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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, [47] now described as the Plate Tectonics Revolution.
Drummond Matthews (left) and Frederick Vine, 1981. Drummond Hoyle Matthews FRS [1] (5 February 1931 – 20 July 1997), known as "Drum", [2] was a British marine geologist and geophysicist and a key contributor to the theory of plate tectonics.
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') 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.
The Wilson cycle theory is based upon the idea of an ongoing cycle of ocean closure, continental collision, and a formation of new ocean on the former suture zone.The Wilson Cycle can be described in six phases of tectonic plate motion: the separation of a continent (continental rift), formation of a young ocean at the seafloor, formation of ocean basins during continental drift, initiation of ...
Mars, Venus, Mercury and other planetary bodies have relatively quasi-uniform crusts unlike that of the Earth which contains both oceanic and continental plates. [1] This unique property reflects the complex series of crustal processes that have taken place throughout the planet's history, including the ongoing process of plate tectonics.
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.
Standard plate tectonic theory holds that once a trench is closed by an overriding plate reaching a rift/spreading center, the plate that has just been fully consumed continues to descend beneath the overriding plate for some time, transmitting compressive pressures to the overriding plate above as well as occasional volcanism. Meanwhile, the ...