Plate tectonics: how it works

Palaeomagnetism, plates, hot spots, trenches and ridges are the subject of this unusual book. Plate Tectonics is a book of exercises and background information that introduces and demonstrates the basics of the subject. In a lively and lucid manner, it brings together a great deal of material in spherical trigonometry that is necessary to understand plate tectonics and the research literature written about it. It is intended for use in first year graduate courses in geophysics and tectonics, and provides a guide to the quantitative understanding of plate tectonics.

PLATE TECTONICS: How It Works; Contents; Preface; Introduction; 1: Basics of a Revolution; Earth's Layers; Core, Mantle, and Crust; Strength of the Mantle; Plate Tectonic Layering; Plate Geometry; Euler Poles; Defining Euler Poles; Finding Euler Poles; Isochrons and Velocities; Magnetic Stripes; Rates of Spreading; Rises; Discovery and Descriptions; Theories Before Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics; Plate Tectonic Explanation of Rises; Explanation of High Topography; Initiation of Rises; Trenches and Island Arcs; Discovery and Description; Plate Tectonic Explanation; Fracture Zones

Discovery and DescriptionPlate Tectonic Explanation; Velocity Fields; Putting Plate Tectonics to Work; Problems; Suggested Readings; Texts; Classic Papers; Plate Tectonics on a Plane; Geology of Rises and Trenches; 2: Plates in Velocity Space; The Velocity Line; The Velocity Plane; Plates in Velocity Space; Triple Junctions; Problems; Suggested Readings; Plate Tectonics on a Plane; Velocity Space; Triple Junctions; Mendocino Triple Junction; Juan de Fuca Plate; 3: Getting Around on a Sphere; Circles on a Sphere; Spherical Coordinates; Fixed Reference Frame; Rotation about Axis 3

Rotation about Ax…