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There's something about introductory textbooks that can be fundamentally misleading. As I plowed through freshman Physical Geology some 36 years ago, I couldn't help but acquire the impression that all of the major problems in the earth sciences had been solved. Yes, there was a chapter about Wegener's conti nental drift hypothesis along with a few other ideas concerning earth evolution - expansion, contraction - and including Holmes' convection cell idea. Once I began to take the field trips and participate in junior-year field camp, I began to suspect that the textbooks had left something out. It didn't take long, however, to begin hearing about the "New Global Tectonics", at which point I felt that I had been misled by what I had encountered in my first formal contact with geology. All of a sudden it was clear that there was much more to geology and geophysics than a widely used book could convey. Plate Tectonics is now into its fifth decade. I haven't looked at current intro ductory textbooks, so I don't know whether they still convey the impression that all of the major problems in the earth sciences have been solved. Clearly, there is still much to do with continuing elaboration of plate tectonics, among all of the other challenges of the geosciences. This monograph introduces a number of new observations, techniques, and hypotheses as extensions to Plate Tectonics.
Table des matières
1 Introduction.- 2 Proper Reference Frames: Hotspots, Paleomagnetism, Paleoclimate.- 3 Plate Kinematic and Reconstruction Fundamentals.- 4 Kinematic and Reconstruction Modeling with Continuously Varying Parameters.- 5 An Inverse Model.- 6 Hotspot Trace Patterns.- 7 Contemporary Stress Fields.- 8 Observed and Predicted Stress Orientations from Plate-Hotspot Motions.- 9 Paleomagnetic Reference Frame.- 10 Back-Arc Spreading Centers.- 11 Hotspot Reference Frames: The "Necessity" of Mesoplates.- 12 Mesoplates and the Origin of Hotspots.- 13 Fracture Reservoirs and Intraplate Stresses.- 14 Conclusion.- References.- Supplementary References: Additional Sources for Appendix 5.- Appendix 1: Derivation of Instantaneous Pole and Angle of Plate Motion from an Analytic Finite Rotation Functions.- Appendix 2: Relative and Hotspot Plate Reconstruction Parameters.- Appendix 3: Calculated Reconstruction and Kinematic Parameters.- Appendix 4: Isotopic Ages from Inferred Hotspot Traces.- Appendix 5: Paleostresses.
Résumé
This multifaceted study explores new directions for plate tectonic research, especially as a guide for future geodynamic modelling of the earth. In particular, it equips readers with a plate-tectonic toolbox (with derivations and ANSI-C code) for applications and reconstruction analysis, including new continuous calculation methods. Pilger's Geokinematics shows how to apply these tools to Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic kinematics, with a focus on hotspot reference frames, and for empirical analysis of continental stress histories, including fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs. Supported by solid arguments and data, the book integrates theoretical developments of expanded plate kinematic theory and an ensemble of critical observations into a grand model, with the new concept of mesoplates playing a key role.
