Search results for theory of continental drift

Earth Sciences Jul 16, 2015

Plate tectonics may have driven the evolution of life on Earth

When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, the world hadn't even heard of plate tectonics. The notion that continents drifted on molten rock currents deep in the Earth's mantle was ...

Plants & Animals Apr 9, 2015

Iconic boab trees trace journeys of ancient Aboriginal people

Baobabs, the iconic bottle trees of Africa and Madagascar, have a single relative, the boab, living in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia. No one knows when and how the boab came across from Africa to Australia, ...

Archaeology Mar 31, 2015

Worm lizards dispersed by 'rafting' over oceans, not continental drift

Tiny, burrowing reptiles known as worm lizards became widespread long after the breakup of the continents, leading scientists to conclude that they must have dispersed by rafting across oceans soon after the extinction of ...

Earth Sciences Jul 4, 2013

Study reveals ancient jigsaw puzzle of past supercontinent

A new study published today in the journal Gondwana Research, has revealed the past position of the Australian, Antarctic and Indian tectonic plates, demonstrating how they formed the supercontinent Gondwana 165 million years ...

Earth Sciences May 8, 2013

Geologic study suggests Earth's tectonic activity peaked 1.1 billion years ago

(Phys.org) —A pair of Australian researchers studying rock samples has found evidence to suggest that the Earth's tectonic plate activity peaked approximately 1.1 billion years ago. In their paper published in the journal ...

Earth Sciences Nov 9, 2012

Greenland rocks provide evidence of Earth formation process

(Phys.org)—Rocks dating back 3.4 billion years from south-west Greenland's Isua mountain range have yielded valuable information about the structure of the Earth during its earliest stages of development. In these rocks, ...

Earth Sciences Nov 8, 2012

Planetary scientists propose two explanations for true polar wander

(Phys.org)—Researchers using computer simulations and modeling have come up with two possible explanations for the phenomenon known as true polar wandering. The team led by Jessica Creveling of Harvard University, suggest ...

Earth Sciences Jun 1, 2012

New understanding of terrestrial formation has significant and far reaching future implications

The current theory of continental drift provides a good model for understanding terrestrial processes through history. However, while plate tectonics is able to successfully shed light on processes up to 3 billion years ago, ...

Earth Sciences Jan 4, 2012

Flipped from head to toe: 100 years of continental drift theory

Exactly 100 years ago, on 6 January 1912, Alfred Wegener presented his theory of continental drift to the public for the first time. At a meeting of the Geological Association in Frankfurt's Senckenberg Museum, he revealed ...

Earth Sciences Nov 24, 2011

Plate tectonics coming of age

(PhysOrg.com) -- Plate tectonics in its current form is believed to have started one billion years ago. A study of two billion year old rocks from African gold mines has now shown that the same process of subduction we observe ...

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