Download Plate Tectonics (Science Foundations) by Stephen M. Tomecek PDF

By Stephen M. Tomecek

The advance of the plate tectonic concept used to be one of many nice revolutions within the background of technology. ahead of the plate tectonic conception, such a lot scientists believed that Earth was once a static planet that by no means quite replaced. operating like detectives, a small staff of pioneering participants slowly pieced jointly a completely assorted photograph of our Earth, displaying that the planet can be a dynamic, lively international. Over the process hundreds of thousands of years, continents collided with one another, oceans opened and closed, and mountains rose and fell - and those adjustments proceed at the present time. "Plate Tectonics" examines the evolution of plate tectonic conception from its beginnings as a wild proposal of drifting continents to its reputation because the major idea that drives geology at the present time. The ebook additionally makes a speciality of the lives and achievements of these people who fought nice odds to provide upward push to at least one of an important theories in technology.

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The second main part contains even smaller particles that move around the outside of the nucleus: These particles are called electrons. Electrons have a negative charge, and they produce electricity. Each type of element has its own special atom with a different number of protons in the nucleus. For example, an oxygen atom has eight protons in its nucleus, while a helium nucleus has only two protons. Scientists have discovered over 100 different elements, each with a different number of protons in the nucleus.

When the rock hardens, these crystals act like little microscopic compass needles pointing to Earth’s north magnetic pole. This phenomenon is known as remnant magnetism, and it has become one of the most important tools used by geologists since the discovery of radioactivity. In the early 1900s, geologists studying the remnant magnetism of thick sequences of lava flows made an amazing discovery. When they measured the magnetism of the rocks from top to bottom, they found that as they went back in time, the magnetism of the iron crystals reversed direction.

60 Plate tectonics When Runcorn published the results, many scientists thought that his data was flawed. They claimed that because the devices used to measure magnetism in rocks were still very crude, what he thought was a moving pole might just have been an error in the readings. Runcorn pressed on, and as the equipment became better, the data showed that he was on the right track. The final clincher came just a few years later when another group of scientists would use reversals in Earth’s magnetic field to prove that the oceans were spreading.

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