According to the passage, why did most geologists reject Wegener's proposal?
In 1912 the German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once joined in a single landmass and had since drifted apart. He pointed to the matching shapes of the coasts of South America and Africa and to fossils of the same species found on both sides of the Atlantic. Most geologists rejected the idea, largely because Wegener could not explain what force could move continents through solid ocean floor. His suggestion that tides or the Earth's rotation were responsible was easily shown to be too weak. Only in the 1950s, when studies of the ocean floor revealed mid-ocean ridges where new crust is formed, did the idea return in a new form. Plate tectonics holds that the continents ride on large plates that move as new crust spreads from the ridges. Wegener's evidence of fossils and coastlines is still cited, but the mechanism that finally persuaded scientists was one that he never imagined.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. He could not explain what force could move continents through the ocean floor
- Step 1: The passage says the mechanism was missing. Step 2. His suggestions were too weak. Answer: no adequate force. Why not the others: these are not stated.
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