Movements of the continents as the Earth expands. Left: Atlantic Ocean centered; right: Pacific Ocean centered.

The Expanding earth theory is an attempt to explain the position and movement of continents on the surface of the Earth. It has a relatively small following today, compared with the almost universally accepted theory of plate tectonics, and is considered to be discredited by mainstream geologists. Image File history File links Mergefrom. ... Growing Earth Theory is a derivative theory of expanding earth theory. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Dymaxion map by Buckminster Fuller shows land mass with minimal distortion as only one continuous continent A continent (Latin continere, to hold together) is a large continuous mass of land on the planet Earth. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ...

An expanding earth model was developed in the 1960s, building upon emerging evidence for sea floor expansion and continental drift. The expanded earth theory (and plate tectonics) incorporates the appearance of new crustal material at mid-ocean ridges, but the process of subduction is largely absent in this model. Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ... A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. ... The Juan de Fuca plate sinks below the North America plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. ...

Very few geologists or geophysicists today support the expanded Earth.^[1] Many of those that remain are proponents of the ideas of the late Australian geologist S. Warren Carey. While Carey's ideas were popular for a time in the 1950s and 1960s, most workers in earth science believe that evidence collected over the last several decades supports a fixed size Earth, due to subduction, over the expanded Earth.^{[attribution needed]} The Geologist by Carl Spitzweg A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology, studying the physical structure and processes of the Earth and planets of the solar system (see planetary geology). ... Geophysics, the study of the earth by quantitative physical methods, especially by seismic reflection and refraction, gravity, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, and radioactivity methods. ... Samuel Warren Carey (1911 – 2002) was an Australian geologist who was an early advocate of the theory of continental drift. ...

History and explanations

Early History

In 1888^[2] Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky suggested that some sort of aether is absorbed within the earth and transformed into new chemical elements, forcing the celestial bodies to expand.^[3] In 1889^[4] and 1909^[5] Roberto Mantovani published another variant of the theory which is based on thermal expansion. Alfred Wegener saw similarities to his own theory: Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky (1844-1902) russian civil engineer. ... The Aether of classical elements is a concept, historically, used in science and in philosophy. ... Roberto Mantovani (* March 25, 1854 in Parma, † January 10, 1933 in Paris) was an violinist and scientist from Italy. ... In physics, thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to increase in volume or pressure when heated. ... Alfred Wegeners theory of continental drift was widely ridiculed in his day Alfred Lothar Wegener (Berlin, November 1, 1880 – Greenland, November 2 or 3, 1930) was a German interdisciplinary scientist and meteorologist, who became famous for his theory of continental drift (Kontinentalverschiebung or die Verschiebung der Kontinente in his...

In 1909, Mantovani drew some maps illustrating his ideas on continental displacements. His ideas are in some aspects different but in others astonishingly coinciding with mine. For instance, this was the case of the ancient grouping of the southern continents around austral Africa.^[6]

Gravitational constant

The idea of an expanding Earth entered into mainstream science around 1938, when the physicist Paul Dirac (1902–1984) suggested the Earth's gravitational constant had decreased in the billions of years of its existence. This led German physicist Pascual Jordan^[7] to a modification of general relativity and to propose in 1964 that all planets slowly expand.^[8] However, recent measurments of a possible variation of the gravitational constant showed an upper limit for a relative change of 5·10^-12, while Jordan's theory needs a variation ten times higher than that measured.^[9] Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS (IPA: [dɪræk]) (August 8, 1902 – October 20, 1984) was a British theoretical physicist and a founder of the field of quantum physics. ... According to the law of universal gravitation, the attractive force between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. ... Pascual Jordan (October 18, 1902 in Hanover - July 31, 1980 in Hamburg) was a German physicist. ... For a less technical and generally accessible introduction to the topic, see Introduction to general relativity. ...

Mass creation

German geologist Ott Christoph Hilgenberg examined phase transitions of minerals in rocks with the intention to explain the presumed expansion of the Earth. Like Yarkovsky, his system is based on absorption and transformation of aether-energy into normal matter, similar to absorption in Le Sage's theory of gravitation. Contrary to the theory of Jordan, this implies a smaller gravity of the past, which might (according to proponents like Scalera^[10]) also explain the size of the dinosaurs. The most well known proponent of the theory, S. Warren Carey, also proposed some sort of mass increase in planets. However, the creation of new matter from nothing is not consistent with modern physics. Ott Christoph Hilgenberg (* 1896 in Grebenstein near Kassel; † 1976 in Berlin) was a German engineer, scientist and a humanist. ... In physics, a phase transition, (or phase change) is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase to another. ... For other uses, see Mineral (disambiguation). ... Le Sages theory of gravitation is the most common name for the kinetic theory of gravity originally proposed by Nicolas Fatio de Duillier in 1690 and later by Georges-Louis Le Sage in 1748. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Samuel Warren Carey (1911 – 2002) was an Australian geologist who was an early advocate of the theory of continental drift. ...

Thermal expansion

Similar to Mantovini, Irish physicist John Joly explained the Earth's expansion by heating. Of course this would mean that heat flow from radioactive decay inside the Earth had to surpass the cooling of the Earth's exterior. Together with British geologist Arthur Holmes, Joly proposed a theory in which the Earth loses its heat by cyclic periods of expansion. In their theory, expansion led to cracks and joints in the Earth's interior, that could fill with magma. This was followed by a cooling phase, when the magma freezes and becomes solid rock again, causing the Earth to shrink. The theory is in contradiction with most modern principles from rheology and is thus considered superseded. John Joly (November 1, 1857 – December 8, 1933) was an Irish scientist, possibly most famous for his development of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer. ... Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting radiation in the form of particles or electromagnetic waves. ... Arthur Holmes (January 14, 1890 – September 20, 1965) was a British geologist. ... Columnar jointed basalt in Turkey Columnar jointing in the basalt of the Giants Causeway in Ireland A joint is a generally planar fracture formed in a rock as a result of extensional stress. ... Magma is molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other terrestrial planet), and which often collects in a magma chamber. ... Rheology is the study of the deformation and flow of matter under the influence of an applied stress. ... The obsolete Geocentric model of the universe places the Earth at the centre. ...

Status of the theory

After the paradigm shift in geology and geophysics in the fifties and sixties the idea of continental drift became accepted by the scientific community because of the development of the plate tectonic theory. The consensus that continents are rigidly fixed to the Earth's interior (fixism) was changed for the idea that the crust is divided into tectonic plates that move over a mechanically weak asthenosphere (mobilism). Plate tectonics provided a model for mobilism. Paradigm shift is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science. ... Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... Scientific consensus is the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of science at a particular time. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Australian geologist Samuel W. Carey argued that mobilism can be explained by an expanding Earth. He calculated that in the Cambrian (about 500 million years ago) all continents were stuck together, after which the expansion of the Earth led to the formation of oceans by oceanic spreading. For other uses, see Cambrian (disambiguation). ... An oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. ...

The primary objection to Expanding Earth Theory centered around the lack of an accepted process by which the Earth's radius could increase. This issue, along with the discovery of evidence for the process of subduction, caused the scientific community to dismiss the theory of an expanding Earth. The evidence for continental matching even on the Pacific facing sides became irrelevant, as did the claims that a smaller sized and lower gravity Earth facilitated the growth of dinosaurs to their relatively enormous size. Accepted is a 2006 comedy motion picture about a group of high school seniors who, after being rejected from all colleges to which they had applied, create their own college. ... The Juan de Fuca plate sinks below the North America plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ... Orders Saurischia    Sauropodomorpha    Theropoda Ornithischia Dinosaurs are giant reptiles that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for most of their 165-million year existence. ...

Subduction

The main difference between an expanding Earth model and a model in which the volume of the Earth remains fixed by plate tectonics is the existence of subduction in the latter. Both models assume new crust is created by oceanic spreading at mid oceanic ridges. Subduction is the process by which (in plate tectonic theory) crustal material disappears into the mantle, thus keeping the size of the planet the same. The Juan de Fuca plate sinks below the North America plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. ... A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. ...

Arguments against subduction

Expanding Earth Theory challenges the existence, or at least the extent, of subduction in global tectonic theory. Exponents contend that in order for subduction to cause the Earth's size to remain fixed, the exact same amount of crustal material appearing at the mid-ocean ridges must be subducted. There is no agreed mechanism for such a correlation between the two processes. ... A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. ...

1. The mid-ocean ridges are greater in length and area than the known subduction zones and circle the entire globe in several configurations. Proponents of an expanding Earth argue that in order for the crustal material appearing there to subduct equally into the known zones, some evidence of a bottle-neck pile-up of oceanic crust should be visible nearing these subduction zones. Yet the entire ocean floor is smoothly surfaced, free of oceanic slab irregularities, indicating harmonious spreading unencumbered by such a process.
2. Subduction only occurs on one side of subduction zones, so the "other side" should show evidence of being much older. In some cases (where two oceanic plates come together) no such evidence is visible. However, this is explained in plate tectonics by the assumption that in some cases, the direction of subduction changes.

It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Arguments for subduction

Since the 1970s, a vast amount of evidence was found in structural geology, seismology, petrology and isotope geochemistry that subduction is at least to some extent taking place. It is still very hard to calculate the global rate with which material subducts. Proponents of the expanding Earth theory claim the existence of subduction does not necessarily rule out expansion of the planet, but the existence of a mechanism by which the Earth can keep its crust size constant is a significant problem for the expanding earth theory and is one of the major reasons why it was abandoned. Observations seen as evidence for subduction include: Structural geology is the study of the three dimensional distribution of rock bodies and their planar or folded surfaces, and their internal fabrics. ... Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth. ... Petrology is a field of geology which focuses on the study of rocks and the conditions by which they form. ... Isotope geochemistry is an aspect of Geology based upon study of the relative and absolute concentrations of the elements and their isotopes in the Earth. ...

1. The existence of Wadati-Benioff zones, elongated regions of high seismic activity within the crust and mantle that are explained as huge shear zones. These zones are located beneath oceanic trenches and seem to indicate a slice of crustal material is moving downward through the mantle. They form one of the best arguments for subduction but cannot be explained by an expanding Earth model.
2. 3D models of the mantle made with seismic tomography show cold zones of sinking material exactly in the regions where plate tectonics predicts slabs of crust are subducting into the mantle.
3. Petrologic research of rocks from mountain belts has yielded countless pressure-temperature-time paths. Paths for the axial zones of mountain belts (the metamorphic core) show many mountain chains went through a period of "deep burial". This is nicely explained by plate tectonics (subduction followed by obduction). An expanding Earth cannot explain the observed vertical motions, rather, it would predict mostly horizontal motions in the process of mountainbuilding. The existence of eclogite in many mountainbelts indicates material was "pushed" to depths far into the mantle (depths up to over 200 km are found). A mechanical force to push (less dense) crustal rocks to these depths is lacking in an expanding Earth model; in plate tectonics this is explained by the slab pull force which occurs at mid-ocean ridges.
4. The existence of major geologic shearzones (sutures) in most mountain belts. Paleomagnetic and mineralogic studies show the rocks that are now lying next to each other were originally thousands of kilometers apart. In other words: a piece of the crust is missing. Structural geology has shown these missing pieces of crust are not located directly underneath the shearzones or laterally. Instead, they seem to have moved along the sutures into the mantle (this is supported by shear indicators in the shear zones). This is again strong evidence that subduction took place and mountains form by the "continental collision" of tectonic plates. The expanding Earth model does not explain the deep reaching shearzones.
5. Rare earth isotope compositions of volcanic rocks that formed above subduction zones are similar to those of sediments on top of the subducting plate. If there are lateral differences in the isotope composition of sediments on subducting plates, these lateral differences are also found back in the composition of the magma that rose from the deeper part of the subduction zone.

Subduction zones mark sites of convective downwelling of the Earths lithosphere. ... A shear zone is a tabular zone of rock that has been crushed and brecciated by many parallel fractures due to shear strain. ... The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. ... Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. ... Seismic tomography uses digital seismographic records to image the interior of the Earth. ... Obduction is the overthrusting of continental crust by oceanic crust or mantle rocks. ... Eclogite is a coarse-grained, mafic-to-ultramafic grouping of metamorphic rocks of special interest on account of the variety of minerals they contain and their microscopic structures and geological relationships. ... A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. ... A suture is in structural geology a major faultzone through an orogen or mountain range. ... Paleomagnetism refers to the study of the record of the Earths magnetic field preserved in various magnetic minerals through time. ... Continental collision is a phenomenon of the plate tectonics of our solid Earth. ... Rare earth ore Rare earth elements and rare earth metals are trivial names sometimes applied to a collection of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. ... Magma is molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other terrestrial planet), and which often collects in a magma chamber. ...

Endnotes

For the toll-free telephone number see Toll-free telephone number Year 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

References

• Yarkovsky, Ivan Osipovich (1888), Hypothese cinetique de la Gravitation universelle et connexion avec la formation des elements chimiques, Moscow
• Mantovani, R. (1889), "Les fractures de l’écorce terrestre et la théorie de Laplace", Bull. Soc. Sc. et Arts Réunion: 41-53
• Drude, Paul (1897), "Ueber Fernewirkungen", Beilage zu den Annalen der Physik und Chemie, Neue Folge, Heft 1 62: I-XLIX
• Mantovani, R. (1909), L’Antarctide. Je m’instruis. La science pour tous, n°38, 19 sept., pp. 595-597
• Hilgenberg, O.C. (1933), Vom wachsenden Erdball (The expanding Earth), Berlin: Giessmann & Bartsch
• Born, M. (1964/2003), Die Relativitätstheorie Einsteins (Einstein’s Theory of Relativity), Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 3-540-00470-x
• Jordan, Pascual (1971), The expanding earth: some consequences of Dirac's gravitation hypothesis, Pergamon Press
• Carey, S W (1988), Theories of the earth and universe: a history of dogma in the earth sciences, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1364-2
• Michihei, Hoshino (1998), The Expanding Earth evidence, causes and effects, Kanagawa, JAPAN: Tokai University Press, ISBN 4-486-03139-3, <http://www.dino.or.jp/hoshino/expanding.html>
• Scalera, G. and Jacob, K.-H., ed. (2003), Why expanding Earth? – A book in honour of O.C. Hilgenberg, Rome: INGV

Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky (1844-1902) russian civil engineer. ... Paul Karl Ludwig Drude (July 12, 1863–July 5, 1906) was a German physicist specializing in optics. ... Ott Christoph Hilgenberg (* 1896 in Grebenstein near Kassel; † 1976 in Berlin) was a German engineer, scientist and a humanist. ... Max Born (December 11, 1882 in Breslau – January 5, 1970 in Göttingen) was a mathematician and physicist. ... Pascual Jordan (October 18, 1902 in Hanover - July 31, 1980 in Hamburg) was a German physicist. ... Samuel Warren Carey (1911 – 2002) was an Australian geologist who was an early advocate of the theory of continental drift. ...

External links

Historical links:

• The expanding Earth: a sound idea for the new millennium (Historical overview, also some recent models)
• Roberto Mantovani an Italian defender of the continental drift and planetary expansion
• Ott Christoph Hilgenberg in twentieth-century geophysics
• Samuel Warren Carey
• Warren Carey, Last of the Giants

Other links:

• Neal Adams Animation collection of Expanding Earth Theory
• The Expanded Earth
• Expanding Earth / The Evidence
• Keith Wilson's Expanding Earth Knowledge Co.
• Plate Tectonics and Expanding Earth
• David Noel, Fixed-Earth and Expanding-Earth Theories -- Time for a Paradigm Shift?

• Lawrence Myers' Expanding Earth
• Growing Earth Consortium
• Video Explaining the Expanding Earth theory

See also

• Growing Earth Theory
• Category:Plate tectonics