NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Annual Report on Federal Activities in Geodynamics (First).
- File
- PB279282.pdf
- Source
- June 1976, 46 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- USIGP-FY76
- Abstract
- The Earth Sciences are undergoing a period of rapid advance, the result of a simplifying theory that has unified geologic thinking and provided a new framework for interpretation of observational and experimental data. The major initial contributions to the new concept came from marine geology and geophysics, and seismology. These observations led to the theory that has become known as plate tectonics. The plate tectonics theory differs from continental drift theory in that the plate boundaries seldom coincide with continental boundaries. The plate tectonic concept has enormous promise in explaining the origin of earthquakes, volcanoes, faulting, and mountain building with resulting implications for natural disasters, energy resources, and the emplacement of economically valuable concentrations of minerals and hydrocarbons. The general recognition of the potential impact of this 'revolution in earth sciences' led to the concept of an intensive international program to study the basic mechanism of earth deformation--the International Geodynamics Project (IGP). This report presents some studies and future plans of the IGP Committee.
- Keywords
- Plate tectonics; Geologic faults; Tectonics; Fossil fuels; Natural resources; Volcanoes; Mountains; Seismology; Submarine topographic features; Geodynamics; International Geodynamics project; Oceanography; Topography; Earthquakes; Geomorphology