Timeline Of The Development Of Tectonophysics (before 1954)
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tectonophysics Tectonophysics, a branch of geophysics, is the study of the physical processes that underlie tectonic deformation. This includes measurement or calculation of the stress- and strain fields on Earth’s surface and the rheologies of the crust, ...
is closely linked to the history of the
continental drift Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...
and
plate tectonics Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
hypotheses A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific method, scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educ ...
. The continental drift/ Airy-Heiskanen
isostasy Isostasy (Greek wikt:ἴσος, ''ísos'' 'equal', wikt:στάσις, ''stásis'' 'standstill') or isostatic equilibrium is the state of gravity, gravitational mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium between Earth's crust (geology), crust (or lithosph ...
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 idea of continents with a permanent location, the geosyncline theory, the Pratt-Hayford isostasy, the extrapolation of the age of the Earth by Lord Kelvin as a black body cooling down, the contracting Earth, the Earth as a solid and crystalline body, is one school of thought. A lithosphere creeping over the asthenosphere is a logical consequence of an Earth with internal heat by radioactivity decay, the Airy-Heiskanen isostasy,
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...
s and Niskanen's mantle viscosity determinations.


Introduction

Christian
creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...
(
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
) was popular until the 19th century, and the
age of the Earth The age of Earth is estimated to be 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years. This age may represent the age of Earth's accretion (astrophysics), accretion, or Internal structure of Earth, core formation, or of the material from which Earth formed. This dating ...
was thought to have been created circa 4,000 BC. There were stacks of calcareous rocks of maritime origin above sea level, and up and down motions were allowed (
geosyncline A geosyncline (originally called a geosynclinal) is an obsolete geology, geological concept to explain orogeny, orogens, which was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the theory of plate tectonics was envisaged.#Sengor1982, ...
hypothesis, James Hall and James D. Dana). Later on, the
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...
concept appeared, and a contracting Earth (
Eduard Suess Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 – 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and ...
, James D. Dana,
Albert Heim Albert Heim (12 April 184931 August 1937) was a Swiss geologist, noted for his three-volume ''Geologie der Schweiz''. Born in Zürich, he was educated at Zürich and Berlin universities. Very early in life he became interested in the physical fe ...
) was its driving force. In 1862, the physicist William Thomson (who later became
Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), professor of Natur ...
) calculated the age of Earth (as a cooling
black body A black body or blackbody is an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence. The radiation emitted by a black body in thermal equilibrium with its environment is ...
) at between 20 million and 400 million years. In 1895, John Perry produced an age of Earth estimate of 2 to 3 billion years old using a model of a convective mantle and thin crust. Finally, Arthur Holmes published ''The Age of the Earth, an Introduction to Geological Ideas'' in 1927, in which he presented a range of 1.6 to 3.0 billion years. Wegener had data for assuming that the relative positions of the continents change over time. It was a mistake to state the continents "plowed" through the sea, although it isn't sure that this fixist quote is true in the original in German. He was an outsider with a
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
in astronomy attacking an established theory between 'geophysicists'. The geophysicists were right to state that the Earth is solid, and the mantle is
elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, Elastic (notion), elastic used in garments or stretch fabric, stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rub ...
(for seismic waves) and inhomogeneous, and the ocean floor would not allow the movement of the continents. But excluding one alternative, substantiates the opposite alternative: passive continents and an active seafloor spreading and
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
, with accretion belts on the edges of the continents. The velocity of the sliding continents, was allowed in the uncertainty of the fixed continent model and seafloor subduction and upwelling with phase change allows for inhomogeneity. The problem too, was the specialisation. Arthur Holmes and Alfred Rittmann saw it right . Only an outsider can have the overview, only an outsider sees the forest, not only the trees . But A. Wegener did not have the specialisation to correctly weight the quality of the geophysical data and the paleontologic data, and its conclusions. Wegener's main interest was meteorology, and he wanted to join the Denmark-Greenland expedition scheduled for mid 1912. So he hurried up to present his Continental Drift hypothesis. Mainly
Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known today for his association with Charles ...
,
Harold Jeffreys Sir Harold Jeffreys, FRS (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British geophysicist who made significant contributions to mathematics and statistics. His book, ''Theory of Probability'', which was first published in 1939, played an importan ...
, James D. Dana, Charles Schuchert, Chester Longwell, and the conflict with the
Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
slowed down the acceptance of continental drifting. *
Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...
(cited in ),
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
(cited in ), Theodor Christoph Lilienthal (1756) (cited in , and in Schmeling, 2004),
Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
(1801 and 1845) (cited in Schmeling, 2004), Antonio Snider-Pellegrini , and others had noted earlier that the shapes of
continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
s on opposite sides of the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
(most notably, Africa and South America) seem to fit together (see also , and .). ** Note: Francis Bacon was thinking of western Africa and western South America and Theodor Lilienthal was thinking about the sunken island of
Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...
and changing sea levels. * *
Catastrophism In geology, catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This contrasts with uniformitarianism (sometimes called gradualism), according to which slow inc ...
(e.g.
Christian fundamentalism Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British an ...
, William Thomson) vs.
Uniformitarianism Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in ...
(e.g. Charles Lyell,
Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...
) . ** Term coined by
William Whewell William Whewell ( ; 24 May 17946 March 1866) was an English polymath. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. In his time as a student there, he achieved distinction in both poetry and mathematics. The breadth of Whewell's endeavours is ...
. ** Uniformitarism is the prevailing view in the U.S. . * Charles Lyell assumed that land masses changed their location, but he assumed a mechanism of vertical movement . James Dwight Dana assumed a permanent location as well, influencing the American fixist school of thought . It wasn't known that the seafloor isn't mainly
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
rock ( sial) (as the continental
craton A craton ( , , or ; from "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle. Having often survived cycles of merging and rifting of contine ...
s) but mainly
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
rock (
sima Sima or SIMA may refer to: People * Sima (Chinese surname) * Sima (Persian given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey * Sima (Indian given name), an Indian feminine name used in South Asia * Sima (surname) * Sima (born 1 ...
). ** Quote, Lyell: "Continents therefore, although permanent for whole geological epochs, shift their positions entirely in the course of ages." ( cited in ) ** Quote, Wallace about Dana: "In 1856, in articles in the American Journal, he discussed the development of the American continent, and argued for its general permanence; and in his Manual of Geology in 1863 and later editions, the same views were more fully enforced and were latterly applied to all continents." ( cited in ) * Pratt's
isostasy Isostasy (Greek wikt:ἴσος, ''ísos'' 'equal', wikt:στάσις, ''stásis'' 'standstill') or isostatic equilibrium is the state of gravity, gravitational mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium between Earth's crust (geology), crust (or lithosph ...
is the prevailing view : ** Airy- Heiskanen Model; where different topographic heights are accommodated by changes in crustal thickness. ** Pratt- Hayford Model; where different topographic heights are accommodated by lateral changes in rock density. ** Vening Meinesz, or Flexural Model; where the lithosphere acts as an elastic plate and its inherent rigidity distributes local topographic loads over a broad region by bending. * A cooling and contracting Earth is the prevailing view. ** H. Jeffreys was the most important contractionist , – * H. Wettstein , E. Suess, Bailey Willis and
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
allow horizontal move of the Earth's crust. ** . But Willis was a fixist, as he supported the permanent position of the oceans, although he didn't believe in land-bridges . ** ** Quote, Benjamin Franklin (1782): "The crust of the Earth must be a shell floating on a fluid interior.... Thus the surface of the globe would be capable of being broken and distorted by the violent movements of the fluids on which it rested". * The vertical movement of
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
after the ice age is accepted (recent average uplift c. 1 cm/year). This implies a certain plasticity under the crust . ** The alpine geology with its theory of thrusting (as
geosyncline A geosyncline (originally called a geosynclinal) is an obsolete geology, geological concept to explain orogeny, orogens, which was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the theory of plate tectonics was envisaged.#Sengor1982, ...
hypothesis; today's
thrust tectonics Thrust tectonics or contractional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the Tectonics, tectonic processes associated with, the shortening and thickening of the Crust (geology), crust or lithosphere. It is one of the three main ...
) accepted horizontal movements. cited in * 1848 Arnold Escher shows
Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigating and desc ...
the Glarus thrust at the Pass dil Segnas. But Arnold Escher does not publish it as a thrust as it contradicts the geosyncline hypothesis. * Eduard Suess proposed Gondwanaland in 1861, as a result of the Glossopteris findings, but he believed that the oceans flooded the spaces currently between those lands. And he proposed the Tethys Sea in 1893. He came to the conclusion that the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
to the North were once at the bottom of an ocean . * The idea of continental drifting shows up for the first time. John Henry Pepper merges Antonio Snider-Pellegrini's map, Evan Hopkins' proof of northward shifting of the continents of his neptunist book and his
plutonism Plutonism is the geology, geologic theory that the igneous rocks forming the Earth originated from intrusive Magma, magmatic activity, with a continuing gradual process of weathering and erosion wearing away rocks, which were then deposited on t ...
( and cited in ). * 1884, Marcel Alexandre Bertrand interpretes the Glarus thrust as a thrust. ** * Hans Schardt demonstrates that the Prealps are
allochthonous River ecosystems are flowing waters that drain the landscape, and include the biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions of its many parts.Angelier ...
. ** ** ** * 1907, resolution of the " Highlands Controversy":
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...
s get established: Lapworth,
Peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...
and Horne working on parts of the Moine Thrust,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. ** ** ** Director-Generals of the
British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...
:
Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigating and desc ...
(1855–1872) and
Archibald Geikie Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 1835 – November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer. Early life Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. ...
(1881–1901) * Although Wegener's theory was formed independently and was more complete than those of his predecessors, Wegener later credited a number of past authors with similar ideas: Franklin Coxworthy (between 1848 and 1890), Roberto Mantovani (between 1889 and 1909), William Henry Pickering (1907) and Frank Bursley Taylor (1908). ** 1912–1929: Alfred Wegener develops his continental drift hypothesis. (, ) * In the 1920s Earth scientists refer to themselves as drifters (or mobilists) or fixists . Terms introduced by the Swiss geologist Émile Argand in 1924 . * Moreover, most of the blistering attacks were aimed at Wegener himself, an outsider (PhD in astronomy) who seemed to be attacking the very foundations of geology.


Controversy

* 1912, Wegener presents his ideas at the German Geological Society, Frankfurt . Karl Erich Andrée (
University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...
) must have delivered him some references. Strong points: ** Matching of the coastlines of eastern South America and western Africa, and many similarities between the respective coastlines of North America and Europe. ** Numerous geological similarities between Africa and South America, and others between North America and Europe. ** Many examples of past and present-day life forms having a geographically disjunctive distribution. ** Mountain ranges are usually located along the coastlines of the continents, and orogenic regions are long and narrow in shape. ** The Earth's crust exhibits two basic elevations, one corresponding to the elevation of the continental tables, the other to the ocean floors. ** The Permo-Carboniferous moraine deposits found in South Africa, Argentina, southern Brazil, India, and in western, central, and eastern Australia. ** Flooded land-bridges contradict isostasy. ** Note I: Wegener described in a sentence the seafloor spreading in the first publication only. But he believed it is a consequence of the continental drift ( in ). He abandoned this sentence probably under the advice of Emanuel Kayser, University of Marburg. ** Note II: 'Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen' is one of the leading geographical monthlies of international reputation. ; Wladimir Köppen (father-in-law), , , and Kurt Wegener (brother), , , defended there the Continental drift hypothesis in a somewhat mirror controversy (in ). ** Note III: Although the climate distribution was not always similar to nowadays. In the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
, coal mines are remains of the Equatorial Realm, glaciation remains are near the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...
, and between glaciation and Equatorial Realm (centered between latitude 30° and the
Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...
and the Capricorn) there are remains of
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
s (
evaporite An evaporite () is a water- soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as oce ...
s,
salt lakes A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...
and
sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
s) . These are consequences of the evaporation rate and the
atmospheric circulation Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of Atmosphere of Earth, air and together with ocean circulation is the means by which thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth. The Earth's atmospheric circulation varies fro ...
. * 1912, Patrick Marshall uses the term " andesite line". * 1914, the idea of a strong outer layer (
lithosphere A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the lithospheric mantle, the topmost portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time ...
), overlying a weak
asthenosphere The asthenosphere () is the mechanically weak and ductile region of the upper mantle of Earth. It lies below the lithosphere, at a depth between c. below the surface, and extends as deep as . However, the lower boundary of the asthenosphere i ...
is introduced . * H. Jeffreys and others, most important criticisms , : ** Continents can not "plow" through the sea, because the seafloor is denser than the continental crust. ** Pole-fleeing force is too weak to move continents and produce mountains. *** Paul Sophus Epstein calculated it to be one millionth of the gravity. ** If the tidal force moves continents, than the Earth's rotation would stop after only one year. * ** Its opening sentence is
Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
's allegedly muttered rebellious phrase '' And yet it moves''. ** Quote: "Daly,..., seeks to substitute sliding for drifting, assuming that broad domes or bulges form at the earth's surface, and on the flanks of these domes the continental masses slide downward, moving over hot basaltic glass as over a lubricated floor". (pp. 170–291) * By the mid-1920s, A. Holmes had rejected contractionism and he had introduced a model with convection , , , . ** Note: in a way, not only A. Wegener ( in ) but A. Holmes and K. Wegener suggested seafloor spreading as well. ( in ), ( in ) * The Alps were and still are the best investigated orogen worldwide. Otto Ampferer (Austrian Geological Survey) rejected contractionism 1906 and he defended convection, locally only at first. Otto Ampferer even used the word swallowed in a geological sense. The Geological Society Meeting in Innsbruck, held on 29 August 1912, changed a paradigm (T. Termier words, the acceptance of
nappe In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision zones or on the ...
s and
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...
s). So that
Émile Argand Émile Argand (6 January 1879 – 14 September 1940) was a Swiss geologist. He founded the Geological Institute of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Argand is known for his study of the Alps, and was an early proponent of Alfred Wegener's theory of contin ...
(1916) speculated that the Alps were caused by the North motion of the African shield, and finally accepted this reason 1922, following Wegener's Continental drift theory ( as ). Otto Ampferer in the meantime, at the Geological Society Meeting in Vienna, held on 4 April 1919, defended the link between the alpine faulting and Wegener's continental drift. ** Quote, translation: "The Alpine orogeny is the effect of the migration of the North African shield. Smoothing only alpine folds and nappes on the cross section between the Black Forest and Africa once again, then from the present distance of about 1,800 km, we have an initial gap of around 3,000 to 3,500 km, ie. a pressing of the alpine region, alpine region in a broader sense, of 1,500 km. To this amount must be Africa have moved to Europe. This brings us then to a true large scale continental drift of the African shield". cited in * W.A.J.M. van Waterschoot van der Gracht, Bailey Willis, Rollin T. Chamberlin, John Joly, G.A.F. Molengraaff, J.W. Gregory,
Alfred Wegener Alfred Lothar Wegener (; ; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and ...
, Charles Schuchert, Chester R. Longwell, Frank Bursley Taylor, William Bowie, David White, Joseph T. Singewald Jr., and Edward W. Berry participated on a Symposium of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG, 1926) Although the chairman favored the drift hypothesis, it ceased to be an acceptable geological investigation subject in many universities under the influence of book . ** Quote, University of Chicago geologist Rollin T. Chamberlin: "If we are to believe in Wegener's hypothesis we must forget everything which has been learned in the past 70 years and start all over again." , ** Quote, Bailey Willis: "further discussion of it merely incumbers the literature and befogs the mind of fellow students. (It is) as antiquated as pre-Curie physics". , ** Bailey Willis and William Bowie saw the
sima Sima or SIMA may refer to: People * Sima (Chinese surname) * Sima (Persian given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey * Sima (Indian given name), an Indian feminine name used in South Asia * Sima (surname) * Sima (born 1 ...
with great strength and rigidity through the seismological studies, and tidal forces would act more on the sima (2800 to 3300 kg/m3) as it is denser than the sial (2700 to 2800 kg/m3) . ** Quote, W. Van Waterschoot van der Gracht ( Wilson cycle): "there may have been a pre-Carboniferous "Atlantic" that was closed up during the Caledonian orogenis" . * By the late-1920s: discovery of the
Wadati–Benioff zone A Wadati–Benioff zone (also Benioff–Wadati zone or Benioff zone or Benioff seismic zone) is a planar zone of seismicity corresponding with the down-going slab in a subduction zone. Differential motion along the zone produces numerous earth ...
by Kiyoo Wadati (two pairs plus one paper, 1927 to 1931) of the
Japan Meteorological Agency The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...
, and Hugo Benioff of the
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
. * Alexander du Toit's book. ** In 1923, he received a grant from the
Carnegie Institution of Washington The Carnegie Institution for Science, also known as Carnegie Science and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is an organization established to fund and perform scientific research in the United States. This institution is headquartered in W ...
, and used this to travel to eastern South America to study the geology of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. * 1931: Peacock named the
calc-alkaline The calc-alkaline magma series is one of two main subdivisions of the subalkaline magma series, the other subalkaline magma series being the tholeiitic series. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic ...
igneous rock series. ** * 1931, age of the Earth by the National Research Council of the US
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
. * * 1936, Augusto Gansser-Biaggi interpreted rocks located at the foot of
Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; ; ; , ) is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) of the Transhimalaya, in the western part ...
in the Indian part of the Himalayas as having originated in the seafloor. He brings back a sample with
Ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...
s of the
Norian The Norian is a division of the Triassic geological period, Period. It has the rank of an age (geology), age (geochronology) or stage (stratigraphy), stage (chronostratigraphy). It lasted from ~227.3 to Mya (unit), million years ago. It was prec ...
(
Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
). He later interpreted this Indus-Yarlung-Zangpo Suture Zone (ISZ) as the border between the Indian and the Eurasian Plate. * * January 1939: at the annual meeting of the German Geological Society, Frankfurt, Alfred Rittmann opposed the idea that the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...
was an orogenic uplift . ** ** Orogenic volcanism (
Pacific Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...
) is dominated by
calc-alkaline The calc-alkaline magma series is one of two main subdivisions of the subalkaline magma series, the other subalkaline magma series being the tholeiitic series. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic ...
igneous rocks Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main Rock (geology)#Classification, rock types, the others being sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidifi ...
(Calc series), lacking alkali-basaltic magmas ( Sodic series); whereas the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...
( extension) has mainly alkali-basaltic magmas . * sees subduction as the cause of Wadati–Benioff zone and volcanic activity, but does not link it to continental drifting. He was in a way an anti-drifter. * * Mid-1940s, paleontologist
George Gaylord Simpson George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing '' Tempo ...
finds flaws on the paleontology data. * Alexander du Toit, '' Glossopteris'' findings in Russia are an erroneous identification. It was used as argument by anti-drifters . * 1944, cores of deep ocean sediment show rapid rate of accumulation, suggesting that old oceans are an impossibility ( cited in ). * 1948, Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Dutch geophysicist who believes in convection currents as a result of his work on oceanic gravity anomalies. Highly respected by H. H. Hess, Hess even got a chance to work with him. , , , , , * 1949, Niskanen calculates the viscosity under the crust to be 5 1021 CGS units. ** * 1950, fading of the hypothesis from view. ** * 1951, Alfred Rittmann shows that crystalline mantle is able to creep at its temperature and pressure and he shows
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
, volcanism and erosion in the mountainous regions. , figure 4, p. 293. * 1951, André Amstutz uses the word subduction. ** ** * 1953, Adrian E. Scheidegger, anti-drifter. ** E.g.: it had been shown that floating masses on a rotating geoid would collect at the equator, and stay there. This would explain one, but only one, mountain building episode between any pair of continents; it failed to account for earlier orogenic episodes.


See also

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Further reading

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References


Notes


Cited books

* * P.M.S. Blackett, E.C. Bullard and S.K. Runcorn (ed). A Symposium on Continental Drift, held on 28 October 1965. pp. 323: ** ** ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * ** * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * *


Cited articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Review of Allan Krill, ''Fixists vs. Mobilists in the Geology Contest of the Century, 1844–1969''. * * * * * } * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  Presented at the annual meeting of the German Geological Society, Frankfurt am Main (6 January 1912). *  Just an overview of the article in Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen. * * * He gives reasons for the paleo connection of the Americas and Eurasia-Africa by naming paleontological similarities, parallelism of coastal forms and the recently researched submarine Atlantic mountain range as ideal seam of continental splits (p. 181). * * * * * * * * * {{refend Plate tectonics History of Earth science Geology timelines Physics timelines