The Continental Drift Controversy

by Henry R. Frankel

• ISBN13: 9780521875066
• ISBN10: 0521875064
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Resolution of the sixty year debate over continental drift, culminating in the triumph of plate tectonics, changed the very fabric of Earth Science. This four-volume treatise on the continental drift controversy is the first complete history of the origin, debate and gradual acceptance of this revolutionary theory. Based on extensive interviews, archival papers and original works, Frankel weaves together the lives and work of the scientists involved, producing an accessible narrative for scientists and non-scientists alike. This third volume describes the expansion of the land-based paleomagnetic case for drifting continents and recounts the golden age of marine geology and geophysics. Fuelled by the Cold War, US and British workers led the way in making discoveries and forming new hypotheses, especially about the origin of oceanic ridges. When first proposed,seafloor spreading was just one of several competing hypotheses about the evolution of ocean basins.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Extension and reception of paleomagnetic/paleoclimatic support for mobilism, 1960 to 1966

Reception of the paleomagnetic case for mobilism by several notables, 1957 to 1965

Seafloor spreading, the first version: Harry Hess develops seafloor spreading

Another version of seafloor spreading: Robert Dietz

The Pacific as seen from Scripps Institution of Oceanography: Menard's changing views about the origin and evolution of the ocean floor

Fixism and Earth expansion at Lamont Geological Observatory

References

Index

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