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

LIFE .325
lifted, the sea will withdraw, and the life forms formerly
isolated will mingle and enter a phase of competition.
The situation that compels the adaptation of the forms of
life to colder, drier climates (poleward displacement) also will
adapt the forms of life to higher elevations, to mountain
heights. Thus, if we consider all the effects of crust displacement,
both toward the equator and toward the poles, we can
see that crust displacement constitutes the most powerful
engine imaginable for forcing life forms to adapt to all
possible habitats.
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The Distribution of Species
Another important question is the problem of the origin of
the present and past distribution of species over the face of
the earth. Darwin and Wallace attempted to explain the
numerous difficulties in this field, but their explanations
have, in general, become less and less satisfactory with the
passing years. These are the questions:
a. How did certain species cross wide oceans to become
established on different continents?
b. What accounts for the richness of some islands, and the
impoverishment of others, with respect to their fauna and
flora?
c. How did many kinds of animals and plants get dis-
tributed from the north temperate to the south temperate
zones, or from one polar zone to another, across the tropics?
d. Why are certain species of fresh-water fish, inhabiting
the lakes and rivers of Europe, also found in the lakes and
rivers of North America?
Some of the answers to these puzzling questions will al-
ready be clear from what has been said about land bridges.
Land bridges, or sunken continents, are obviously necessary
to explain many of these distributions between continents
and between continents and islands. Sunken continents have
already been discussed (Chapter V). Here I would like to