Afar triple junction area between the Nubian (African), Arabian, and Somalian plates, with points identified for use in a kinematic model by Ryley Collins (2019).

A perspective on revolutions, revisions, rights, and responsibilities in the geosciences

Revised September 30, 2024

Some revisions after the plate tectonic revolution

Revised October 6, 2024

Resources

Presentation Files

• Presentation file in keynote: Some Revisions After the Plate Tectonic Revolution (183 MB)

• Presentation file in Adobe Acrobat pdf: Some Revisions After the Plate Tectonic Revolution (150 MB)

• Presentation file in powerpoint: Some Revisions After the Plate Tectonic Revolution (141 MB)

References

For a more extensive set of tectonics-related resources, go to the page associated with the second LLS2024 lecture: CroninProjects.org/Oct2024/Revolution1/

• Arellano, L., and Cronin, V.S., 2014, A physical model of near-homogeneous 1-D horizontal shortening or stretching of a ~2-D layer [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 46, no. 6, p. 501; https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/webprogram/Paper248483.html
• Arnot, J.M., Ledger, A.S., Perkins, M.L., Ruddock, S., Salentine, B.J., Salentine, S.J., Larsen, H.E., III, Cronin, V.S., and Sverdrup, K.A., 2001, Multiple-event relocation of Blanco transform fault zone earthquakes [abstract]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 82(7), p. F1118. Undergraduate research project
• Blewitt, G., 2009, GPS and space-based geodetic methods, in Herring, T., Editor, Treatise on Geophysics, Geodesy: Amsterdam, Elsevier, p. 351-390.
• Blewitt, G., Kreemer, C., Hammond, W.C., and Goldfarb, J.M., 2013, Terrestrial reference frame NA12 for crustal deformation studies in North America: Journal of Geodynamics, v. 72, p. 11-24.
• Bullard, E.C., Everett, J.E., and Smith, A.G., 1965, The fit of the continents around the Atlantic, in Blackett, P.M.S., Bullard, E.C., and Runcorn, S.K., [editors], A symposium on continental drift: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, series A, v. 258, p. 41-51.
  Compare this with Moulin, M., Aslanian, D., and Unternehr, P., 2010, A new starting point for the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 98, p. 1-37, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2009.08.001
• Collins, R.M., and Cronin, V.S., 2018, The length of some (perhaps all) R-R transform faults changes over time. Why? [abstract]: American Geophysical Union, Fall meeting, accessible via https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/416420.
• Cox, A., editor, 1973, Plate tectonics and geomagnetic reversals: San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Company, 702 p.
• Cox, A., and Hart, R.B., 1986, Plate tectonics -- how it works: Palo Alto, California, Blackwell Scientific Publications, 392 p., ISBN 0-86542-313-X.
• Cronin, V.S., 1986a, Cycloid tectonics: Relative motion on a sphere [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 18, p. 575.
• Cronin, V.S., 1986b, On the cycloid kinematics of relative plate motion [abstract]: EOS (Transactions, American Geophysical Union), v. 67, p. 1210.
• Cronin, V.S., 1987a, Cycloid kinematics of relative plate motion: Geology, v. 15, p. 1006-1009.
• Cronin, V.S., 1987b, The contribution of cycloid wobble to plate boundary strain [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 19, p. 149.
• Cronin, V.S., 1987c, Cycloid tectonics: Predicted changes in the position and morphology of mid-ocean ridge segments, transform faults, and oceanic fracture zones [abstract]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 68, no. 16, p. 408.
• Cronin, V.S., 1987d, Cycloid tectonics: The kinematics of transform faulting re-evaluated [abstract]: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 71, p. 544.
• Cronin, V.S., 1987e, Cycloid tectonics: Are transform plate-boundary faults "lines of pure slip" along which "crust is conserved"? [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 19, No. 7, p. 631.
• Cronin, V.S., 1987f, Cycloid tectonics: A first-order matrix solution for finite relative plate motion [abstract]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 68, p. 1473.
• Cronin, V.S., 1988a, Cycloid tectonics -- A kinematic model of finite relative plate motion: College Station, Texas, Ph.D. dissertation, Texas A&M University, 104 p.
• Cronin, V.S., 1988b, Cycloid tectonics: Fracture zones as flow lines of transform faults [abstract]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 69, p. 1415.
• Cronin, V.S., 1989a, Cycloid tectonics: Geometric stability of triple junctions during finite relative plate motion [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 21, no. 4, p. 8.
• Cronin, V.S., 1989b, Cycloid tectonics: Is there a maximum stable length for a transform fault? [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 21, no. 4, p. 8.
• Cronin, V.S., 1989c, Kinematic description of finite relative plate motion using the first-order cycloid model [abstract]: Abstracts, 28th International Geological Congress, Washington, D.C., v. 1, p. 1—343.
• Cronin, V.S., 1989d, A kinematic model for the evolution of a transtensional basin from a transform fault whose initial displacement is purely strike-slip [abstract]: Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 73, p. 1029.
• Cronin, V.S., 1989e, A kinematic perspective on finite relative plate motion, provided by the first-order cycloid model [abstract]: in Chatterjee, S., and Hotton, N., conveners, Smithsonian Institution Workshop on New Concepts in Global Tectonics, Abstract Volume, p. 9
• Cronin, V.S., 1990a, Transpression and transtension -- anomalous or typical boundary conditions along the San Andreas Fault? [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 22, p. 16.
• Cronin, V.S., 1990b, Development of transtensional and transpressive plate boundaries due to non-circular (cycloid) relative plate motion [abstract]: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 74, p. 636.
• Cronin, V.S., 1991, The cycloid relative-motion model and the kinematics of transform faulting, in Hilde, T.W.C., and Carlson, R.L., [editors], Proceedings of the 1987 Geodynamics Symposium: Tectonophysics, v. 187, p. 215-249; corrections to publisher errors, 1991, Tectonophysics, v. 192, no. 3/4, p. 401.
• Cronin, V.S., 1992a, Types and kinematic stability of triple junctions: Tectonophysics, v. 207, p. 287-301.
• Cronin, V.S., 1992b, A kinematic perspective on finite relative plate motion, provided by the first-order cycloid model, in Boucot, A.J., Chatterjee, S., Dickins, J.M., and Hotton, N., [editors], Smithsonian Workshop on New Concepts in Global Tectonics: Lubbock, Texas, Texas Tech University Press, p. 13-21.
• Cronin, V.S., 1992c, Instantaneous velocity of mid-ocean ridges [abstract]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 73, No. 14, p. 284.
• Cronin, V.S., 1993, First-order modeling of finite relative plate motion--When might Los Angeles and San Francisco merge? [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, no. 6, p. A283.
• Cronin, V.S., 1994, Instantaneous velocity of mid-ocean ridges: Tectonophysics, v. 230, p. 151-159.
• Cronin, V.S., 1995, N-plate rule of plate kinematics -- How common is circular finite motion between adjacent plates? [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 27, no. 6, p. A337.
• Cronin, V.S., 1994, Types and kinematic stability of plate triple junctions that include trenches, and other related matters [abstract]: Penrose Conference on the Effects of Triple Junction Interactions at Convergent Plate Margins, 10 p.
• Cronin,V.S., 2012, Possible microplate generation at RRR triple junctions due to the non-circular finite motion of plates relative to each other [abstract]: American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, December 2012, https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2012/eposters/eposter/t33g-2752/
• Cronin, V.S., 2014, Instantaneous versus finite motion of a lithospheric plate relative to another plate [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 46, no. 6, p. 405; https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/webprogram/Paper248546.html
• Cronin, V.S., 2018, A half-century after the revolution, what should we teach current undergraduate geoscientists about lithospheric motion? 50 Years of Plate Tectonics--Then, Now, and Beyond [abstract]: College de France, Paris, accessible via https://croninprojects.org/Tectonics-Paris/index.htm
• Cronin, V.S., Pratt-Sitaula, B., Olds, S., and West, N., 2014, Hands-on physical models that help students learn about crustal strain, for use with the GPS-strain module [abstract]: UNAVCO 2014 Science Workshop, Boulder, Colorado.
• Cronin, V.S., Resor, P., Hammond, W., Kreemer, C., and Pratt-Sitaula, B., 2014, GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes module, GETSI Collection, accessible via https://serc.carleton.edu/getsi/teaching_materials/gps_strain/index.html (a curricular module with activities, background information, and strain calculator codes in Excel, Mathematica, and MatLab)
• Cronin, V.S., Resor, P., Pratt-Sitaula, B., 2017, GETSI module on GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes [abstract]: Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, Annual Conference 2017, abstract and presentation documents accessible via https://CroninProjects.org/GETSI-AESS2017/CroninEtAl2017-AESS-abstract.pdf
• Cronin, V.S., Resor, P., Pratt-Situala, B., Olds, S., West, N., Hammond, W., and Kreemer, C., 2014, A module for learning about crustal strain using PBO GPS data in introductory structural geology or geophysics courses: UNAVCO, https://www.unavco.org/edu_outreach/resources/gps-strain/majors-gps-strain/majors-gps-strain.html
• Le Pichon, X., 1968, Sea-floor spreading and continental drift: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 73, p. 3661-3697.
• Le Pichon, X., 1970, Correction to paper by Xavier Le Pichon "Sea-floor spreading and continental drift": Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 75, p. 2793.
• Le Pichon, X., 1991, Introduction to the publication of the extended outline of Jason Morgan's April 17, 1967 American Geophysical Union paper on "Rises, trenches, great faults and crustal blocks," in Hilde, T.W.C., and Carlson, R.L., [editors], Proceedings of the 1987 Geodynamics Symposium: Tectonophysics, v. 187, p. 1-22
• Le Pichon, X., Francheteau, J., and Bonnin, J., 1973, Plate tectonics: Amsterdam, Elsevier, Developments in Geotectonics 6, 300 p., ISBN 0-444-41094-5.
• McKenzie, D.P., and Parker, R.L., 1967, The north Pacific -- An example of tectonics on a sphere: Nature, v. 216, p. 1276-1280.
• McKenzie, D., and Sclater, J.G., 1971, The evolution of the Indian Ocean since the Late Cretaceous: Geophysical Journal, Royal Astronomical Society, v. 25, p. 437-528.
• Morgan, W.J., 1968, Rises, trenches, great faults, and crustal blocks: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 73, p. 1959-1982.
• Oresks, N., 1999, The rejection of continental drift — Theory and method in American Earth science: New York & Oxford, Oxford University Press, 420 p., ISBN 0-19-511733-6.
• Oreskes, N., editor, 2001, Plate tectonics, an insider's history of the modern theory of the Earth: Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 424 p., ISBN 0-8133-3981-2.
• Resor, P.G., Cronin, V.S., Hammond, W.C., Kreemer, C., Olds, S.E., Pratt-Sitaula, B., and West, N.W., 2012, Using EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory GPS velocities to introduce strain to undergraduate structural geology students [abstract]: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting, November 2012, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_210930.htm
• Resor, P.G., Cronin, V.S., Hammond, W.C., Pratt-Sitaula, B., and Olds, S.E., 2014, A Teachable Moment in Earth Deformation: An Undergraduate Strain Module Incorporating GPS Measurement of the August 24, 2014 M6.0 South Napa Earthquake [abstract]: Special session on the South Napa earthquake, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2014; https://croninprojects.org/Vince/ResorEtAl14.doc
• Sullivan, W., 1991, Continents in motion -- the new Earth debate [second edition]: New York, American Institute of Physics, 430 p., ISBN 0-88318-704-3.
• Sverdrup, K.A., and Cronin, V.S., 1999, Correcting systematic mislocation of earthquakes along Juan de Fuca Ridge through integration of multiple-event relocation and OBS/SOSUS arrays: RIDGE 2000, p. 34-35.

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