Claim CD740:
The theory of plate tectonics is false.Source:
Brown, Walt, 1995. In the Beginning: Compelling evidence for creation
and the Flood, 6th ed.
http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/HydroplateOverview3.html
Nevins, Stuart E., 1976. Continental drift, plate tectonics, and the Bible. Impact 32 (Feb.). http://icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-032.htm
Nevins, Stuart E., 1976. Continental drift, plate tectonics, and the Bible. Impact 32 (Feb.). http://icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-032.htm
Response:
- Plate tectonics was uncertain as recently as the 1960s, but evidence in
its favor has become overwhelming:
- Plate motions are measured directly (Davidson et al. 1997).
- The eastern edge of the continental shelves of North and South America fit closely (within 50 km) with the western continental shelves of Africa and Europe (Bishop 1981). The Mid-Atlantic Ridge has the same shape.
- Plant and animal fossil distributions, geological formations, and indications of ancient climate match up in Africa and South America as if the continents once fit together (Davidson et al. 1997).
- When new rocks are formed, they record the earth's current magnetic field, which reverses occasionally. The magnetic field pattern recorded in the sea floor rocks shows bands mirrored across a spreading center (Bishop 1981; Davidson et al. 1997). (See also Magnetic reversals.)
- Paleomagnetic studies show different polar wandering on different continents, indicating that the continents moved relative to one another (Bishop 1981; Davidson et al. 1997).
- Oceanic sediments are young and thin, indicating that sea basins are relatively young (Graham 1981).
- Maps of earthquake locations show plate boundaries and the paths of subducting plates (Davidson et al. 1997; Graham 1981).
- Hot spots leave trails such as volcanic island chains as the plates move over them (Davidson et al. 1997).
Links:
Alden, Andrew, 2003. Tectonic plate motions, Eurasia/Africa. http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blplatemo_atlas.htmReferences:
- Bishop, A. C., 1981. The development of the concept of continental drift. In The Evolving Earth, ed. L. R. M. Cocks, London: British Museum, 155-164.
- Davidson, Jon P., Walter E. Reed, and Paul M. Davis, 1997. Exploring Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Graham, A. L., 1981. Plate tectonics. In The Evolving Earth, ed. L. R. M. Cocks, London: British Museum, 165-178.
Further Reading:
Cocks, L. R. M. (ed.), 1981. The Evolving Earth. London: British Museum.McPhee, John, 1998. Annals of the Former World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Davidson, Jon P., Walter E. Reed, and Paul M. Davis, 1997. Exploring Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Plate tectonics will be covered in most any basic geology textbook.
created 2004-2-13