ordinary matter; the volume of an atom is nearly all occupied by the
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt was a “Prussian geographer, naturalist, explorer, and an influencer in science” (Alexander von Humboldt). He was born in September 14, 1769 in the beautiful Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia. He died May 6, 1859 in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia where he was born. He was eighty nine when he passed and in that day and age was a very long time to live especially in Berlin, Germany. Alexander was “the youngest brother in his family” (Home) from his dad who was a minister and philosopher, he had an “older brother” (Home) who also lived an eventful life in science. Alexander also had a “older sister who sadly died at a young age” (Home) from an unknown reason. One fun fact of Alexander towards his family is that he was “baptized as a baby in a Lutheran church by Duke of Brunswick also known as his godfather” (Alexander von Humboldt).
Convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries and convection currents all examples of physical evidence that supports the theory of plate tectonics. Continental drift is the theory contrived by Alfred Wegener in 1912 that states that Earth’s tectonic plates are in slow constant movement. At the time he didn’t know how the continents moved. The theory was soon modernized in the 50’s and the theory of plate tectonics became was born. Plate tectonics is the theory that tectonic plates are in slow constant movement due to convection currents in the mantle. Now we know for sure, thanks to scientific studies of convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and convection currents in the Earth’s mantle, that the continental drift and plate tectonics theories are not
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).
Robinson, Andrew,; Earth Shock: Hurricanes, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes and Other Forces of Nature; Themes & Hudson Ltd., September 1993