Re: Plate techtonics and asteroid hits

On Jun 22, 4:49 pm, UC <uraniumcommit...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jun 22, 4:41 pm, Lorentz <drosen0...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



Hmmmmmm....is there any theoretical basis for such a speculation?

1) The average density of continental rock is significantly
smaller than the average density of ocean floor rock, a pattern
consistent over hundreds of miles.
This sort of pattern is not easily modelled by an impact. An
impact would not be so discriminating. This is consistent with the
continents being supported by bouyant forces. Basically, the
continents are floating on the mantle.
2) Plate motion has been measured at the plate boundaries, over
time periods as short as a few months, by several different ways.
First the impact occurs, the continents move apart, and then the
plates are still moving? Slowly?
3) The edges of the continents fit together pretty well, with a little
slippage.
An impact would have messed up the shape of edges really bad.

I don't mean to suggest that the impacts did anything more than create
a fractured state.

Are you implying you've recently been hit by a meteor?

Seriously, wouldn't it make more sense that an impact that could
shatter the lithosphere into plates, would also shatter a goodly
porton of the planet itself? If the impact that detached to moon from
Earth had been more of a head-on strike, or if it had been larger, I
think we'd have another asteroid belt, this one between Venus and
Mars.

Chris

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Plate techtonics and asteroid hits
    ... consistent over hundreds of miles. ... This sort of pattern is not easily modelled by an impact. ... continents being supported by bouyant forces. ... Plate motion has been measured at the plate boundaries, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Plate techtonics and asteroid hits
    ... consistent over hundreds of miles. ... This sort of pattern is not easily modelled by an impact. ... continents being supported by bouyant forces. ... Plate motion has been measured at the plate boundaries, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Plate techtonics and asteroid hits
    ... smaller than the average density of ocean floor rock, ... consistent over hundreds of miles. ... This sort of pattern is not easily modelled by an impact. ... continents being supported by bouyant forces. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Plate techtonics and asteroid hits
    ... smaller than the average density of ocean floor rock, ... consistent over hundreds of miles. ... This sort of pattern is not easily modelled by an impact. ... continents being supported by bouyant forces. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: A General Introduction to the Expanding Earth
    ... of the century held that the cause was a shrinking earth. ... If so the continents would also be on a recycling ... Conclusions on Plate Tectonic Theory ... It provides an acceptable explanation of the occurrences of volcanos ...
    (sci.geo.geology)