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... http://www.geocities.com/karunakarm/introduction.html
Current location: http://www.kmarasakatla.com/geosite/introduction.html

Introduction to the revised version of the hypothesis

Tectonic Pause: Towards the Unification of Earth Sciences

Plate tectonics reshaped our view of the Earth and tried to unify all the physical phenomena. It succeeded in explaining few processes in a unified way but failed to combine many other aspects. In the initial stages of plate tectonics, ridge push was assumed as the cause of the plate movements. This view of plate tectonics thought that if one ridge closes another forms to accommodate the continuous dissipation of heat within the Earth and that gave rise to the concept of continuity in plate tectonics. It was assumed that plates kept moving continuously around the globe from their initial formation on the surface of the Earth. That was an early conclusion in the plate tectonics even though the ridge push was not widely accepted as the cause for the movement of the plates. Later the slab pull gained more credence as the cause of the plate movements. Even after these new developments continuity remained undisturbed in the plate tectonics.

Milankovitch theory explains only the small-scale ice age cycle and the cause behind the extensive global glaciations were remained unsolved. The present understanding is that the uplift of mountains stops the warm currents into the land and causes an ice age. It is true that the ice ages were coincided with the orogens in the history of the Earth but not all orogens caused ice ages. Collision of continents forms the folded mountains and also reduces the seafloor spreading. Orogeny was assumed as the cause for the ice ages because of the prevailing consensus about the continuity of plate tectonics. Continuous opening and closing of the ridges provides more or less same amount of seafloor spreading and this concept prevented in explaining the seafloor spreading as another cause for the climate change along with the variations in the solar radiation. Snowball Earth hypothesis clearly described various deposits formed at the end of the event but failed to explain the cause of the onset and exit of the ice ages. Even though the data is proving the global glaciation, lack of effective explanation made it as a hard to believe phenomenon. As the mountains uplifted higher and higher during the continental collision, sea floor spreading reduces at the ridge of the subducting plate. Reduced sea floor spreading advances the ice sheets to more extent in conjunction with the Milankovitch cycles. Increase in the rate of seafloor spreading retreads the ice sheets. 

Another wrong assumption in the basic understanding of plate tectonics is the continuity. Supercontinent formation itself is an indication of the collapse of plate tectonics. Oceanic crust follows the continent while forming the Supercontinent and after the break up, continent detaches itself from the oceanic crust and slides onto it. There is a clear merger and rearrangement of plates in the Supercontinental period. In the subduction dominated view of the plate tectonics, continuity of plate movements is not possible. As the continents started to collide, seafloor spreading drastically reduces at the subducting plate. Finally when the plate stops moving at the trench, ridge on the other end of the subducting plate also stops spreading and eventually seals the two adjoining plates. Continental rifting increases the rate of sea floor spreading. Changes in the seafloor spreading and the variation in solar radiation along with the albedo effect controls the advance and retreat of the ice ages. Supercontinent formation is a collision of multiple continents and the resulting minimum seafloor spreading extends the ice sheets to whole planet in multiple Milankovitch cycles. Subsequent closing of the ridges stops the plate movement on the Earth and it is a clear indication of discontinuity in plate tectonics. Even if any peripheral subduction persists in the Supercontinental period, very minimum seafloor gets created due to the less number of tectonic plates. Possibility of tectonic pause or minimum seafloor spreading in the Supercontinental period is a clear indication of drastic changes in the rate of seafloor spreading. Continuity in plate tectonics is no longer valid in the present scenario. Increased pressure within the mantle breaks the Supercontinental crust and forms the new plates. Rapid increase in the seafloor spreading melts the ice sheets and floods the continental regions. 

False assumptions in plate tectonics led the Earth sciences in wrong direction and also pushed the sea floor spreading to a side in explaining the global warming. With the proposal of tectonic pause, I could able to explain all the physical phenomena on the Earth in a unified way. My hypothesis explained ice ages, global warming, mass extinctions and the formation of sedimentary layers in conjunction with the plate tectonics and demonstrated that Earth indeed works as a system.

There was a long drawn fight between science and the ancient thoughts. Modern science believed that all the ancient thoughts were baseless. Supporters of the ancient thoughts believed that the truth is away from the current views in science because it opposes the ancient texts and started to criticize whole science. Most of the ancient cultures believe in the creation of seven Earths and the Earth we live as one of them. Ancient Indian Vedic texts also mentioned about the past six Manvantara cycles and the present as the seventh cycle. It is true that the Earth also passed through six complete Supercontinent cycles from 2800 million years ago. The present seventh cycle began with the breakup of the recent Supercontinent, Pangaea. Ancient views about the Earth are in fact related to the Supercontinent cycle. My hypothesis not only attempted at unifying the Earth sciences but also proved that the ancient views are nothing but real history of the planet. In view of my hypothesis, we need to explore deep into lot of other established concepts in science. Among them are current scenario of the global warming, human evolution and ancestry of the human race.

Karunakar Marasakatla
Date. 11th March, 2001.

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