Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') [1] is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago.
Oceanic and continental crusts are, at the present day, produced and maintained through plate tectonic processes. However, the same mechanisms are unlikely to have produced the crustal dichotomy of the early lithosphere. This is thought to be true on the basis that sections of the thin, low density continental lithosphere thought to have ...
During the 17th century, Nicolas Steno was the first to observe and propose a number of basic principles of historical geology, including three key stratigraphic principles: the law of superposition, the principle of original horizontality, and the principle of lateral continuity.
With an increased number of people studying it, came more detailed observations and more information about the Earth. Also during the eighteenth century, aspects of the history of the Earth – namely the divergences between the accepted religious concept and factual evidence – once again became a popular topic for discussion in society.
The Earth of the early Archean may have had a different tectonic style. It is widely believed that the early Earth was dominated by vertical tectonic processes, such as stagnant lid , [ 19 ] [ 20 ] heat-pipe , [ 21 ] or sagduction , [ 22 ] [ 23 ] [ 24 ] which eventually transitioned to plate tectonics during the planet's mid-stage evolution.
The evolution of tectonophysics is closely linked to the history of the continental drift and plate tectonics hypotheses. The continental drift/ Airy-Heiskanen isostasy hypothesis had many flaws and scarce data. The fixist/ Pratt-Hayford isostasy, the contracting Earth and the expanding Earth concepts had many flaws as well.
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.
From an early date, [7] geologists have struggled to explain the presence in Nevada and adjacent areas of the Antler orogenic deposits without achieving a consensus. The advent of plate tectonic theory provided a variety of possible mechanisms by which the Roberts Mountains thrust and the orogenic deposits could be explained, but none of them has been universally accepted.