Continental drift Continental drift Continental drift is the theory that the Earth's continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The speculation that continents might have 'drifted' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596. The concept was independently and more fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, but his theory was rejected by many for lack of any motive mechanism. Arthur Holmes later proposed mantle convection for that mechanism. The idea of continental drift has since been subsumed by the theory of plate tectonics, which explains that the continents
Drift Desert, Arizona Drift Desert, Arizona Drift Desert is a former ranch and steamboat landing on the Colorado River, now a ghost town, in La Paz County, Arizona. Drift Desert was a ranch with a woodyard landing for the George Alonzo Johnson's steamboats on the Colorado River. It was located 102 miles up river from Yuma, Arizona, 30 miles above California Camp and 29 miles below La Paz, in what was then Yuma County, Arizona. Drift Desert appears on the 1861 Geological Map No. 1. Prepared by J.S. Newberry, M.D. Geologist to the Expedition. Explorations and Surveys. War Department. Map No. 1. Rio