Orthodoxy and creativity in theories of mountain building before 1922

In the 1870s, theories of mountain building emerged from little more than speculation to inference based on a growing body of observation and documentation. This coincided with abandonment of models stressing uplift, and their replacement, in the new orthodoxy, by models in which earth contraction led to lateral compression in its outer shell. Nevertheless, perceived weaknesses in this model gave impetus to new theories, some emphasizing primary vertical movement, and others continental displacement or subcrustal flow. The rebel theories added to the understanding of earth processes in important ways, by drawing attention to the weaknesses in the prevailing orthodoxy. But, in 1922, the complete answer remained out of reach.

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Zusammenfassung Die siebziger Jahre des vorigen Jahrhunderts brachten den Anfang von wissenschaftlich fundierten Theorien der Gebirgsbildung. Diese Zeit sah auch den Übergang von Erhebungstheorien zur neuen Lehrmeinung, nach welcher Erdkontraktion zu lateralen Drucken in der Außenhülle der Erde führte. Erkannte Schwächen dieses Modells führten jedoch zu neuen Gegentheorien, von denen einige primäre Vertikalbewegungen in den Vordergrund stellten, während andere Kontinentalverschiebung oder Unterströmungen als den Motor der Gebirgsbildung sahen. Diese Gegentheorien haben den Fortschritt der Erdwissenschaften gefördert, indem sie auf Schwächen der herrschenden Lehrmeinung aufmerksam machten. Aber selbst zu Argands Zeit war ein völlig befriedigendes Modell noch gar nicht erreichbar.

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Résumé C'est dans les années 1870–1880 que commençaient à s'établir les premières théories vraiment scientifiques de l'orogenèse. C'était la décade qui marqua l'abandon des théories à base de soulèvement et le début du règne de la nouvelle orthodoxie d'après laquelle la contraction de la terre mène à la compression latérale d'une pellicule extérieure. Néansmoins, certaines faiblesses du nouveau modèle servaient d'élan à des théories rebelles dont quelques-unes soulignaient l'importance des soulèvements primaires, tandisque d'autres cherchaient le moteur de l'orogenèse dans la dérive des continents ou dans des courants dans une masse quasi-fluide subcrustale. Ces théories rebelles ont avancé la science en soulignant les faiblesses de l'orthodoxie. En fin de compte, une solution complètement satisfaisante ne paraissait pas encore pouvoir être atteinte à l'époque d'Argand.

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The structure of two South Carolina estuarine tide pool fish assemblages

The fish assemblages of two South Carolina estuarine tide pools located in the North Edisto River were sampled from June to October 1977, and during June and July 1978, by haul seine, lift net and channel net. The nekton was dominated numerically byFundulus heteroclitus, Leiostomus xanthurus, Menidia menidia andAnchoa mitchilli. Oyster reef areas were dominated numerically byGobiosoma bosci andF. heteroclitus. The relative abundance of tide pool fishes differs from deep water areas of the North Edisto River as described from otter trawls, but is similar to that described by others for South Carolina tidal creeks.     

The geochemical coherence of Pu and Nd and the 244Pu238U ratio of the early solar system

Two very different sets of ${}^{244}\text{Pu}{}^{238}\text{U}$ ratios have been reported for early solar system materials. One group of samples yields high (0.015–0.016) ratios (Podosek, 1970a, 1972; Drozd et al., 1977) and calculations based on another group of analyses yield low ratios (~0.004) (Marti et al., 1977). Recently measured partition coefficients for Pu and Sm are used to evaluate the data of Marti et al. and $\text{sol}{}^{244}\text{Pu}{}^{238}\text{U}$ ratios from other sources are also considered. A low $\text{sol}{}^{244}\text{Pu}{}^{238}\text{U}$ ratio (~0.005) is favored, and some implications of this low ratio to galactic nucleosynthesis and meteorite age dating are briefly discussed.     

Accumulation rates of Th-230, Pa-231, and some transition metals on the Bermuda Rise

Measurements of ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U, ²³⁰Th, ²³²Th, ²³¹Pa, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn were made on 23 samples from core GPC-5, a 29-m giant piston core from a water depth of 4583 m on the northeastern Bermuda Rise (33°41.2′N, 57°36.9′W). This area is characterized by rapid deposition of sediment transported by abyssal currents. Unsupported ²³⁰Th and ²³¹Pa are present throughout the core but, because of large variations in the sedimentation rate, show marked departures from exponential decay with depth. The trend with depth of the ${}^{231}\text{Pa}{}_{\mathrm{ex}}{}^{230}\text{Th}{}_{\mathrm{ex}}$ ratio is consistent with the average accumulation rate of 36 cm/1000 y reported earlier on the basis of radiocarbon dating and CaCO₃ stratigraphy. When expressed on a carbonate-free basis, concentrations of Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, ²³⁰Th_ex, and ²³¹Pa_ex all show cyclic variations positively correlated with those of CaCO₃. The correlations can be explained by a model in which all of these constituents, including CaCO₃, are supplied to the sediments from the water column at a constant rate. Concentration variations are controlled mainly by varying inputs of terrigenous detritus, with low inputs occurring during interglacials and high inputs during glacials. Relationships between the metal and ²³⁰Th_ex concentrations permit estimates of the rates at which the metals are removed to the sediment by scavenging from the water column. The results, in μg/cm²-1000 y, are: 4300 ± 1100 for Mn, 46 ± 16 for Ni and 76 ± 26 for Cu. These rates are somewhat larger than ocean-wide averages estimated by other methods, and the absolute rate of ²³⁰Th accumulation in GPC-5 averages about nine times higher than production in the overlying water column. This part of the Bermuda Rise and similar bottom-current deposits may act as important accumulators of elements scavenged from seawater.     

Mineral equilibria in the six-component seawater system,Na-K-Mg-Ca-SO4-Cl-H2O at 25°C. II: Compositions of the saturated solutions

Using the solubility model developed by Harvie and Weare (1980), the stable mineral-solution assemblages for the six-component system Na-K-Mg-Ca-SO₄-Cl-H₂O and its constituent 5-, 4- and 3-component systems at 25°C have been defined. Invariant point maps have been constructed showing the connections by univariant lines. The solubility volumes for all 20 minerals considered are also illustrated. Of the 37 invariant points, only 3 have solutions which are Ca-rich; the remaining 34 can be plotted in the reciprocal system Na-K-Mg-SO₄-Cl, which is similar to the seawater system, except that the restriction of halite saturation has been removed. Application of these results and implications for the evolution of major brine types are briefly discussed.     

Transition from basin-plain to shelf deposits in the carboniferous flysch of Southern Morocco

In the Jebilet Palaeozoic inlier, 20 km north of Marrakech, there are extensive exposures of Carboniferous flysch deposits. Although there are some structural complications due to over-riding nappes with associated chaotic breccias, one clearly unbroken succession from basin-plain turbidites to shallow-marine deposits can be examined. The succession is more than 2 km thick and is dated as Upper Viscan in the uppermost part.The lowermost unit of B- and C-based turbidites shows no sequential organisation and is interpreted as a typical basin-plain association. Above this are similar turbidites arranged in thickening-upward sequences that may represent outer-fan or base-of-slope deposits. Succeeding these are thin-bedded turbidites with interbedded units formed by mass movement that represent a slope deposit. The overlying lenticular-bedded facies resembles previously described overflow deposits of submarine-fan channels, but is here interpreted as comprising storm-generated deposits on the outer shelf/upper slope. These deposits are genetically linked with the overlying parallel-laminated sandstones with irregular-rippled tops for which a storm-surge origin is suggested. The upper part of the succession shows cross-bedded, oolitic, bioclastic, sandy limestones with bipolar current structures sandwiched between low-energy siltstones containing thin-graded silt/sand beds. These are collectively interpreted as shelf deposits that formed under different depths due to transgressive-regressive events.The sequence differs from many described in the literature in that there is an absence of most submarine-fan facies. Locally a NNE-SSW basin strike is proposed with a basin margin to the ESE, but there is at present little control on regional palaeogeography.     

Heretical views on mountain building in Europe and North America: Harbingers of modern tectonics

Since Hutton's doctrine of internal dynamics, geologists have striven to find a rationale for the forces that engender mountain ranges. The 19th century vogue in geological opinion came to a consensus of thermal contraction, and ana priori assumption of shrinking of the globe. Outcrop relations were interpreted accordingly. But leading geologists on both sides of the Atlantic soon observed structures not accounted for by the prevailing hypothesis. The Alpine school of mobilism introduced tectonic polarity (Suess, 1875), nappes (Bertrand, 1884), thrust plates (Termier, 1903) and reached its climax with Argand's visionary perception of crustal flux, of closing ocean basins, and of colliding continents. While the nappe theory was being debated in Europe, another controversy with respect to mountain building surfaced in the American West: the derivation of the Basin Ranges (Gilbert, 1876). Just as the early proponents of large-scale crustal shortening felt that they must dissent from established views, so their contemporaries in America paradoxically discovered still another reason for mountain building, namely, that of crustal extension (Russel, 1884;Le Conte, 1889).

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Zusammenfassung ObwohlHutton (1795) die endogene Herkunft der gebirgsbildenden Kräfte bereits erkannt hatte, sind die physikalischen Grundlagen der Orogenese bis heute nicht abgeklärt worden. Im letzten Jahrhundert waren sich die Forscher zwar einig, daß thermale Erdschrumpfung den Faltenschub bewirke; und entsprechende Querschnitte durch die Faltengebirge sind denn auch zu wissenschaftlichem Allgemeingut geworden. Der bekannteste Fall ist wohl die Glarner Doppelfalte in den Zentralpen (Heim, 1878). Im Gefolge fortschreitender Geländeaufnahmen in den Gebirgen Europas und Nordamerikas erschien das Kontraktionsmodell der Orogenese allerdings stets fragwürdiger. Die Alpengeologen insbesondere verwiesen auf die paläogeographische Konsequenz der einseitigen tektonischen Verfrachtung (Suess, 1875), der Gleitdecken (Bertrand, 1884;Schardt, 1893) und Schubdecken (Termier, 1903). Die neue Anschauung über mobile Orogentektonik fand ihren Niederschlag in Argands meisterhaftem Vortrag über den Bau Asiens am Internationalen Geologen Kongreß 1922 (Argand, 1924).Gleichzeitig mit der Zuspitzung der Diskussion über die Deckentheorie der Alpen, spielte sich auch in Nordamerika eine Kontroverse ab. Auch hier drehte sich die Frage um die Entstehung der Gebirge. Zwar ging es nicht um die üblichen Faltengebirge, sondern um den neuen Typ des Blockgebirges, der im Großen Becken der westlichen Vereinigten Staaten als Basin Ranges (Gilbert, 1876) bekannt wurde. Während die Alpengeologen tektonische Schübe von bisher ungeahnter Größe entdeckten und damit weit mehr Verkürzung der Kruste als die Lehrmeinung wahr haben wollte, hatten es die Erforscher des amerikanischen Westens noch schwieriger, da das Blockgebirge des Großen Beckens offensichtlich durch Ausweitung der Kruste entstanden war (Russell, 1884;Le Conte, 1889). So haben in der alten und der neuen Welt gerade diese, der Lehrmeinung abtrünnigen Ansichten, dem heutigen geotektonischen Denken zum Durchbrach verholfen.

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Résumé Bien que Hutton (1795) ait reconnu la dynamique endogène des phénomènes géologiques, leurs fondements physiques ne sont pas, quant à présent, encore clarifiés. L'opinion en voque au 19ème siècle était en faveur de la contraction thermique comme déterminante de la poussée tectonique. Les profils transversaux dans les chaînes plissées devinrent alors de représentation courante. Tel est la cas bien connu du «Double-pli» de Glaris dans les Alpes centrales (Heim, 1878). Mais des géologues des deux côtés de l'Atlantique observèrent bientôt des structures ne concordant pas avec le modèle de la contraction dans l'orogenèse. L'école mobiliste alpine établit les concepts de la polarité tectonique (Suess, 1875), celui des nappes (Bertrand, 1884), celui des grands charriages (Termier, 1903). La nouvelle conception sur le tectogenèse atteignit son apogée avec la conférence magistrale d'Argand sur la Structure de l'Asie au Congrès géologique international de 1922. (Argand, 1924). — Pendant que la théorie des nappes était en pleine discussion en Europe, une autre controverse sur l'orogenèse se développait dans l'Ouest américain: les problèmes des «Basin Ranges» (Gilbert, 1876). De même que les premiers partisans du rétrécissement à grande échelle de l'écorce terrestre durent s'écarter des points de vue établis, leurs contemporains des Etats-Unis découvrirent paradoxalement une autre cause du soulèvement des chaînes de montagnes: l'extension de l'écorce terrestre (Russel, 1884;Le Conte, 1889).

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