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Initial post on 03/11/2001
This post is related to plate tectonics, snowball Earth, ice ages, global warming and the mass extinctions.
This is in relation to the post "Unresolved part of the plate tectonics" appeared in the sci.geo.geology from August through September 2000. That was a discussion on my hypothesis about the Supercontinental tectonic pause as a cause for the snowball Earth event. I have gathered additional proof for my hypothesis and modified by addressing the critical comments made in the earlier discussion.
Complete hypothesis: http://geocities.datacellar.net/karunakarm/unifiedtheory.html
In short my hypothesis says that every Supercontinent formation merges all the plates and forms as a single crust causing a discontinuity in plate tectonics. I termed this event as a "Tectonic Pause". Tectonic pause causes a snowball earth event and the breakup of the Supercontinent thaws the global ice age. Using my hypothesis I had explained all the occurrences of the global glaciation and predicted three more to be around 1900, 1500 and 1100 Ma. Recent paper in Gcubed discusses about a possible anoxic ocean environment around 1.9 Ga and extensively describes the banded iron formations in the Precambrian era. We can clearly see that there are extensive deposits of this type even around 1500 and 1100 Ma. With this new data it appears that all the possible seven Supercontinent periods coincides with the timings of anoxic oceans, a result of the global glaciation. I believe this as an ultimate proof for my hypothesis. The eighth Supercontinent will form in another 175 My with a global ice age and the breakup of that Supercontinent causes a mass extinction of the type of Permian extinction.
In addition to explaining snowball Earth events my hypothesis also proposes all the major sedimentary boundaries as the activity in the crust. These boundaries are the result of breakup and merger of the tectonic plates. In short the geochronology is true history of the plate tectonics on the Earth. Mass extinctions at these boundaries were the result of global warming and ice ages caused by the crustal activity at that time. Concept of continuity didn't allow these boundaries to be identified as part of the plate movements. This led all the branches of Earth sciences in different directions without any commonality. Instead of attributing the known event of Africa-India breakup to the K-T boundary, Earth science propagated a view of asteroid collision as the only cause for it.
Supercontinent cycles: Earth experienced six complete Supercontinent cycles from 2800 Ma and the present is the seventh cycle from the breakup of the Pangaea around 250 Ma. Each of the past Supercontinent cycles were described as the past six Earths and the present cycle as the seventh Earth in many ancient cultures. Past six Manvantara cycles also represent the Supercontinent cycles and the present is the seventh Manvantara cycle. Interesting part of the first Earth is that it was mentioned in many cultures as the beginning of time or start of the perception of day and night. Before this time it was mentioned as dark all around the solar system. It is possible that a major change in the luminosity of the sun might have occurred around this period.
Plate Tectonics: I like to see the responses on my interpretation of the boundaries with the plate movements and also the responses in support of the continuity in plate tectonics.
Expanding Earth: Does this model have any mechanism to bring the continents to one place as a Supercontinent? Supercontinent cycle is a glaring fact in the history of the Earth. To support the paleomagnetic data for the Supercontinent cycle, this model needs to incorporate a feature for the contraction of the Earth in the same scale as the expansion. Contraction brings the continents together and forms as a single landmass and supports the data for the Supercontinent cycle. But at present, this model only advocates the expansion of the Earth. This model becomes a viable alternative to plate tectonics only when it incorporates the Supercontinent cycle into it. Expansion of Earth might be possible in a small scale between the consecutive Supercontinent formations but that alone can't cause the continental movement.
Hollow Earth: It appears that ancient concept of seven Earths existing one above the other might have made the people to believe in the existence of other worlds within the Earth. The seven Earths are the sedimentary layers formed in each of the Supercontinent cycles.
Supporters of the ancient beliefs criticized the glaring facts of the plate tectonics but the same plate tectonics brilliantly revealed the beauty of the ancient thoughts. Modern Earth science also criticized the ancient views as baseless. The concept of Supercontinent cycle was a great development in Earth sciences but it alienated itself from other branches of the Earth science with the assumption of continuity. Snowball Earth hypothesis also advanced our understanding of the Earth but lack of clear solution made this phenomenon as an independent unbelievable event. The future of the Earth science and the society is in the unification of these two concepts with the tectonic pause, a discontinuity in plate tectonics.
I believe my hypothesis not only attempted at unifying the Earth sciences but also combines the science and ancient views about the Earth. The description of a single event by many cultures signifies the common origin of the human race. This also raises questions about the superiority of the modern human being and ancestry of the human race. I always believe in science and I don't have to prove or disprove anything without the scientific basis. If some body proves me wrong I will definitely change my views. I hope this initiates a healthy and descent discussion.
Regards
Karunakar Marasakatla
Date: 11th March 2001.
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