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— EARTH EXPANSION — THE DEFINITIVE PROOF EARTH EXPANSION PROOF THE DEFINITIVE Studies of oceanic geology and the distribution of ancient fauna and flora indicate that our planet has been expanding throughout its vast history. rom my introduction to Global Expansion Tectonics in NEXUS 7/06, it should be realised that the 200 million years of Triassic-to-present Earth expansion model- ling studies presented represent only 4% of the known Earth history. This 4% of Earth history is highlighted by the development and opening of all the present ocean basins, expanding from a Pangaean Earth at approximately 50% of the present radius. What should be realised from my article is that Earth expansion has also been active throughout the remaining 4,300 million years, or 96% of Earth history. This realisation is poorly understood and generally overlooked by most. The 96% of Archaean to Triassic Earth expansion history is made up of highly contentious continental crustal extension, and to my knowledge has never before been investigated or considered from an expanding Earth perspective. It is contentious because few people realise the flexibility of our continents over the 4,300-million-year time span involved, and most still consider that continents have retained a constant surface area throughout time, with new crust added at the margins by accretion of oceanic debris. While the key to understanding Earth expansion is illustrated by development of the oceans from the Triassic period to the present, to quantify Earth expansion we must use the geological and geophysical data preserved in 100% of Archaean to present Earth his- tory. This modern data is routinely collected; however, it is singularly applied to plate tectonics without consideration of alternative concepts such as Earth expansion. All of this new data provides a means to quantify Earth expansion and, depending on your will- ingness to accept change, provides definitive proof of Earth expansion. EXPANDING EARTH MODELS A set of 24 spherical models has now been constructed, 23 covering the Archaean aeon to recent and one projected to five million years into the future (figure 1). The primary base map used during construction of each model is the Geological Map of the World (CGMW & UNESCO, 1990; figure 1 in NEXUS 7/06 article), which provides a compre- hensive global coverage of continental and oceanic geology. As noted in NEXUS 7/06, the completion of oceanic magnetic mapping and age dating of crust beneath all the Earth's major oceans has provided an important geophysical con- tribution to the quantification of Earth expansion. This oceanic mapping has placed finite time constraints on the plate motion history shown in all the ocean basins back to the Early Jurassic period, and is used to quantify both plate reconstruction and rate of crustal generation on expanding Earth models. To construct the models, moving backwards in time from the present, successively older geological periods which parallel the mid-ocean spreading ridges are removed. Each crustal plate is then restored to a pre-spreading, or pre-extension, configuration at a reduced Earth radius along their common plate or continental margins respectively. By successively removing oceanic crust and reuniting the continental and oceanic plates, each post-Triassic model demonstrates a better than 99% plate fit-together. During the Triassic period, continental crust plus sediments deposited in basins along the continental margins envelop the Earth with a complete continental shell at about 52% of the present Earth radius. These sedimentary basins then form a global network, repre- senting shallow seas surrounding and lapping onto ancient continental lands. This unique fit-together of lands and seas during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras by James Maxlow © 2000 Terrella Consultants Western Australia E-mail: jmaxlow@enternet.com.au Website: www.geocities.com/ CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/6520/ APRIL —- MAY 2001 NEXUS 53 MODERN DATA QUANTIFIES EARTH EXPANSION by James Maxlow © 2000 www.nexusmagazine.com