Leibniz (1691) wrote that the Earth has cooled down from a liquid state. Dana (1843-1873) described oceanic subsidence and mountain-building as results of the thermal contraction of the Earth. Lyell suggested that, due to unequal cooling, parts of the Earth sink faster than the rest, so that continents of the past have become ocean floors today and vice versa. Suess (1885, Vol. 1, p. 778) said that “the collapse of the world is what we are witnessing”. This paper reviews the Contracting Earth Theory.
INTRODUCTION
The Contracting Earth Hypothesis was once a dominant paradigm in geology (Wegener, 1929). The origins of this theory can be found in the works of European scientists such as Constant Prévost [d.1856], Henry de la Beche [d.1855] and Léonce Élie de Beaumont [d.1874] (Greene, 1982). James Dwight Dana [d. 1895], an American geologist, was a key contributor to the development of this theory. The Contraction Hypothesis did not completely fall out of favor until the Plate Tectonics appeared: Hans Stille [d.1966] and Leopold Kober [d.1970] were prominent advocates of this theory (Pamir, 1960). However, from early 20th century on, it competed with another global geological theory: the Continental Drift of Alfred Wegener, which can be considered a precursor of the Plate Tectonics. In this paper, we discuss the Contracting Earth Hypothesis with a literature review and compare it to the Continental Drift.
The Contraction Theory supposes the interior of the Earth to be diminishing in size as a result of cooling, which then puts the rigid crust under stress and leads to tectonic motions. A simple illustration of this process is seen in an apple that is drying up and wrinkling [originally, C. Prévost’s idea (Greene, 1982)]. This theor...
... middle of paper ...
...e: Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, 1(4), p. 723-825.
Pamir, H. N., 1960, Dinamik Jeoloji: Istanbul.
Rogers, W. B. and Rogers, H. D., 1843, On the physical structure of the Appalachian Chain as exemplifying the laws which have regulated the elevation of great mountain chains generally: Transactions of American Geologists and Naturalists for 1840-1842, p. 474-531.
Schardt, H., 1893, Sur l’origine des Préalpes romandes: Archives des Sciences physiques et. Naturelles de Genève, 30, p. 570-583.
Staub, R., 1924, Der Bau der Alpen: Beiträge zur geologischen Karte der Schweiz: Bern.
Suess, E., 1885, Das Antlitz der Erde: Vienna.
Suess, E., 1911, Synthesis of the Paleo-geography of North America: American Journal of Science, 4th series, v. 32, p. 101-108.
Wegener, A., 1929, Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane [translated by Biram, J., 1966: New York, NY].
Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715, 8th Edition, (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012), 301.
Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715, 8th Edition, (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012), 90.
Earthquakes are a natural part of the Earth’s evolution. Scientific evidence leads many geologists to believe that all of the land on Earth was at one point in time connected. Because of plate tectonic movements or earthquakes, continental drift occurred separating the one massive piece of land in to the seven major continents today. Further evidence supports this theory, starting with the Mid-Atlantic ridge, a large mass of plate tectonics, which are increasing the size of the Atlantic Ocean while shrinking the Pacific. Some scientists believe that the major plate moveme...
could be used to explain and illustrate that previous theories were not entirely correct (Merali and Skinner, 2009, p.253). Through the analyzation of arrival times of these waves, Oldham had drawn an conclusion that p waves and s waves react differently in terms of being refracted, reflected or absorbed depending on the state of the material as shown in Figure 1.(Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 2013, p.143). Oldham had developed this theory of the Earth not being the same state due to these effects of seismic discontinuity which are shown in Figure 1., consisting of refraction, reflection and absorption. The changes that are displayed from this idea are; the speed of the waves due to a refraction occu...
Lindsay, Jack, and Lucius Apuleius. "IV-VI." In Apuleius and The golden ass . Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979. 88-148
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 19." Forum Romanum. 1901. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .
Dio, Cassius. "Roman History - Book 50." 17 June 2011. University of Chicago. 31 October 2011 .
5. Plommer, Hugh. “Vitruvius and the Origin of Caryatids.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 99 (1979), pp. 97-102. The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.
Quinn, David B. North America From Earliest Discovery to First Settlements. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1977.
Marcel Le Glay, Jean-Louis Voisin, Yann Le Bohec. A History of Rome. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Starr, Chester G., Nowell, Charles E., Lyon Bryce, Stearns, Raymond P., Hamerow Theordore S. A History of the World: Volume II- 1500 to Present. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1960.
Nardo, Don. "Chapter 5." In Life in ancient Rome. Sand Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1996. 60.
1)De, Selincourt Aubrey. Livy, the Early History of Rome: Book I - V of the History of Rome from Its Foundation. London: Penguin, 1960. Print.
Surburg, Raymond F., Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, St Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1975
Buren, Albert W. Van. "The Ara Pacis Augustae." Journal of Roman Studies 3 (1913): 134-141.