Megatectonics and geophysics

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Abstract
By means of specific examples, a graphic picture is presented of the growth of geologic thinking, from the mapping of local geology to the nature of the visible part of the Earth's crust as a whole. The development of three basic concepts is briefly sketched which make possible, significant integration of areal geological knowledge. They are: (1) geosynclines, as loci of orogenic deformation; (2) ultramafics as initial products of orogeny; and (3) metamorphism and granite as products of mature orogeny. The synthesis of the relations implied in these concepts leads to a rather unorthodox outlook on fundamental questions concerning the history and dynamics of the Earth's crust which concern geophysicists as much as geologists. It looks as if there had never been a primeval upper, sialic part of the Earth's crust, but rather as if the sial was a by‐product of orogenic deformation. The question seems not to be “Why is there no granite on the (main portions of) the ocean floors?” but “Why is there granite in the continents?” Correspondingly, the big question is not “Why are the ocean floors low?” but “Why are the continents high?” The answer to these questions lies fundamentally in the nature of orogeny.

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