Soft Plate and Impact Tectonics

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XII

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2. Introduction

   • António Ribeiro, António Mateus

   Pages 1-2

3. Global Tectonics with Rigid Plates: Foundations and Limitations

   • António Ribeiro, António Mateus

   Pages 3-49

4. Global Tectonics with Deformable Plates

   • António Ribeiro, António Mateus

   Pages 51-173

5. The Wilson Cycle Revisited

   • António Ribeiro, António Mateus

   Pages 175-243

6. The Earth as a Dynamic Open System

   • António Ribeiro, António Mateus

   Pages 245-269

7. Back Matter

   Pages 271-324

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"Structural geology is a core component of knowledge needed for intelligent living with our planet, truly sustainable development." It gives me great pleasure to write this brief foreword for the work by Antonio of Lisboa. When we consider the foundations of our life support systems, cli­ Ribeiro mate, the biosphere, soil, materials, energy, waste management and today in the word of cities, structural stability, we require exact knowledge of the structure of our planet and change in these structures. Homo sapiens has lived on our planet for a very short period. Our planet is cooling by conduction and convection and it is the structures that result from these processes that control the global climate, our resource base and even soil quality and food secu­ rity, etc, etc. As the title of this book suggests, some processes are slow and some fast. I was born on a farm in Southern New Zealand, quite close to the magnificent had a profound influen­ Southern Alps. I often think that watching that environment ce on my mental development.

• Deformation
• Impakt-Tektonik
• Lithosphere
• Lithosphäre
• Ocean
• Plattentektonik
• Rheology
• continental drift
• fault
• obduction
• orogens
• orogeny
• plate tectonics
• subduction
• tectonics

From the reviews:

"The book challenges one of the core assumptions of Plate Tectonics – that the plates are rigid and don’t undergo deformation. … this book is a valuable contribution to the current debate … . This is an interesting book, about results rather than methods, which is why the author has included such an extensive and valuable reference list. … this book is a rewarding read that could change your outlook. Geoscientists of all flavours will find something of interest in this book … ." (Kevin McCue, The Australian Geologist, Issue 127, 2003)

"A new book with an interesting hypothesis … A fundamental tenet of plate tectonics is incorrect – namely that the plates are rigid. … Overall, I found the book to be very well organized … . The writing is extremely clear. … The best praise I can give Soft Plate and Impact Tectonics is that I enjoyed reading it, learned a lot, and will recommend it to others. … The book will be very useful for graduate students." (Basil Tikoff, EOS – American Geophysical Union, Vol. 83 (50), 2002)

• Departamento de Geologia e Laboratório de Tectonofísica e Tectónica Experimental, Faculdade de Ciências — Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

  António Ribeiro