You are on page 1of 9

Expanding Earth vs.

Plate Tectonics: The Late Twentieth


Century Refutation of the Expanding Earth Theory
web.archive.org/web/20210224132736/http://expansion.geologist-1011.net

Timothy Casey B.Sc. (Hons.)


Consulting Geologist

Uploaded ISO:2009-Oct-13
Revised ISO:2010-May-16

Abstract
Expanding earth theory, in both its mass accretion and mass conservation variants, calls
plate tectonics into question. For the most part, the expanding earth theory relies heavily on
the assumption that subduction does not occur. Verification of subduction by numerous
cosmogenic isotope studies and common direct GPS measurements of subducting plate
motion refuted the expanding earth model in the late Twentieth century.

Introduction
The Plate Tectonics model used to explain observed convergence of pieces of crust, known as
"tectonic plates", at subduction zones, and divergence of these tectonic plates at rift zones,
gains independent support from a variety of sources including palaeogeography and
geochemical studies of unstable isotopes such as Beryllium 10.

The concept of Plate Tectonics began with the idea of Continental Drift. Continental Drift
was first proposed by Ortelius (1596) based on the fit of continental coastlines. Although
loosely underpinned by the corresponding coastal geography, the idea lacked independent
corroboration. The first empirical corroboration of Continental Drift was provided by Snider-
Pellegrini (1858), a geographer who showed that the geographic distribution of fossil
assemblages was continuous across continental boundaries as they first existed when the
continents were together. Snider-Pellegrini (1858) lacked an empirical mechanism and when
Wegener (1929) found that Continental Drift solved the apparent contradictions in
palaeoclimatology between different regions, he was still unable to offer a verifiable
mechanism. For this reason, the idea, although strongly underpinned by verifiable empirical
evidence, remained largely incomplete. It is worth noting that many geologists ignored the
evidence provided by Wegener on the grounds that he was a meteorologist with no formal
training in geology - and therefore not an expert in the field. Ironically, during the same year,
Arthur Holmes discovered that volcanic activity could not provide an adequate escape route
for the amount of heat produced by the interior radioactivity of the earth. He thereby
concluded that the heat in the interior of the earth must be redistributed by convection in the
outer layers of the earth's interior. Holmes (1929), provided the first empirical notion for any

1/9
Continental Drift mechanism. From here, the mechanism of mantle convection remained to
be corroborated by more direct evidence. Arnold (1956) discovered that Beryllium 10 is
cosmogenic. However, it was not until the 1980s that 10Be was used to track fluid motion in
the upper mantle.

Objections to the idea of Plate Tectonics, usually based on the assumption that subduction is
still an unsubstantiated process (Vine, 1987), have a history spanning several years now. The
major weakness being a lack of any credible driver, this theory has sought support in the
convolutions of the more complex theories such as fluid dynamics and quantum mechanics.

Personally, I'm intrigued by the implications in the emergence of theories such as expanding
earth when used in a persistent campaign to question the validity of the Plate Tectonics
model. What exactly is so wrong with Plate Tectonics, given that no-one appears to be
offering a more comprehensive explanation of the evidence?

As an intellectual campaign, expanding earth theory lacks the usual cognitive extortion that
gets packaged with pseudo-sciences. There is no impending catastrophe to hammer us into
intellectual submission, and the one potentially pseudo-scientific characteristic is the
juxtaposition of expansion as an unverifiable driver against convection, which without
evidence of subduction can also be considered equally dubious. Such a brave assertion made
to the degree of speculation of the plate tectonic idea in its early days, is perhaps a credit to
Prof. Carey, whose job it was to sound the alarm in the event that consensus supplanted
scepticism.

Expanding Planets in a Shrunken Nutshell

Mass Accretion
Mass accretion via condensation and collision are widely accepted processes by which mass is
added to the planets by external deposition of extraterrestrial material in the case of planet
earth. Thankfully, the rate of accretion is far too slow to account the rate of divergence
measured at rift zones. Life would be interesting to say the least, if meteor showers were
more common than rain storms!

However, the idea that mass was accumulating in the interior of the earth via some
unexplained process dates back to when Yarkovsky (1888) suggested the accumulation and
transformation of "aether" into chemical elements inside the earth; forcing the earth to
expand. Although "aether" is soundly refuted, the nearest analogue in modern scientific
models is the gravitational field. Yarkovsky's idea is perhaps the simplest and most natural
depiction of a perpetual motion machine. Potential energy from matter in the pressure
column is expended at the base of that column in the formation of new matter, which forces
the column up and outward - effectively forcing the body to expand and increasing the
potential energy of the system and forces acting at the core. The problem is that the
expenditure of energy in this case dictates the acceleration of mass towards the base of the

2/9
column instead of away. Yarkovsky's Aether expansion machine thus requires twice the
energy that is theoretically available and an additional missing process by which the energy
may be expended without depleting the reserve. Hilgenburg (1933, 1974) interestingly
enough, also goes on to support the aether transmutation idea some time after it had been
soundly discredited by empirical science.

Some 100 years after Yarkovsky, Professor Carey puts forward an expanding earth idea based
on an unknown mass accretion process he speculates is connected with the expansion of the
universe (Carey, 1988). According to Einstein's most famous equation, an energy mechanism
sufficient to produce matter on a scale that would explain the amount of tectonic rifting on
this planet, requires an energy source more powerful than the sun.

The short answer to mass accretion earth expansion after Yarkovsky, Hilgenburg, & Carey, is
that an energy source of the magnitude that could produce the material expansion they
propose without vaporising the planet in the process, such as a cold star, has never been
observed - unlike the alternative mechanisms said to drive plate tectonics, such as
convection.

Mass Conservation

A year after Yarkovsy's publication, the idea of Continental Drift - usually attributed to
Wegener - was proposed by Montovani (1889) using earth expansion as a possible
mechanism. This was not the first time Continental Drift had been proposed. Continental
Drift was proposed by Ortelius (1596), corroborated by Snider-Pellegrini (1858) who
suggested the rather fanciful and unsubstantiated mechanism of continents driven apart by a
massive volcanic eruption on the sixth day of creation, and later corroborated by Wegener
(1912) who declined to argue a mechanism. Montovani (1889) presents us with the first
attempt to explain the mechanism of Continental Drift without invoking any supernatural
meddling. With Continental Drift the product of Yarkovsy's Earth Expansion, it still
remained to find a more plausible mechanism for Earth Expansion than Yarkovsy's aethereal
mass accretion idea, especially given the refutation of the aether hypothesis by the
Michelson-Morely experiment conducted the previous year (Michelson & Morley, 1887).

Expansion due to phase transitions in the earth's core is put forward by Halm (1935), Egyad
(1956), and Owen (1983). However, phase transition as it applies to material volume under
the temperature and pressure conditions applicable to the earth's core is purely speculative
and to date, phase transition mechanisms capable of driving the dramatic expansion inferred
from plate divergence in isolation from plate convergence, cannot be reproduced in the
laboratory, and otherwise have never been observed.

A somewhat more complex model for mass conserved earth expansion could involve a
chemical breakdown from denser component sets to expanded reaction products, somewhat
similar to an explosion. However, a quick audit of the energy account is very revealing. A
reaction of this nature would once again, have to produce sufficient quantities of energy to

3/9
effect the expansion proposed and drive plate motions as they are observed. This requires the
spontaneous storage of tremendous amounts of energy in what is an evidently less stable
chemical assemblage early in the planet's formation. Once again, the mystery source of all
this energy is not independently observed, and the supposed alteration of mantle chemistry
to the degree commensurate with chemical expansion is not observed in either extruded
xenolith chemistry over geological history, or alterations to magma chemistry for a given
setting over geological history.

Also of note, the inverse square law as it applies to all fields including gravity dictates that
gravity at the surface of a planet of equal mass to earth, but half the radius would be four
times that of earth's gravity. The implicit decay of gravity at the earth's surface is not
supported by anatomical changes as they are observed in faunal progression.

Other Issues

Coriolus Spin-Doctoring
Cyclones and anti-cyclone spin is the product of Coriolus effect as applied the difference in
tropospheric temperature between equator and poles. Coriolus motion is an offshoot of
gravitational phenomena, such as settling of denser fluids when initially situated above
lighter fluids; in conservation of angular momentum as it applies to portions of mass as they
approach the moment. This is about as mind-boggling as rotational dynamics get.

Coriolus produces strictly rotary motion in the relative horizontal, but vertical motion
remains the child of gravity. In terms of non rotary motion in the horizontal such as the
propagation of oceanic crust from divergent to convergent plate boundaries, this has nothing
to do with rotary motion and is strictly related to the sinking of dense material and the
upwelling of light material in response to gravity.

Differential Rotation

Differential rotation is the product of differences in angular velocity between portions of a


single rotating fluid body. As a result, the empirical evidence for differential rotation is shear
between portions of differing angular velocity. Differential rotation is observed in the sun,
Jupiter, Saturn, and accretion disks. Not all galaxies and protostars show evidence of
differential rotation indicating that this phenomenon is not an automatic feature of rotary
fluid systems.

However, differential rotation cannot be a persistent product of viscous rotary bodies without
a significant kinetic energy source to counteract the effect friction has of unifying the
distribution of angular momentum in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics.

Longer Divergent Boundaries then Convergent Boundaries

4/9
The greater length of mid oceanic ridges than known subduction zones has raised the
objection that if subduction is actually occurring, there should be mid oceanic deformation
that reflects the apparent bottleneck through which extruded material from the longer
divergent margins, must now pass at the shorter convergent margins.

This, however, is a classic example of confusing length and displacement. The total length of
divergent boundaries is exaggerated by the contribution from transform faults along their
length, that give the mid oceanic ridges their apparent curvature. However, the spreading
ridges as exclusively extrusive features are only as long as the sections from which extrusion
occurs. This excludes the many transform faults that account for vectors in divergent
boundary length that are parallel to plate motion. Thus tallying up the extrusion width may
only account for the vector perpendicular to motion. The same goes for convergent
boundaries and when convergent and divergent boundary vectors perpendicular to motion
are compared, the sum is roughly equal.

Expanding earth theorists have successfully expanded the gross width of divergent margins
by adding in the combined length of associated transform faults, which length contributes
nothing to extrusion width. Summed widths along vectors perpendicular to motion (as
opposed to lengths following any direction) of rifting and subduction zones are quite
obviously equivalent and so do not predict any sort of the mid oceanic bottleneck
deformation.

The Evidence for Subduction: Verified, not Assumed


Expanding Earth theory rests heavily on the denial of subduction as a real observed process.
Dated sources such as Vine (1987), are often cited as some sort of admission that subduction
is the central assumption of Plate Tectonics, when this is not the case. Subduction is verified
by plate motion observed at and near convergent plate boundaries and places such as oceanic
trenches where seismic equipment is placed and tracked. The interest in these regions arises
because of the high degree of seismic activity that the specific structure of Wadati-Benioff
shear zones confirm as caused by subduction. The ultimate verification of subduction and its
confluent mantle flow is the presence of strictly cosmogenic isotopes in andesitic lavas
erupted directly above where subducted plate can be seen on its way down into the mantle in
seismic charts.

Transport of Cosmogenic Isotopes


How do we determine that oceanic crust is actually subducted into the mantle? The answer
comes in the form of cosmogenic isotopes such as 10Beryllium (10Be) that are produced
exclusively by the interaction of cosmic radiation with atoms in the earth's atmosphere and
on the earth's surface. With a half-life of only 1.5 million years, 10Be's presence in the lava
erupted in continental and island arc settings is only possible if it is carried down beneath the
eruption site by subduction, and subsequently mobilised by partial melting to be
incorporated into the source magma. Tera et. al. (1984), Morris (1991), Morris & Zheng

5/9
(1993), You et. Al. (1994), are a sample of studies that observe the presence of 10Be in
magmas produced in island arc and continental margin settings; ultimately providing the
geochemical evidence of subduction.

Plate Motion Measured at Oceanic Trenches

Plate motion is directly measured by a number of methods including the use of GPS
equipment, and significantly such measurements are also made in the vicinity of subduction
zones. Holt (1995), Regelous et. al. (1997), Hochstein (1995), Stevens et. al. (2002), Bock et.
al. (2003), and Thiebot & Gutscher (2006) are just a small sample of authors using direct
measurements of subduction rates to relate factors such as partial melting, fractionation, and
seismic activity to the observed speed of subduction.

It doesn't matter if the intelligent looking man in the suit who says "subduction doesn't
occur", is a professor (Carey, 1988), the fact that the definitive plate motions of subduction
are measured proves that subduction does occur.

Conclusion
The vast majority of expanding earth theorists believe that subduction does not occur, and
the fact that subduction has been verified by cosmogenic isotope geochemistry and by direct
GPS measurement of subduction rates may well lend limited support to the hypothesis that
most of the people are wrong most of the time! Both direct measurement of motion at
convergent boundaries, and cosmogenic isotope studies confirm, when taken in light of
geothermal gradients measured during drilling (Eg. Morris, 2001), that convection is the best
explanation of the process that drives plate tectonics. Whether slab pull or thermal gradient
are the dominant sources of kinetic energy in plate tectonics, mantle flow confluent with
plate motion is confirmed by scientific observation.

The most tenable position for expanding earth theorists is taken by Owen (1983), who
instead of denying readily observable processes such as subduction, incorporates it as a
partial process of an expansion model in which plate tectonics plays a vital role. Owen (1983),
as the title suggests, still lacks a viable and observed process to drive planetary expansion.
However, history of scientific controversy shows that most often, when evidence loosely
supports more than one idea, the answer lies in the admixture of ideas. For example, gradual
evolution rates vs. sudden bursts of speciation reflect a mode of punctuated equilibrium
where the rate of evolution changes smoothly in response to the ratio of radiation to
extinction. Like Wegener (1929), Owen (1983) is a compelling and elegant idea that lacks the
independent evidence of a driving process, which is necessary to transform the idea into a
hypothesis. As with Wegener's Continental Drift, time will tell, but for now, Plate Tectonics is
the best planetary tectonic theory available to science.

Bibliography

6/9
Arnold, J. R., 1956, "Beryllium-10 Produced by Cosmic Rays", Science, Vol 124, pp. 584-585.

Bickford, M. E., Bolt, B. A., Broecker, W. A., Brown, G. E., Bullard, E. C., Ernst, W. G.,
Hamilton, W., Hartmann, W., Holland, H. D., Hunt, C. B., Jokela, A., Kaesler, R., Klitgord,
K., Le Pichon, X., Lewis, J., Londsdale, P., Merrill, W. M., Phinney, R. A., Raup D. M.,
Schopf, J. W., Sharp, R. P., Stevens, P. R., Van Schmus, W. R., 1973, "Geology Today", CRM
Books, California, U.S.A

Bock, Y., Prawirodirdjo, L., Genrich, J. F., Stevens, C. W., McCaffrey, R., Subarya, C.,
Puntodewo,S. S. O. , & Calais, E., 2003, "Crustal motion in Indonesia from Global
Positioning System measurements, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 108, pp. 2367,
doi:10.1029/2001JB000324

Carey, S. W., 1956, "The tectonic approach to continental drift", Continental Drift – A
Symposium (Hobart): 177-363

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

Egyed, L., 1956, "The change of the Earth's dimensions determined from palaeo-geographical
data", Geofisica Pura e Applicata, Vol. 33, pp. 42-48

Vine, F. J., 1987, "Encyclopedia of Structural Geology and Plate Tectonics", Seyfert, p.712

Halm, J.K.E., 1935, "An astronomical aspect of the evolution of the earth", Astron. Soc. S.
Afr., Vol. 4, pp. 1-28

Hilgenberg, O.C., 1933, "Vom wachsenden Erdball", Berlin: Giessmann & Bartsch

Hilgenberg, O.C., 1974, "Geotektonik, neuartig gesehen", Geotektonische Forschungen, Vol.


45, pp. 1-194

Hochstein, M. P., 1995, "Crustal heat transfer in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (New Zealand):
comparison with other volcanic arcs and explanatory heat source models", Journal of
Volcanology and Geothermal Research, Vol. 68, pp. 117-151.

Holmes, A., 1929 "Radioactivity and earth movements.", Transactions of the Geological
Society of Glasgow, Vol. 18, pp. 559 - 606

Holt, W. E., 1995, "Flow Fields within the Tonga Slab Determined from the Moment Tensors
of Deep Earthquakes", Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 22, pp. 989-992.

Mantovani, R., 1889, "Les fractures de l’écorce terrestre et la théorie de Laplace", Bull. Soc.
Sc. et Arts Réunion: 41-53

Mantovani, R., 1909, "L’Antarctide", Je m’instruis. La science pour tous, Vol. 38, pp. 595-597

7/9
Michelson, A. A., & Morley, E. W., 1887, "The Relative Motion of the Earth and the
Luminiferous Aether"American Journal of Science, Vol. 34, p. 333

Morris, J. D., 1991, "Applications of Cosmogenic 10Be to Problems in Earth Sciences", Annual
Review of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Vol. 19, pp. 313-350,
doi:10.1146/annurev.ea.19.050191.001525

Morris, J., & Zheng, S.H., 1993, "Crustal recycling at active convergent margins and growth
of the continents", Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; annual
Geological Society of America (GSA) North-Central Section meeting (29-30 Mar), Vol. 25,
pp. 27

Morris, J., Villinger, H., Baldauf, J., & Klaus, A., 2001, "Fluid Flow and Subduction Fluxes
Across the Costa Rica Convergent Margin: Implications for the Seismogenic Zone and
Subduction Factory", Ocean Drilling Program, Leg 205 Scientific Prospectus.

Ortelius, A., 1596, Thesaurus Geographicus

Owen, H.G., 1983, "The Earth is expanding and we don't know why", New Scientist, Vol. 22,
pp. 27-29

Regelous, M., Collerson, K. D., Ewart, A., Wendt, J. I., 1997, "Trace element transport rates in
subduction zones: evidence from Th, Sr and Pb isotope data for Tonga-Kermadec arc lavas",
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 150, pp. 291 - 302

Snider-Pellegrini, A., 1858, "La Creation et Sys Mysteres Devoiles", Franck & Dentu, Paris.

Stevens, C. W., Pubellier, M., McCaffrey, R., Bock, Y., Genrich, J., & Subarya, C., 2002,
"Evidence for block rotations and basal shear in theworld’s fastest slipping continental shear
zone in NW New Guinea", in Plate Boundary Zones Geodyn. Ser., vol. 30, edited by S. Stein
and J. Freymueller, pp. 87-99, AGU, Washington, D. C.

Tera, F., Brown, L., Morris, J., Sacks, I. S., Klein, J., & Middleton, R., 1986, Sediment
Incorporation in Island Arc Magmas, inferences from 10Be, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta., Vol.
50, pp. 535-550

Thiebot, E., & Gutscher, M. A., 2006, "The seismogenic zone of Cadiz - Gibraltar
subductionand the source of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami", Geophysical
Research Abstracts, Vol. 8, 04287.

Wegener, A., 1912, "Die Entstehung der Kontinente", International Journal of Earth
Sciences, Vol. 3, pp. 276-292

Wegener, A., 1929, "The Origin of Continents and Oceans", Courier Dover Publications,
ISBN: 0486617084

8/9
Wilson, M., 1989, "Igneous Petrogenesis", Chapman & Hall, ISBN: 0-412-53310-3

Yarkovsky, I. O., 1888, "Hypothese cinetique de la Gravitation universelle et connexion avec


la formation des elements chimiques", Moskau

You, C.-F.; Morris, J. D.; Gieskes, J. M.; Rosenbauer, R.; Zheng, S. H.; Xu, X.; Ku, T. L.;
Bischoff, J. L., 1994, "Mobilization of beryllium in the sedimentary column at convergent
margins", Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 58, pp.4887-4897 DOI: 10.1016/0016-
7037(94)90219-4

9/9

You might also like