Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #491

In 1912, meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed that the Earth's continents had once been joined in a single supercontinent. However, to explain the mechanism of this immense movement, Wegener posited centrifugal force from the Earth's rotation and tidal drag from the sun and moon. The prominent geophysicist Harold Jeffreys quickly demonstrated mathematically that these proposed forces were magnitudes too weak to shift continental crust, leading the broader scientific community to overwhelmingly reject Wegener's hypothesis. It was not until the 1950s, when paleomagnetic data provided empirical evidence for mantle convection, that the necessary engine for plate tectonics was discovered, vindicating Wegener's core premise if not his specific mechanics. Which statement is most strongly supported by the text?