THE CONTINENTAL ACCRETION AND FOLDING OF AUSTRALIA BY PACIFIC SEA FLOOR UNDERSPREADING

Abstract

The theory of continental drift is criticised for being based on a number of fallacies.

The fallacies discussed include polar wandering and Permian glaciation in Australia. Both are regarded as nonexistent. Data are presented to indicate firstly that Australia has grown by continental accretion and secondly that this growth has taken place under a horizontal stress directed outwards from the Pacific Basin. It is postulated that this horizontal stress is caused by a gradually intensifying bump in the liquid core of the earth, which is believed to have formed in the condensation and accretion stage of the solar system, mainly from two lumps of different composition and properties, one now constituting the Pacific Basin, the other the remainder of the Earth.

A corollary to this hypothesis is that the structural equivalents of the petroliferous basins of North America lie under the Tasman, Coral, and Timor seas.