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

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

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176<br />

EARTH'S SHIFTING CRUST<br />

he says, is evidenced <strong>by</strong> the folding there <strong>of</strong> the young sedi-<br />

mentary rocks (97:391-92).<br />

Daly does not suggest a possible cause for this lateral compression<br />

<strong>of</strong> the whole peninsula; such a compression, part <strong>of</strong><br />

the process <strong>of</strong> mountain building, he has already character-<br />

ized as "utterly mysterious." But it must be clear that it is<br />

precisely the type <strong>of</strong> distortion that might be expected to result<br />

from a displacement <strong>of</strong> the earth's crust. Such a movement<br />

could very well account both for the depression <strong>of</strong><br />

lower India and for the uncompensated elevation <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Himalayas. It can be said, moreover, that no displacement <strong>of</strong><br />

the crust could possibly take place without creating, at some<br />

points on the earth, precisely such deep-lying gentle undulations<br />

<strong>of</strong> the crust.<br />

But still another point may be urged in support <strong>of</strong> this<br />

solution <strong>of</strong> the problem. We shall see, later on, that the last<br />

movement <strong>of</strong> the crust appears to have been approximately<br />

along the goth meridian, with North America moving southward<br />

from the pole. This movement would have subjected<br />

India to maximum displacement and to maximum compression.<br />

In this last movement India would have been moved<br />

across the equator and northward toward the pole, to its<br />

present latitude.<br />

Daly's suggestion that compression may increase the tensile<br />

strength <strong>of</strong> the crust opens up most interesting possibilities.<br />

We may find here, in connection with the theory <strong>of</strong> crust dis-<br />

placement, a solution to very puzzling problems<br />

<strong>of</strong> isostatic<br />

theory. <strong>The</strong> crust <strong>of</strong> the earth shows enormous differences<br />

from place to place in its degree <strong>of</strong> isostatic adjustment and<br />

in its sensitivity to the addition or removal <strong>of</strong> loads. Applying<br />

Daly's suggestion, we may infer that the differences may<br />

owe their origin to recent displacements <strong>of</strong> the crust. Areas<br />

recently moved poleward, having undergone compression<br />

and still retaining compression, would, according to Daly's<br />

suggestion, have greater strength to sustain the distortions;<br />

areas recently displaced equatorward, having undergone<br />

extension, or stretching, would have less strength to resist

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