Plates on the mantle.(geodynamicist Hans-Peter Bunge relates observed large size of crustal plates to plate tectonics theory)(Brief Article)

From: Discover | Date: December 1, 1996 | Copyright information

With the theory of plate tectonics, geologists can explain a host of phenomena, from earthquakes to the origin of mountain ranges. Oddly enough, there is one feature of Earth's surface that the theory, fails to explain@ the size of the crustal plates themselves. The theory predicts that a large number of relatively small plates should cover Earth's surface rather than the few large plates that are observed. Hans-Peter Bunge, a geody-namicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, may have found a way to make theory jibe with observation.

The theoretical problem is fairly ...

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