The Continental Drift Controversy: Volume 3, Introduction of Seafloor Spreading

Henry R. Frankel

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781139368469
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geology & Earth Sciences

The 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

• Cover
• THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT CONTROVERSY: Volume III: Introduction of Seafloor Spreading
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1: Extension and reception of paleomagnetic/paleoclimatic support for mobilism: 1960–1966
• 2: Reception of the paleomagnetic case for mobilism by several notables: 1957–1965
• 3: Harry Hess develops seafloor spreading
• 4: Another version of seafloor spreading: Robert Dietz
• 5: The Pacific as seen from San Diego and Menard's changing views about the origin and evolution of the ocean floor
• 6: Fixism and Earth expansion at Lamont Geological Observatory
• References
• Index