Beyond Plate Tectonics: Unsettling Settled ScienceScience is never settled. New revolutionary ideas have always overturned the settled sciences of the past. In this far–reaching book the author looks beyond plate tectonics in order to detail the next earth science revolution. Drawing upon his work from four decades as a professional geologist and researcher the author reveals the weaknesses of conventional plate tectonic theory. This research utilizes an extensive range of global observational data in order to reverse–engineer geology back in time. Reverse–engineering seafloor and crustal geology enables past plate assemblages and configurations of the ancient continents to be accurately constrained using geology rather than geophysics. From this, a series of spherical geological models of the Earth are presented showing the precise locations and configurations of the ancient continents, ranging back in time to the early–Archaean. These plate assemblages represent the first time that models of the ancient Earth have been geologically constrained back to the early–Archaean. An extensive range of additional global observational data are then displayed on the spherical models in order to quantify the location of the ancient poles and equator, climate zones, biogenic distributions, exposed lands and seas, as well as global distributions of hydrocarbon and metallic resources. The research outcomes presented in this book are applicable to all disciplines of the Earth sciences and will appeal to a broad range of professional expertise, in particular those with a grounding in the Earth sciences. It is a must read for undergraduates and professionals alike. |
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270 Degrees East 4000 kilometres Africa ancient continental seas ancient Earth radius ancient equator ancient magnetic pole Antarctica Archaean Atlantic Ocean Australia breakup Cenozoic climate zones colatitude considered continental crust Continental Drift conventional Plate Tectonic cratons Cretaceous crustal extension crustal plates deposits early-Jurassic Earth expansion Earth mass Earth radius East Antarctica extinction event Figure Geological Map glacigenic Gondwana increase in Earth increase in radius increasing radius Earth Jurassic land late-Palaeozoic latitude mantle marine Maxlow Mesozoic mid-ocean-ridge spreading migration million years ago modern continents modern oceans mountain NORTH POLE opening orogenesis orogenic Pacific Ocean palaeomagnetic Palaeozoic Pangaea Panthalassa period Permian Plate Tectonic pole locations Precambrian present-day Earth Proterozoic radius Earth model relief of surface represent rifting rocks rupture sample seafloor crust seafloor spreading sedimentary basins sediments shown as red small Earth model South America South Gondwana South Pole species subduction supercontinent supercontinental crust surface curvature Tethys Sea tion Triassic volcanic