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The Theory of Plate Tectonics Introduction  | | Earth's Topography. Figure source: http://topex.ucsd.edu/marine_topo/mar_topo.html |
Beginning in the 1950's, new geophysical evidence began to influence the scientific community, resulting in the theory of plate tectonics. This theory was largely developed to explain four new and startling observations: (1) the ruggedness and youth of the ocean floor; (2) the proof of repeated reversals of the Earth's magnetic field in the geologic past and the discovery of magnetic stripes on the seafloor; (3) the development of the seafloor- spreading hypothesis; (4) the discovery that the oceanic trenches and submarine mountain ranges are zones of marked seismic activity. We will briefly discuss each aspect of the theory of plate tectonics.
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