Plate tectonics, continental drift and mountain building / Плитная тектоника, движение континентов и образование гор

In the late 1960’s, Wegener’s theory of continental drift , originally conceived fi ft y years earlier, was merged with the theory of plate tectonics and the concepts gained global acceptance among geoscientists. For the fi rst time, a unifying concept, plate tectonics, could reconcile and unify all phenomena in geoscience into a common synthesis. Th e basic tenants have not changed since the 1960’s, although many corrections and refi nements have been added regarding questions of detail. Th e impact of the theory of plate tectonics cannot be overestimated – its importance to geoscience is as basic as Darwin’s theory of evolution is to the biological sciences.Earth is subject to steady change. Th is can impressively be realized in volcanic bursts and earthquakes around the Pacifi c Ocean or in the grandeur of young mountain ranges. Whilst new parts of plates are created along the mid-ocean ridges, older parts of plates disappear in subduction zones. Mountain chains arise from the collisions of plates. Th ese dynamic processes are driven by the heat that is released f om the interior of the Earth; this is what keeps the dynamo running. Continental drift , mountain building, volcanism, earthquakes, and in consequence of quakes, sea waves like the devastating tsunami of 26th December 2004 in the Indian Ocean – all this
is the expression of the dynamics of the Earth. <...>