Tektonika płyt – dyskusje i implikacje (cz. II)

Abstract

PLATE TECTONICS - DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS (PART II) Summary First part of this paper has been published in the former issue. In the second part of it some selected implications of plate tectonics are discussed. Several recent geotectonic hypothesis are briefly reviewed: the hypothesis of mantle plumes (41), the tetrahedral mantle convection pattern (20), the concept of mainstream convection current (42), the possibility of ductile deformation of lithospheric plates (62), the vertical uplift explanation of plate tectonics (35) and the fracture-contraction hypothesis (38). Further on, the concepts concerning the interpretation of the Carpathians and the Central European Hercynian belt in terms of plate tectonics are considered. Some examples of the palaeobiological, palaeoclimatological and sedimentological consequences are given. Finally, the significance of the plate tectonics for the principles of exploration for both metalliferous and oil and gas deposits is stressed. Concluding remarks contain some, proposals for the participation of Polish geoscientists in the international cooperation and in the exchange of ideas. This participation may be extended particularly in the field of spatial and temporal correlation between the geological events in the epicontinental areas of Western Europa and the evolution of the adjacent oceanic basins: Tethys, Atlantic and Arctic. This problem is closely connected with one of the most fundamental puzzles of geodynamics, namely with the relationship between horizontal and vertical movements of the lithosphere.