From: price@helios.unl.edu (Chad  Price)
Subject: Re: Plate Tectonic Theory: HELP NEEDED.
Organization: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Date:  1 Sep 92 19:47:03 GMT

gbb@bnr.co.uk (Geoff Brown) writes:

>>I have to do an essay in which I have to discuss the arguements
>>for and against plate tectonics theory. Mainly dealing with the
>>arguement not the mechanics of it.
>>I have been looking into "THE EXPANDING EARTH" hypothesis by Carey et. al.
>>I would like to hear from anybody concerning both sides of the arguement 
>>along with references please.

NOTE: The bits of evidence listed here have all been used as arguments FOR
plate tectonics, and thus are not a priori evidence to support Carey's
hypothesis. 

There are lots of papers on each of these topics, and I can only bring to mind
a couple of the references.

>1 - The fossil record - There is a species which can only be found in strata
>    of the tip of South America, South Africa and Antartica.  These are
>    separated by deep oceans, but could not have been for that species to
>    appear in all three locations so they must have been together at one time.
>    (Triassic Lystrosaurus).

>    (Correlating ice flow directions of an ancient iceage for the three land
>     masses substaniates this arguement - Paleoclimatic evidence).

>  - Scotland and Newfoundland have a common species of trilobyte which is
>    different from another species found in England and North American.
>    This suggests that the Atlantic did not exist and another ocean (the
>    Iapetus) did between Scotland/Newfoundland and England/North America.

There are tons of papers on this, dating as far back as the late 60's or early
70's. EK Walton published some, but there are lots of others. See Walton's
(editor) book on The Geology of Scotland for starters. There have been a couple
of editions.

>    (This is substaniated by noting the mountain range (orogeny folds) generated
>     by the closure of the Iapetus existing between Scotland/England
>     (Caledonian) and Newfoundland/North America (Tachonic)). (See also the
>     Variscan / Hercynian).

Note: Caledonian is NOT closure of the Iapetus, it is closure of the
proto-Atlantic. THe site of the Iapetus in Scotland is the Southern Uplands and
the zone with Caledonian metamorphism is north of the Highland Boundary fault
(which is a major strike slip fault - see for example Price and Max, 1988,
J Petrol Geol).

>2 - The magnetic record - By examining lava deposits it is possible to determine
>    the location of the magnetic North pole through time.  By comparing the
>    record from two diverse sites it is possible to see similarities
>    (the continents moving together relative to the movement of the pole) and
>    differences (the continents moving relative to each other).

Apparent Polar wandering curves - see lots of papers in the JGR.

>  - Either side of spreading ridges, magnetic pole reversals can be seen to
>    mirror themselves.

Vine and Mathews, 1963, Nature.

>    (This is substaniated by examining the ocean floor deposits, only recent
>     deposits are found near the ridge.  Further away the are underlayed by
>     older deposits (over lap ??)).

>3 - The physical evidence - Transform faults of spreading ridges are curved
>    and concentric, and there is an obvious 'fit' of the continents.

See the special summary by the Am Geophys Union entitled Plate Tectonics. This
was published about 1971 and contains many of the early seminal papers on the
various topics, mostly from JGR. 

There has been so much published since then that a literature search starting
with 1992 would be a good idea. See Biobliography and Index of Geology and also
the on-line GeoRef database (on-line costs $$, the BIG is in most libraries and
only costs time).
--
chad
price@helios.unl.edu
cprice@molecular.unmc.edu
Newsgroups: sci.geo.geology