Expanding earth theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Expanding Earth Theory is an attempt to explain the position and movement of continents on the surface of the Earth. It is an alternative to the much more widely accepted theory of plate tectonics. The main difference between the two is that in the expanded Earth model the size of the planet is increasing, whereas in plate tectonics it remains static. Both plate tectonics and the expanded Earth model propose the appearance of new crustal material at mid-ocean ridges, but the point of departure is in regards to the process of subduction.
Very few geologists or geophysicists today support the expanded Earth. Many of those that remain are proponents of the ideas of the late Australian geologist S. Warren Carey. While Carey's ideas were popular for a time in the 1950s and 1960s, most workers in earth science believe that evidence collected over the last several decades supports plate tectonics over the expanded Earth.
[edit] See Also
[edit] Further reading
- Carey, S. Warren (1988). Theories of the earth and universe : a history of dogma in the earth sciences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1364-2.
- Michihei, HOSHINO (1998). The Expanding Earth evidence, causes and effects. Kanagawa, JAPAN: Tokai University Press. ISBN 4-486-03139-3.
