Wegener proposed the continental drift theory in the early 20th century. He was able to provide scientific evidences for such, but sadly he was unable to explain the mechanism or processes behind the movement of continents. As these plates would move so slowly it was hard to find evidence, it would take many years for him to finally get this bit of evidence. It wasn't until the mid-twentieth century with the discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which not only proved Wegener’s theory correct but also that the plates move. This helped people to understand the science of tectonics. All these discoveries were not in Wegener’s job as he was a meteorologist and this was not in his field of science this resulted in scepticism by the establishment geologists of his time.
Wegener noticed several things about the land masses on the Earth such as the fact it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle (Africa's West coast mirroring South America's East coast). The layers of rock in these countries also the same as each other AND that the fossils found in the rocks were similar in both countries in early records showing possible signs of them being together. This proved his theory of Continental drift that continents were joined together and had later split apart into their present locations). Wegener concluded this was evidence that the land masses had moved over time however as people could not believed continents had moved, there was not possible source of energy to move it.
That was until the 1960's and the discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge a series of volcanoes under the sea which are spewing out new rock a phenomenon known as ocean floor spreading. After scientists going back over Wegener’s theory they discovered