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

EARTH'S SHIFTING CRUST
scientists have attempted to explain these cycles as the result
of the earth's astronomical precession, but, in view of the
above-mentioned irregularities, the phenomena seem better
explained in terms of crust displacements.
Naturally, such frequent changes in climate have had profound
effects on the formation of sedimentary rocks, the
chief consequence, perhaps, being the thinness of the indi-
vidual strata. Very seldom can deposits be found that indicate
with any certainty the uninterrupted deposition of more
than a few thousand years. On the other hand, innumerable
cases of conditions interrupted after a few thousand years
can be proved. In addition to the evidence mentioned above,
Brooks, for example, refers to a great salt lake or inland sea
that existed in Europe in the Permian Period, and says:
The number of annual layers indicates that the salt lake existed
for some 10,000 years, after which the salt deposits were covered by a
layer of desert sand (521*5).
Wallace, too, refers to the evidence of sudden changes in
climate at short intervals, in his Island Life: ". . . the
numerous changes in the fossil remains from bed to bed only
a few feet and sometimes a few inches apart" (446:204).
Some of the best evidence is provided by coal seams, which
are ordinarily thin and interlayered with rock indicating
very different climatic conditions. There has developed a
considerable literature on the rate of coal formation, and
some recent experimentation has thrown light upon it.
Croll devoted considerable attention to the problem. He
estimated that it would take about 5,000 years for the formation
of one yard (or about a meter) of coal (91:429), and
came to the conclusion that the periods of coal formation
between changes in climate were about 10,000 years long. It
is obvious that any changes that replaced conditions required
for coal formation by conditions suitable for the formation
of sedimentary deposits beneath the sea (for Croll points out
that rock strata between the coal strata are usually of marine
origin) (91:424) were indeed radical changes, taking place in