scholarly journals It began with a stone-a history of geology from the stone age to the age of plate tectonics by H. Faul and C. Faul, John Wiley & Sons, 1983. No of pages: 288. Price: £39.85 (hardback) £17.65 (paperback)

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-77
Author(s):  
M. J. Bishop
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. v-viii
Author(s):  
Ali Polat ◽  
John F. Dewey

This second issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences special issue dedicated to Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör for his outstanding contributions to plate tectonics and history of geology includes 11 research articles. These articles have diverse subject matters dealing with tectonic processes in California, Africa, Asia, Iceland, Europe, Canada, and rocky planets. The summaries and main conclusions of these articles are presented here.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. v-viii
Author(s):  
Ali Polat

This special issue is dedicated to Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör for his outstanding contributions to plate tectonics and history of geology. His studies have unraveled several mysteries on the origin and deformation of continents and formation of orogenic belts in many parts of the world. We received 22 articles for the special issue, 11 of which are published in this issue. The rest of the articles will be published in the next issue. The articles in this issue mainly focus on geological processes in the Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt and on the history of the theory of plate tectonics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 388-402
Author(s):  
ALESSANDRO IANNACE

ABSTRACT The evolution of geology as an independent science can be envisaged as a relatively continuous process yet marked by three fundamental steps. These represented singularities which established significant advances in the epistemological and heuristic power of the discipline. This interpretation of history has to be strictly based on an evaluation of the epistemological basis of geology according to modern scholarship. The recognition of these ‘golden spikes’, albeit artificial, may help geologists to better grasp the philosophical position of geology with respect to other sciences. The first step was the publication of Steno's Prodromus in 1669, which established the methodological rules for decoding a geologic history from the geometrical arrangements of beds. The second step was the founding of the Geological Society of London in 1807, an act by which a new community recognized itself as a scientific and professional entity applying a novel methodology in the study of Earth. Their approach represented a synthesis of the Wernerian-historical and the Huttonian-causal methods. The third step was the emergence of plate tectonics in 1967, when the actualistic method (i.e. uniformity of laws and processes) could be extended to the interpretation of the whole lithosphere. At the same time, the heuristic power of historical geology was validated by independent, physico-mathematical testing.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Celâl Şengör

Eduard Suess (1831-1914) is probably the greatest geologist who ever lived. He died 100 years ago and left us the modern geology as we know it. His work ranged from paleontology through stratigraphy, geomorphology, urban geology, finally to tectonics. His magnum opus was the multi-volume Das Antlitz der Erde (The Face of the Earth), the greatest book in the history of geology. It is a complete description of the geology of the planet from the viewpoint of the theory of thermal contraction in Constant Prévost’s version, as modified by Suess. For all the admiration it caused it has been largely left unread and as a consequence geology lost some half a century until the invention of plate tectonics in 1965. This was in part, because the way Suess wrote the book made reading very difficult. The following is not a biography of Suess, but a review and evaluation of his work during the centenary of his death.RÉSUMÉEduard Suess (1831-1914) est probablement le plus grand géologue qui ait jamais vécu. Il est mort il y a 100 ans et il nous a laissé la géologie moderne telle que nous la connaissons. Son oeuvre va de la paléontologie à la stratigraphie, la géomorphologie, la géologie urbaine, enfin jusqu’à la tectonique. Son magnum opus est le multi-volume Das Antlitz der Erde (La Face de la Terre), le plus grand livre de l’histoire de la géologie. C’est une description complète de la géologie de la planète du point de vue de la théorie de la contraction thermique dans la version de Constant Prévost, modifiée par Suess lui -même. En dépit de l’admiration dont il était l’objet , ce grand livre a été très peu lu. En conséquence la géologie a perdu près d’un demi-siècle jusqu’à l’invention de la tectonique des plaques en 1965. C’est en partie a cause de la façon dont Suess a écrit le livre qui rend la lecture très difficile. Ce qui suit n’est pas une biographie de Suess, mais un examen et une évaluation de son travail à l’occasion du centenaire de sa mort.


Author(s):  
Roy Livermore

Tuzo Wilson introduces the concept of transform faults, which has the effect of transforming Earth Science forever. Resistance to the new ideas is finally overcome in the late 1960s, as the theory of moving plates is established. Two scientists play a major role in quantifying the embryonic theory that is eventually dubbed ‘plate tectonics’. Dan McKenzie applies Euler’s theorem, used previously by Teddy Bullard to reconstruct the continents around the Atlantic, to the problem of plate rotations on a sphere and uses it to unravel the entire history of the Indian Ocean. Jason Morgan also wraps plate tectonics around a sphere. Tuzo Wilson introduces the idea of a fixed hotspot beneath Hawaii, an idea taken up by Jason Morgan to create an absolute reference frame for plate motions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knud A Jønsson ◽  
Jon Fjeldså ◽  
Per G.P Ericson ◽  
Martin Irestedt

Biogeographic connections between Australia and other continents are still poorly understood although the plate tectonics of the Indo-Pacific region is now well described. Eupetes macrocerus is an enigmatic taxon distributed in a small area on the Malay Peninsula and on Sumatra and Borneo. It has generally been associated with Ptilorrhoa in New Guinea on the other side of Wallace's Line, but a relationship with the West African Picathartes has also been suggested. Using three nuclear markers, we demonstrate that Eupetes is the sister taxon of the South African genus Chaetops , and their sister taxon in turn being Picathartes , with a divergence in the Eocene. Thus, this clade is distributed in remote corners of Africa and Asia, which makes the biogeographic history of these birds very intriguing. The most parsimonious explanation would be that they represent a relictual basal group in the Passerida clade established after a long-distance dispersal from the Australo-Papuan region to Africa. Many earlier taxonomic arrangements may have been based on assumptions about relationships with similar-looking forms in the same, or adjacent, biogeographic regions, and revisions with molecular data may uncover such cases of neglect of ancient relictual patterns reflecting past connections between the continents.


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