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1、GeoscienceResearchInstituteEXPANDINGEARTH?BillMundyProfessorofPhysicsPacificUnionCollege,Angwin,CaliforniaOrigins15(2):53-69(1988).Relatedpage—
2、INAFEWWORDS
3、Whataresomeoftheproblemsoftheplate-tectonicsmodel?Whyhastheexpanding-earthmodelbeenproposed,andisitactuallybetter?Thisarticleexploress
4、omeoftheproblemswithbothmodels.Platetectonicshasbeenaverysuccessfulmodelindescribingandsynthesizinginformationaboutthekinematicsofthecrustoftheearth(Lithosphere1983,p.1;Loper1985).Briefly,itsuggeststhatthesurfaceoftheearthiscomposedofafewplateswhichfittogetherlikepiecesofasphericalpuzzle(T
5、arbuckandLutgens1984,pp.400-406).Theedgesorboundariesoftheseplatesaretypicallycharacterizedbyvolcanoesandepicentersofearthquakes.Someoftheboundaries,suchasthemid-Atlanticridge,areidentifiedasspreadingridges,wherebirthisgiventonewcrustalmaterial;otherboundaries,suchasthetrenchofthewestcoast
6、ofSouthAmerica,areidentifiedassubductionzoneswhereoldcrustisbeingpulledorpushedbackintotheinterioroftheearth;stillotherboundaries,liketheSanAndreasfault,areslip-strikefaultswhereoneplateslidespastanother;andothers,suchastheHimalayas,areinterpretedtobeplaceswhereplatesarecolliding.Assuggest
7、edbytheprocessesoccurringattheboundaries,theplatesaremovingwithrespecttoeachother.Sincetheplate-tectonicmodelassumesaconstant-sizedearth(TarbuckandLutgens1984,p.403),thesea-floorspreadingthatoccursattheridgeshastobecompensatedforbysubductionandcollisionalcompression.However,asmallbutpersis
8、tentgroupofearthscientistsarguethatthespreadingseafloorsandwanderingcontinentsarebestexplainedintermsofanexpandingearth(Carey1976,Carey1983a,Carey1988,Crawford1986,Glikson1980,King1983,Owen1983a,Steiner1977).Initsmostradicalformthismodelassumesthatsea-floorspreadingisentirelycompensatedbyt
9、heincreasingareaofanexpandingearthsothatnosubductionoccurs(Carey1976,p.14;Carey1988,ch.13;Crawford1986).Somevariationsonthisincorporatemodestsubductionandcollisionalongwiththeexpansionoftheearth(Owen1983b).Inspiteofthefactthatanumberoftimestheexpandingearthiss
