A citation study of significant papers in plate tectonics

Abstract

A consideration of the use made of selected papers in physical oceanography, magnetic stratigraphy, and earthquake distribution traces the development of the ideas necessary to the theory of plate tectonics, the presently accepted theory to explain geologic processes. The citation analysis undertaken of some thirty significant papers supports a previously proposed revolution m earth science thinking in the early 1970s. Al though the theory has enjoyed considerable success in unravell ing 'young' geology, its application to older rocks, particularly those that make up the continents, has been less successful. This may be because the 'revolution' has constrained earth scientists to think that present-day lateral crustal motions have been dominant throughout Earth history.