Field of Science

Deciphering the Layers of Earth

This was the man to whom all things were known;
this was the king who knew the countries of the world.
He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things,
he brought us a tale of the days before the flood.
He went on a long journey,
was weary, worn-out with labor,
returning he rested,
he engraved on a stone the whole story.”
The Epic of Gilgamesh” (ca 2.000 B.C.)


January 6, 1912: Continental Drift!


January 6, 1912 the German meteorologist Alfred Wegener presented in a lecture entitled “Die Heraushebung der Großformen der Erdrinde (Kontinente und Ozeane) auf geophysikalischer Grundlage” (The uprising of large features of earth’s curst (Continents and Oceans) on geophysical basis) for the first time his hypothesis of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea, from which all modern continents split apart.