The Earth's Shifting Crust by Charles Hapgood - wire of information

ward by a shift of the whole crust,
THE MOUNTAINS 121
it will be moved to a
latitude where gravity is greater, because gravity increases
slightly toward the poles. Its weight will be thereby increased,
and to remain in gravitational equilibrium it must
seek a lower level: it must subside. The water level in the
higher latitude adjusts easily, of course. Gutenberg points out,
however, that if the movement of the crust occurs at a rate
greater than the rate at which the sector may sink, by displacing
viscous material from below itself, the result will be
that the sector will stand (for a time) higher relatively to sea
level than it did before. I give Gutenberg's own words:
Movements of the earth's crust relative to its axis must be accom-
panied by vertical displacements. A block with a thickness of 50
kilometers in equilibrium near the equator should have a thickness
of 49.8 near the poles to be bounded by the same equipotential sur-
faces there. If it moves toward a pole, it must sink deeper to keep in
equilibrium. If the process
equilibrium, positive gravity anomalies and regressions are to be ex-
is too fast for maintenance of isostatic
pected. Thus regression may be an indication that an area was moving
toward a pole, and transgressions that it was moving toward the
equator (194:204-05).
According to Gutenberg, an area moved about 6,000 miles
from the equator to a pole would stand about 1,200 or 1,400
feet higher above sea level, if the speed of the displacement
was too rapid for maintenance of gravitational equilibrium.
The speed of displacement that is suggested by the evidence
to be presented later is such as to eliminate entirely the
possibility
that the crustal sector could sink and remain in
gravitational equilibrium. Consequently, by our theory, a
poleward movement of any sector of the crust will result in
uplift, and in regression of the sea. In addition, it appears
to me that since any sector displaced poleward would also
be compressed laterally, this would offer another obstacle to
its subsidence. It would have to overcome the lateral pressures,
as well as displace underlying material.
The amount of the uplift of an area displaced poleward
would depend, of course, on the amount of the displacement.
As will be made clear later, much geological evidence ap-