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The Pulse of the Earth pp 217–256Cite as

The Floor of the Oceans

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Abstract

The antipodal distribution of continental blocks and oceanic receptacles ranges among the most peculiar features of the earth. The deep-sea area of the North Pole is situated directly opposite the Antarctic Continent. The six non-polar continents are grouped in pairs, with a roughly meridional orientation, and form an elongated triangle with its apex pointing southwards. Conversely, the oceanic sectors extend in an opposite direction. The broad bases of the continents, arranged in a nearly continuous ring around the North Polar Basin, have their antitype in the broad, circum-Antarctic ring of water. The counterpart of the Indian Ocean is found in North America and that of Australia in the Atlantic north of the equator, etc. (fig. 134).

“....it appears that the higher continental masses and the depressed oceanic basins came into being very early in the history of the earth”

(Ch. Schuchert)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Holland

    J. H. F. Umbgrove D. Sc. (Leyden); Hon. F. R. S. E.; Hon. Memb. N. Y. Ac. Sc. Memb. R. Netherl. Ac. Sc. (Professor of Geology at Delft)

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  1. J. H. F. Umbgrove D. Sc. (Leyden); Hon. F. R. S. E.; Hon. Memb. N. Y. Ac. Sc. Memb. R. Netherl. Ac. Sc.
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© 1947 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Umbgrove, J.H.F. (1947). The Floor of the Oceans. In: The Pulse of the Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5902-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5902-1_8

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