In the early 1900s german geophysicist alfred wegener began to question how the structures on the earth formed over time. he proposed the theory of continental drift to suggest that all continents were once connected and have "drifted" to their current location over time.

what was the main reason that wegener's theory received a lot of ridicule from the scientific community?

the mesosphere  

Explanation:

The mesosphere is the lowest layer of the stratosphere and coldest layer of atmosphere. The incoming meteors and debris from the space are burned away in this layer. As the debris passes the layers of the atmosphere, the friction causes them to burn and destroy before these reach the surface thereby protecting the Earth's surface. On the bodies like mercury and moon, we can find the surface has many impact craters. This is because there is no atmosphere on mercury and moon which could protect their surfaces.