Plate tectonics
Tectónica de placas
- Date
- 1965-1968 · confidence high
- Place
- University of Toronto (Wilson) / Princeton (Morgan) / Cambridge (McKenzie) / Lamont-Doherty (Le Pichon, Isacks)
- Credited to
- J. Tuzo Wilson, Jason Morgan, Dan McKenzie, Xavier Le Pichon, Bryan Isacks, Jack Oliver, Lynn Sykes
- People
- 👤 Bryan Isacks1936–2026👤 Dan McKenzie1942–👤 Jack Oliver1923–2011👤 John Tuzo Wilson1908–1993👤 Lynn R. Sykes1937–👤 William Jason Morgan1935–2023👤 Xavier Le Pichon1937–2025
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
The lithosphere is divided into rigid plates that move over the asthenosphere; earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains are concentrated at their boundaries (divergent, convergent and transform). It unified geology into a single global theory.
Coordinates of Toronto, where Wilson defined transform faults in 1965; the theory was formulated almost simultaneously by several groups in 1967-68.
What it led to
- Unified explanation of earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building
- Prediction of seismic and volcanic hazards
- Palaeogeography and the Wilson cycle of supercontinents
- Hydrocarbon exploration on continental margins
Built on
- Geological evidence for Gondwana (du Toit)1927
- Deep earthquakes and the Wadati-Benioff zone1928
- Mantle convection as the engine of continental drift (Holmes)1929-1931
- Volcanic front and zonation of Japan's magma series (Kuno and Sugimura)1959-1960
- Seafloor spreading1960-1963
- Transform faults (Wilson)1965
- Computer fit of the Atlantic continents (Bullard, Everett and Smith)1965
- Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and the Glomar Challenger1968-1973
- Ophiolites as fragments of oceanic crust (Troodos)1968-1972
- Tharp and Heezen's physiographic map of the ocean floor1977
- Wegener's continental drift
- Transform faults (Wilson, 1965)
- Wadati-Benioff zones
Made possible
- Hotspots and mantle plumes1963 / 1971
- Direct measurement of plate motion by space geodesy1986-1990
- Tsunami mechanism and warning systems1946 / 2004
- GPS geodesy of plate motion
- Mantle dynamics models