Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis, also known as the Morley–Vine–Matthews hypothesis, was the first key scientific test of the seafloor spreading theory of continental drift and plate tectonics. Its key impact was that it allowed the rates of plate motions at mid-ocean ridges to be computed.
The development of the theory of plate tectonics was the scientific and cultural change which occurred during a period of 50 years of scientific debate. The event of the acceptance itself was a paradigm shift and can therefore be classified as a scientific revolution, [44] now described as the Plate Tectonics Revolution.
John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics. He added the concept of hot spots , a volcanic region hotter than the surrounding mantle (as in the Hawaii hotspot ).
The fast melt is because the portion of the subducted plate nearest the spreading zone is thin and still warm from its recent creation. The slab gap hypothesis goes on to state that the upwelling can form very deep cracks, which in turn lets very fluid basalt lava quickly spread over the land surface forming shield volcanoes and vast volcanic ...
Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory. In the general case, seafloor spreading starts as a rift in a continental land mass, similar to the Red Sea-East Africa Rift System today. [16] The process starts by heating at the base of the continental crust which causes it to become more plastic and less dense.
The P-T-t paths provide in-depth investigations and implications of the mechanisms in the lithosphere, and further support the plate tectonic theory [42] [46] and the formation of supercontinents. [ 47 ] [ 46 ] [ 48 ]
The Antarctic plate is a tectonic plate containing the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau, and some remote islands in the Southern Ocean and other surrounding oceans. After breakup from Gondwana (the southern part of the supercontinent Pangea ), the Antarctic plate began moving the continent of Antarctica south to its present ...
The plate theory is a model of volcanism that attributes all volcanic activity on Earth, even that which appears superficially to be anomalous, to the operation of plate tectonics. According to the plate theory, the principal cause of volcanism is extension of the lithosphere .