This Dynamic Earth

This Dynamic Earth

Provides a brief introduction to the concept of plate tectonics. Highlights some of the people and discoveries that have advanced the development of the theory and traces its progress since its proposal. Fully illustrated with extraordinary color photos and maps. Chapters: historical perspective; developing the theory (ocean floor mapping, magnetic stripping and polar reversals, magnetic stripes and isotopic clocks); understanding plate motions; "Hotspots": mantle thermal plumes; some unanswered questions; plate tectonics and people. References.

This Dynamic Earth

In the early 1960s, the emergence of the theory of plate tectonics started a revolution in the earth sciences. Since then, scientists have verified and refined this theory, and now have a much better understanding of how our planet has been shaped by plate-tectonic processes. We now know that, directly or indirectly, plate tectonics influences nearly all geologic processes, past and present. Indeed, the notion that the entire Earth's surface is continually shifting has profoundly changed the way we view our world.

This Dynamic Earth