plate tectonics

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
Principles of plate tectonics
- Earth’s layers
- Plate boundaries
  - Divergent margins
    - Continental rifting
    - Seafloor spreading
  - Convergent margins
    - Subduction zones
    - Island arcs
    - Back-arc basins
    - Mountain building
      Mountains by subduction
      Mountains by terrane accretion
      Mountains by continental collision
  - Transform faults
- Hotspots
- Plate motion
  - Euler’s contributions
  - Past plate movements
Development of tectonic theory
- Precursors
- Alfred Wegener and the concept of continental drift
  - Isostasy
  - Driving forces
  - Evidence supporting the hypothesis
  - Disbelief and opposition
- Renewed interest in continental drift
  - Paleomagnetism, polar wandering, and continental drift
  - Gestation and birth of plate-tectonic theory
    - Discovery of ocean basin features
    - Hess’s seafloor-spreading model
    - The Vine-Matthews hypothesis
      Magnetic anomalies
      Reversal of Earth’s magnetic field
- Toward a unifying theory
  - Determination of plate thickness
  - Plate-driving mechanisms and the role of the mantle
    - Mantle convection
    - Seismic tomography
- Dissenting opinions and unanswered questions
  - Dissenters
  - Unanswered questions
Plate tectonics and the geologic past
- Wilson cycle
- Supercontinent cycle
- Continental reconstructions
Interactions of tectonics with other systems
- Oceans
  - Sea level
  - Composition of ocean water
- Life
  - Evolution
  - Extinction
- Climate

References & Edit History Related Topics

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Topics

earthquake paleocontinent supercontinent cycle subduction rifting Wilson cycle supercontinent continental drift continent volcanism climate biosphere ecosystem erosion weather seismicity river geography Earth sciences geology

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Walter Alvarez

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