Thanks to all who contributed to helping me track down these blasts from
the past:
"Continents Adrift: New Orthodoxy or Persuasive Joker?" by R. S. DIETZ
and J. C. HOLDEN, 1973. In "Implications of Continental Drift to the
Earth Sciences, Vol 2" Nato Advanced Studies Institute,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, April 10-14, 1972, D. Tarling & S. K.
Runcorn (eds.), Academic Press, London, pp. 1105-1121.
This was the one I remembered (albeit fuzzily). This early contribution
from the Stop Plate Tectonics Society contains delightful illustrations
looking at the lighter side of the plate tectonic controversies from the
perspective of the early 1970's, including the aforementioned
Glossopstompodon Loathifoliata that was envisioned to have prevented the
migration of unwanted plants from Gondwana to Laurasia in the Permian.
It also had the jumping plates illustration with the giant hand pulling
Madagascar from it's "obvious" geometric fit in the hole that is now the
Caspian Sea.
I also enjoyed the later humorous paper with the same illustrator:
Holden, J. C. and P. R. Vogt (1977). Graphic solutions to problems of
plumacy: EOS, Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union , v. 58, no. 7, pp. 573-580,
10 figs. 51. ( http://www.mantleplumes.org/WebDocuments/Vogt_EOS.pdf )
This later blast took humorous shots at the various fads surrounding
plume theories that were attempting to modify the plate tectonic
paradigm in the late 1970's. While this was not the one I was looking
for originally, I had a good laugh reading it. Thanks for pointing it
out to me.
I have my librarian tracking down copies of both articles through
official channels so that I can add them to my personal files.
Thanks to all for confirming my sanity by proving that I had not
imagined these articles. ;-)
Scot Krueger
PS - It might interest some of you to know that my wife, Mary Cole,
actually tracked down the illustrator, John Holden, and he is still
creating intricate artwork drawings and even has a web site to show off
some of his work: ( http://johncholden.com/index.html )
-----Original Message-----
Dear All,
Below is a link for a pdf version of Continents Adrift: New Orthodoxy or
Persuasive Joker by Dietz and Holden.
Makes for pretty humorous reading.
Best regards,
Chris
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/23242373/Dietz.and.Holden%2C1973.Continents.Adr
ift.pdf
-
Chris Spencer
PhD Candidate
Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of St Andrews StA,
KY169AL UK On Oct 24, 2012, at 2:11 PM, "Vaughan, Alan P.M."
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tectonics & structural geology discussion list
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Krueger, Scot
> Sent: 23 October 2012 17:22
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Seeking old plate tectonic humor article
>
> I was wondering if anyone on this discussion board can help me track
down a humorous article from the early days of plate tectonics that I
recall stumbling upon in the MIT geology library as an undergraduate
many years ago. I have recently been searching every database I can find
and am coming up empty.
>
> My memory of it is growing dim, but I recall it was a tongue-in-cheek
defense of the anti-continental drift position that included references
to an odd dinosaur, termed something like Glossastompadon Loathafoliata,
that it claimed was responsible for stomping out all attempts by a
certain plant to spread between continents (there was even a cartoon
illustrating the idea). I believe there was also a reference to "jumping
plates" to explain how Madagascar popped out from one of the African
lakes to reach its current location. I cannot recall much of the rest,
but I remember finding it hysterically funny at the time. I never wrote
down the volume where I found it and have not been able to track it down
since (and I've tried many times). Is anybody out there able to save my
sanity by pointing me to this article before I convince myself that I
must have dreamed it up?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Scot Krueger
> --
> This message (and any attachments) is for the recipient only. NERC is
> subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the contents of
> this email and any reply you make may be disclosed by NERC unless it
> is exempt from release under the Act. Any material supplied to NERC
> may be stored in an electronic records management system.
|