Plate tectonics after 50 Years

The theory of plate tectonics recently turned fifty. Contrary to the claims of its critics, the theory of plate tectonics is derived from empirical data collected over many decades by geologists and geophysicists.1 In the early 20th century, Alfred Wegener studied the shapes of the continents, matched fossils and mountain ranges across vast oceans, and suggested that the continents had drifted apart. At the time, the geological community ridiculed and ignored his ideas. It was not until  More . . .