Plate Tectonics: A Paradigm Shift in Thinking

Plate Tectonics is a well-established unifying theory that embraces and integrates much of what we observe and measure in the Earth sciences. Since it was first established in the mid-1960s, however, plate theory has continued to be driven by geophysics, at the expense of geology, geography, and biogeography. Because of this, some have suggested that non-geological scientists may have made a poorly informed decision to use the long-since rejected Continental Drift theory to explain the mechanics of newly observed crustal plates during the early 1960s. In Plate Tectonics, James Maxlow offers new ways of interpreting and understanding the vast amount of global observational data now available and offers a refinement to the plate tectonic paradigm. Maxlow's prime purpose is to utilize, investigate, and interrogate all modern global observational data - data collected since the introduction of plate tectonics - to see if they are commensurate with the fundamental principles and premises that continue to govern plate tectonic theory today. Maxlow's research utilizes an extensive range of global observational data to reverse-engineer geology back through time. Reverse-engineering seafloor and crustal geology enables more accurate understandings of past plate assemblages and configurations of the ancient continents, ancient poles, climate zones, biogenic distributions, exposed lands and seas, and global distributions of hydrocarbon and metallic resources. Maxlow's conclusions are applicable to all disciplines of the Earth sciences and will appeal to a broad range of professional expertise.