The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Alfred Wegener. that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth. Science 18 Aug 1967: Vol. This suggests he didn’t know for sure, and was trying to account for a name he had seen on other maps, possibly Cabot’s. Includes bibliographical references (pages 218-232) and index. etymonline.com has some interesting insights…, (this is for the noun) viii, 246 pages : 22 cm. So hello to all my North American and South American neighbors, we Americans love you. He searched the scientific literature for geological and paleontological evidence that would buttress his theory, and he was able to point to many closely related fossil organisms and similar rock strata that occurred on widely separated continents, particularly those…. It took millions of years for continents to drift apart to where they are now In the beginning, more than 4.6-billion years ago, the world was a ball of burning gas, spinning through space. Americapana has always been here. South America is similar in size to Africa, so either both of them are continent-sized or both of them are just little peninsulas. Article; Info & Metrics; eLetters; PDF; This is a PDF-only article. Wegener's The Origin of Continents and Oceans In his book Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (The Origin of Continents and Oceans), published for the first time in 1915, German geologist and polar explorer Alfred Wegener formulated a theory concerning … America is the continent Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering in 1492, the New World. The area is about twice the size of the United Kingdom. That is what the book said, word for word. continents in an apparently stiff Earth crust can occur.1 Thereafter, we will make an initial attempt to follow the existing rifts and movement of the continents in Earth history. (This is my theory),maybe becuase most continents use latin names where the suffix “ica” denotes a land belonging to…. the north pole has bears and the south pole doesnt. If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Feed), as well as: I recently read in a book called “The Book of General Ignorance” that the origin of America’s name didn’t come from Amerigo Vespucci. Required fields are marked *. There are several theories about the origin of the word “Afer.” Some of them say that it originates from the Greek language, others Latin, and there are also other theories. amerICA..afrICA..AsIA…antarctICA… not sure about australia..sounds like an english word.. Well africa was the name giving to the north province modern day Tunasia after Roman won the the 3rd Punic War it was not named Africa till it was colonize by Europe like the other continents. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science). They called their province Asia. In 1538, the famous geographer Gerard Mercator chose to name the entire north and south parts of America as one large “America” for the entire western hemisphere. That means everyone. The Colonies were referred to as British America, Spanish America etc…There has never been a country named British States of America. The oldest mountain range in the world; the oldest people in the world. AF (AFU = Plural) RA KA AFURAKA – AFRICA The greeks and romans first contact was with a Berber tribe the Afri but that was in homage to their dark skin. It is seeking the absolute, because Geologically, the continents correspond to areas of continental crust that are found on the continental plates, but include continental fragments such as Madagascar that are not commonly referred to as continents. Jennifer seems to *want* to call Peruvians and Guatemalans Americans too and not know why she can’t (did you read “Why can’t I call Peruvians and Guatemalans Americans too”?). About 250-million years ago, all the continents of the time had joined together to form a super-continent called Pangaea. Topics: Plate tectonics, Continent, Geology Pages: 1 (279 words) Published: March 7, 2013. Why Greenland is an Island and Australia is a Continent, Why We Have a Seven Day Week and the Origin of the Names of the Days of the Week, Why We Divide the Day Into Seconds, Minutes, and Hours, Why Some Countries Drive on the Right and Some on the Left, https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3290.ar305500/, The Surprisingly Plausible Theory that the Pyramids were Poured from Ancient Concrete, The Absolute Legend That was Timothy Dexter- First in the East and West and Greatest Philosopher in the Western World, The Curious Case of Radioactive Apartments. Nor did he ever use the term ‘America’ for his discovery. New countries or continents were never named after a persons first name, but always after the second (as in Tasmania, Van Dieman’s land or the Cook Islands). The name began expanding to include a larger area than Tunisia when several … Though you covet the name of the continent/people, the United States is not America, but one of many countries in the continent “of America.”. Methuen and Co. Google Scholar. 62, Issue 1592, pp. I have always pondered the relationship between the Ural mountain range separating ‘western European Russia’ with ‘eastern Russia’, that is to say Siberia. It occupied about the western quarter of the Anatolian peninsula. Rather, it was just a small region, like “Asia”, referring to a portion of present day Turkey, part of Thrace. Reprinted in 2015. La genèse des continents et des océans. xx + 212. Free Download: The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science) by Alfred Wegener are you need The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science) PDF Download for free?. However, the name was used for a different place by the French before this. As such, they decided to name the new land after Vespucci, stating: But now these parts (Europe, Asia and Africa, the three continents of the Ptolemaic geography) have been extensively explored and a fourth part has been discovered by Americus Vespuccius (the Latin form of Vespucci’s name), I do not see what right any one would have to object to calling this part after Americus, who discovered it and who is a man of intelligence, and so to name it Amerige, that is, the Land of Americus, or America: since both Europa and Asia got their names from women. Antarctica comes from the Greek word “antarktike,” which literally means “opposite to the north.” The continent is, of course, home to the southernmost point on Earth. The 2nd Angel is: SURAL, ministers to the children, also to the righteous and encourages the fear of God, 3rd Angel is: RAPHAEL, ministers to the souls of humankind on behalf of God, 4th Angel is: REGAL, takes vengenance upon those who commit crimes upon the earth as ordered from God, 5th Angel is: MICHAEL, Leader of all the host (Angels) of Heaven, brings peace and benevolence to people and nations, 6th Angel is: SEROQUEL, rules the spirit of humankind and gives protection to human souls, 7th Angel is: GABRIEL rules over the Holy Angels and the Garden of Eden long ago, also is an advisor to other Angels. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. It is also believed that Amerike sponsored John Cabot on his successful trip to America’s eastern shore, and that Cabot named the land after his sponsor. Your Bonus Fact reagrding Captain James Cook is incorrect, at least the date. “Antarctica comes from the Greek word “antarktike,” which literally means “opposite to the north.””. …der Kontinente und Ozeane ( The Origin of Continents and Oceans ). In Alfred Wegener. He and two scholarly partners were aware of Vespucci’s writings and were ignorant of Columbus’s expeditions. The first holds that continental material was formed very early in the history of the earth. An alternate theory, which has a hole in it due to when the name was first used, is that it comes from the Phoenician word “afar” which means “dust.” Put together with the Latin suffix –ica, sometimes used to denote “land”, the name could mean “a land of dust.” Given Africa’s hot, desert-like climate in the north, which is where the Romans claimed their province, the Phoenician root is considered by many to be a plausible alternative to the “Afri tribe” theory, for the origin of Africa’s name. The answer is no. There is a record in the Bristol calendar for that year: ‘…on St John the Baptist’s day [24 June], the land of America was found by the merchants of Bristowe, in a ship of Bristowe called the Mathew’, that clearly suggests this is what happened. An alternate theory as to how America got its name, not backed up by a whole lot of documented evidence, you may sometimes hear is that a tribe of Native Americans named the Amerrique may have existed, and both Columbus and Vespucci may have visited them. What Those Nasty White Chunks That Sometimes Come From Your Throat Are, The Difference Between a Fact and a Factoid, Marilyn Monroe was Not Even Close to a Size 12-16, A Japanese Soldier Who Continued Fighting WWII 29 Years After the Japanese Surrendered, Because He Didn’t Know. Translated by J. G. A. Skerl. Pp. Given the christian name America in 1507 by Martin Waldseemuller in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. The most popular theory as to the origin of the name is that it was named for a native tribe there—the Afri, with “Africa” then being the feminine form of “Africus”, literally meaning “land of the Afri”. I’m no academic but I wonder if this view has any traction? Your reasoning for trying to erase the American continent from knowledge is just nonsensical and childish rhetoric devised in the desire of your nation to appropriate the name of the New World, America/American. First, the outer part of the earth cooled down and thus was formed the crust but inner part of the earth continued to cool down. The growth and recycling of continental crust has resulted in the chemical and thermal modification of Earth’s mantle, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere for ∼4.0 b.y. Being both entertaining and educational, his accounts of the new world were reprinted in almost every European language. In his notes Waldseemüller makes the assumption that the name is derived from a Latin version of Amerigo Vespucci’s first name, because Vespucci had discovered and mapped the South American coast from 1500 to 1502. The origin of continents and oceans. America: Find this author on Google Scholar. (1) The overall mass of the crust and mantle to a depth of about 500 km is the same on a broad scale beneath oceans and continents. God has Seven Holy Angels in Heavenly realm. He moved to London from Genoa in 1484 and was authorised by Kin Henry VII to search for unkown lands in the west. thats how the name came about. Subcontinents, not continents. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. When the large new map, approximately 8 feet by 4 feet, was unveiled by Waldseemüller, it had the large title “AMERICA” across what is now present day Brazil. Like most, I’ve known that the Americas (North and South) were named after Amerigo Vespucci since my early education. and Europe sounds English not Latin..I could be wrong… He is assumed[1] to be the second son of Stephen, he was named after his uncle, St. Henry II, and was the only of Stephen’s sons who reached adulthood. It is difficult to determine the etymology of the name, but one theory is that it comes from the Akkadian word erebu which means “to go down, set” or the Phoenician ereb which means “evening, west.” The western directional meaning would mean it had similar origins to Asia. This is Ancient pre Caucasian existence and it is in the Hieroglyphs in which all written text known today derive from…, Realy knowldgable site. Cabot mapped the North American coastline from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. Waldseemüller used Vespucci’s travelogues as a reference for his drawing and so his map had South America as the only part of this new western hemisphere. The origin of these reliefs is associated with endogenetic forces which in turn are responsible for gigantic movements of lithospheric plates on the earth’s crust. [Note: In 1507, a German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller, chose to make a new map that included the new world. The theory is that the fishermen who worked for him named the area in which they lived after their employer. Subject : GEOLOGYCourse : INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGYKeyword : SWAYAMPRABHA Capt Cook sighted and charted the east coast of Australia in 1770 not 1772. The Origin of Continents and Oceans. This is why they are also called as first order relief features. 795. It is erasure, and a more accurate language is needed. Your email address will not be published. THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS 657 facts, they write what they conceive the facts to be, on a basis of their chance experience. Sprung from the soil; Amerukahn, serpent people, autochonous. Etc. The first to rise from the depths of the sea. DOI: 10.1126/science.157.3790.795. They are two separate continent, and so is Africa. the verb for love ‘Amer’ + riches ‘rica’. Amer-rica. 256 pp., illus. The continents and ocean basins are the fundamental relief features of the earth. Alfred Lothar Wegener (1880–1930) was a German geophysicist and meteorologist. Captain James Cook was sent to find Terra Australis Incognita in 1772. …der Kontinente und Ozeane (The Origin of Continents and Oceans). by Herodotus in his Histories. After the Romans defeated Carthage (which is in modern-day Tunisia in Northern Africa) in the third Punic War, they called their new province “Africa.” The most popular theory as to the origin of the name is that it was named for a native tribe there—the Afri, with “Africa” then being the feminine form of “Africus”, literally meaning “land of the Afri”. I read somewhere the name america came from the spanish for “to love riches”. See all Hide authors and affiliations. e.g. First on this list is Africa. Dale C. Krause. What Happens in the Real World if You Find a Buried Treasure? Could it be that the Urals define the eastern border of the European continent? https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3290.ar305500/, The United States/United States of America. Significantly, he replaced ‘America’ with ‘Terra Incognita’ in his world map of 1513. I just don’t see why I and Jennifer can’t believe that, *and* believe that South America is a whole entire continent, *and* believe that “continent” in English and “continente” in Spanish don’t mean exactly the same thing, at the same time. However, he turned away to resupply his ship before seeing land. “Latin Africa (terra) “African land, Libya, the Carthaginian territory,” fem. Cook set out again and was the first person to sail into the Antarctic Circle. So someone from Canada or Mexico can be said to be “North Americans”, and people from Columbia or Venezuela can be said to be “South Americans”, but these peoples are not “Americans.” Only People from America (US of America) are Americans. Since the 1960s this evidence has traditionally been gathered in support of Plate Tectonic studies and as such, until now, has rarely been looked at other than from a conventional Plate Tectonic … Another “America” theory that you may sometimes here, again, not backed up by nearly the evidence as the above in the main article, is that it was named after a Bristol merchant named Richard Amerike. The word is said to originate from the Mayan word for “exceptionally strong wind.”. (Using the seven continent model). https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Origin-of-Continents-and-Oceans. Vespucci was a navigator that traveled to “the new world” in 1499 and 1502. However, knowledge of the protolith that gave rise to the first continents and whether the environment of formation was a subduction zone still remains unknown. Pangaea or Pangea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. ID Numbers Open Library OL15055969M Internet Archive originsofcontine0000unse ISBN 10 0486617084 Library Thing 519273 Goodreads 853842. Arabs, of course, had contact with black ‘Africa’ well before Rome. discussed in biography. The discontinuity itself Mother to ALL civilization. Vespucci never reached North America. Europe was likely named after Europa, one of Zeus’ many lovers in Greek mythology. ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS, MOUNTAIN RANGES, OCEAN BASINS 493 roots of major mountain chains. The discovery of the M discon tinuity seemed to confirm the notion that the crust is fundamentally made up of two different kinds of rock material. The United States is a country in America, hence the post positioned adjective “of America” in the long-form name. His hypothesis was controversial and widely rejected by mainstream geology until the […] London (Methuen & Co.), 1924. If South America is not a continent then Africa is not a continent either. Not quite ‘arktikos’ means ‘pertaining to a bear’ and is reference to the Land/Sea of the Bear (after the constellations). There’s a good reaon for this. He departed England on 26 August 1768, spotted and claimed Australia for England on 19 April 1770. 8°. Of course, Romans did not have the maritime technology to reach Australia and did not have any direct evidence that it existed, as far as we know. However, it is likely that the name was in use long before then, though not referring to a whole continent, but rather originally just the name for the land on the east bank of the Aegean Sea, and then later the Anatolia (part of modern Turkey). ON THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS is a completely new and somewhat controversial way of looking at and understanding modern scientific evidence about the origin of Earth's continents and oceans. Returning with charts of the eastern coastline of Australia—large enough to be considered a continent—he was turned down by officials who believed that the real Terra Australis Incognita was located farther south. When North America was later added, the mapmakers of the time retained the original name. In the beginning the earth was very hot but it gradually began to cool down due to loss of heat. Dover, New York, 1967. Pp. Being a well educated man, he realized that this new world was not part of Asia, as some had initially thought. Asia derives from the Ancient Greek “Ἀσία”, which was used as early as 440 B.C. By Alfred Wegener. Translated from the 3rd (1922) German edition. Europa is also the name of one of Jupiter’s moons. Translated from the 3rd German edition by Reichel, M.. The Origin of Continents and Oceans . Paper, $2. Today I found out the most likely origin of each of the continents’ names. ], There is no country named America, and American is everyone from the continent (America). etc…. The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science) - Kindle edition by Wegener, Alfred. John George Bartholomew, a Scottish cartographer, is believed to be the first person to use “Antartica” to refer to the continent. And I’m glad you like our site , However, I’ve always been given to understand that Africa (sometimes spelt ‘Afrika’) is a derivative of ‘Kafir’, a derogatory Arabic term to denote the heathen polytheist black African. Classifications Library of Congress. The continent was referred to the shortened “Australia” by a number of early explorers, but it was Matthew Flinders who pushed for its use from 1804. All people who were born ANYWHERE in the Americas are Americans!!! It wasn’t until 1824 that the name was officially given to the continent. net The intellectual world of to-day is striving and struggling toward some-thing new, in defiance of all the social and material obstacles that stand in its way. From North to South AMERICA., why all continents but Europe begin with “a” and end with “a”?. antarctica is anti-arctic; arktos is greek for bear. All the early maps and trade were British. The land joining South America and North America is even narrower than the land joining Africa and Eurasia. A common theory is that the Greek name ultimately derived from the Phoenician word asu, which means “east”, and the Akkadian word asu which means “to go out, to rise.” In reference to the sun, Asia would then mean “the land of the sunrise.”. The location of the oceans along four plane faces and the continents along the edges or coigns of the plane faces of the tetrahedron … The origin of continents and oceans This edition was published in 1966 by Dover in New York. The Name Africa has Always been Africa… In the Pre Coptic Translation of the Ancient Hieroglyphs it shows As “AF” – Meaning flesh and and it means flesh in more than 20 different dialects from north to Cape Town South Africa… “AFU” is plural… “RA” means move through matter or house or place of residence, also the mind of the deity Ra… “KA” highland also refers to the high ground upon which the deity of creation first stood. The continent of AMERICA As in many of the other names of the continents, “Europe” originally didn’t refer to anything close to what we think of as Europe today. I’ll type it exactly, this is what it read: “Who is America named after?” Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. AbeBooks.com: The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science) (9780486617084) by Wegener, Alfred and a great selection of similar New, Used and … 2. The name has no European influence what so ever. He was known in Latin as Sanctus Americus, after being canonized for his pious life and purity. It assembled from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago, and began to break apart about 175 million years ago. This is why they are two separate continent, and began to break apart about 175 million ago. New York Zeus ’ many lovers in Greek mythology ” ” fundamental relief features of the is... Less well known the original name you are agreeing to news, offers, and American is from. Sprung from the Mayan word for word likely to visit continents and Oceans this edition was published in the origin of continents! Also the name America came from the depths of the Anatolian peninsula not somewhere the name of one Jupiter! 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