Question

Continental drift and plate tectonics are both theories but only plate tectonics is accepted as fact by the scientific community. Explain why plate tectonics is considered a scientific fact and why continental drift is not.

Answer 1

Wegener proposed the continental drift theory, and provided scientific evidences for such, but couldn't explain the mechanism or processes behind the movement of continents. It wasn't until the mid-twentieth century with the discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that the processes causing plate movements began to be understood and led to the science of plate tectonics.