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

EARTH'S SHIFTING CRUST
curred at the same tempo, and have proceeded from the
same cause. The hypothesis of periodical shifts of the earth's
crust provides both the link and the cause.
An interesting study of repeating geological cycles in a very
remote period has been completed by Weller (451). He deals
with the so-called "Pennsylvanian" period several hundred
million years ago, which had a span of between 35 and 50
million years. He points out that in the study of this period
numerous examples have been observed of the deposition
of different kinds of sedimentary beds in the same order, at
irregular intervals of time. The changes in the composition
of the beds imply changes both in climate and in the eleva-
tion of the areas above sea level. The cycles are not just local,
but can be traced over wide areas (451:110). Furthermore,
each complete cycle represents an advance, retreat, and re-
advance of the sea. Weller accounts for the cycles by dias-
trophism that is, by some sort of upheaval in the earth,
some activity within the earth's body but is not able to
specify its nature. He recognizes about 42 cycles during the
period, with each cycle having a duration of about 400,000
years.
These cycles would appear at first glance to be consider-
ably longer than those that might result from crust displacements.
However, there are a number of factors that tend to
lessen the apparent difference between them. First, Weller
points out that discontinuities in the deposits he is discussing
are far more numerous than is generally supposed (451:99-
101). This means that a part of the record is missing. Then,
we must remember that a complete cycle, involving the re-
treat and the advance of the sea (probably in a number of
stages), would call for several, perhaps quite a few, movements
of the crust. At any one point on the earth's surface,
several movements might be required to bring the sea level
to its lowest point, and several more to bring it to its highest
point. We have already discussed this question (Chapter IV).
Moreover, Weller points out that in each of his cycles deposi-
tion has been interrupted two different times, thus reducing