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(Chapter 8)

Plate Tectonics I Continental drift

What is Plate Tectonics?

Plate Tectonics is the unifying theory of Geology. It articulates all the different areas of the wide field of Geosciences. As any scientific theory, Plate Tectonics is open to changes and modifications. Many problems are solved in the framework of Plate Tectonics, but many others remain unsolved. However, it has certainly proved to be of immense predictive and explicative potential.

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What means a Unifying Theory?

A unifying theory is one that helps

explaining a broad range of diverse observations articulate different fields within a Science articulate processes on a grand scale and relate many seemingly unrelated phenomena

Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics helps explain
earthquakes volcanic eruptions (effusive vs. explossive) formation of mountains (mountain building) geochemistry of rocks present and past location of continents and ocean basins (paleogeography and present geography) distribution of organisms (evolutionary biogeography)

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Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics influences
atmospheric and oceanic circulation climate geographic distribution, evolution and extinction of organisms distribution and formation of resources

Alfred Wegener and the Continental Drift Hypothesis

German meteorologist, who proposed the hypothesis of continental drift in the Origin of Continents and Oceans based on a coherent set of well articulated data

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Alfred Wegener and the Continental Drift Hypothesis

He proposed that all landmasses
were originally united into a supercontinent named Pangaea from the Greek meaning all land

He presented a series of maps showing the breakup of Pangaea He provided a tremendous amount of
geologic, paleontologic paleoclimatologic data

The Fit of the Continents

Extraordinary fit of West Africa indentation and Eastern South America coastlines. Greenland and Europe could pack against the Northeastern margin North America.

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Locations of Past Glaciations

The distribution of Equatorial climatic belts

Coal swamps in tropical regions, and reefs in tropical seas. Eolian deposits and salt lakes in subtropical regions.

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The distribution of Fossils

DuToits evidence
Expanded Wegeners ideas Mesosaurus fossils
Found on Gondwanaland continents Freshwater

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Geologic Similarities
Brazil and South Africa have nearly identical geologic sequences (also Antarctica and India) Glacial sediments Coal

The hypothesis of land bridges

Early scientists recognized relationship between fossils on continents separated by sea Proposed land bridges Corridors of felsic rock

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Criticism of Wegeners ideas

The problem of the mechanism Wegener suggested that the force created by the rotation of the Earth could cause a continent centered at the pole to break up into pieces and drift toward equatorial latitudes. The continental crust move by plowing through the oceanic crust, as a ship.

The rejection of Continental Drift

Most geologists, particularly in the Northern hemisphere did not accept the idea of moving continents
because no one could provide a suitable mechanism to explain how continents could move over Earths surface

Interestingly after a major debate in AAPG meeting in 1926, continental drift was abandoned, only to be revived during the 1960s.

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The Prelude of Plate Tectonics

The idea of moving continents revived when
new evidence from studies of Earths magnetic field was available oceanographic research showed that the ocean basins were not featureless and permanent. Oceans were geologically young elements being continuously recycled confirmation of sea floor spreading, new crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges and destructed as subduction zones