Geotectonics

Geotectonics has a special place among the geological dis­ ciplines. In addition to ideas based on firmly established facts that constitute lasting scientific values, geotectonics, as a generalizing branch of geology, embraces broad con­ structions that link the planet's deep interior with its sur­ face and are largely of a hypothetical character. The inter­ pretation of the most general matters of the structure and evolution of the globe varies not only from one generation of geologists to another, but even within one generation. The interpretation depends not only, and not so much, on the state of geological knowledge, as on the progress of the related sciences of geophysics and geochemistry. In trying to discover the deep-lying causes of tectonic processes, geotectonics has to unite the results of all the Earth sci­ ences, converting itself to some extent from a purely geologi­ cal science into a general physical geographic or geonomic science. The fluidity of the general ideas and the need for joint consideration of the geological, geophysical, and geochemi­ cal data to substantiate these ideas are the main difficulties facing the author of a textbook on geotectonics. There is undoubtedly, however, a need for a manual of this kind, particularly now when the literature on the various problems of geotectonics has grown so great and so varied in content that it is very difficult for the experienced researcher, let alone the student, to find his way.

1. The Content of Geotectonics.- 2. Types of Tectonic Process.- I Tectonics of Continents.- Section A General Tectonic Movements of the Earth’s Crust.- 3. Present-day Oscillatory Movements.- Categories of Oscillatory Movements.- Present-day Oscillatory Movements.- 4. Recent Oscillatory Movements.- 5. Ancient Oscillatory Movements of the Crust.- The Tectonic and Geomorphological Expression of Oscillatory Movements.- 6. Oscillatory Movements of the Earth’s Crust and the Formation of Thicknesses and Facies of Sedimentary Series.- The Formation of Thicknesses of Sedimentary Series.- The Formation of Facies of Deposition.- 7. Methods of Studying Ancient Oscillatory Movements.- The Method of Thicknesses.- The Method of Facies.- The Volume Method.- 8. General Properties of Oscillatory Movements of the Crust.- The Theoretical and Practical Importance of Studying Ancient Oscillatory Movements.- 9. General Disjunctive Tectonic Movements of the Crust.- Deep Faults.- Deep (All-crustal) Slashes.- Deep (All-crustal) Transcurrent Faults.- All-crustal Overthrusts.- Deep (All-crustal) Normal Faults.- Deep (All-crustal) Separations.- Present-day Manifestations of Deep Faults.- Section B Tectonic Movements Within the Crust.- 10. Block Folding.- 11. Injection Folding.- 12. The Folding of General Crumpling.- General Characteristics of Crumpling Folding.- Methods of Reconstructing the History of Crumpling Folding.- The Link Between Crumpling Folding and Oscillatory Movements.- The Origin of Crumpling Folding.- 13. Deep Folding and General Considerations About Folding Movements.- Deep Folding.- General Considerations About Folding Movements.- 14. Intracrustal Faults.- Classification of Fractures. Faults of Different Orders.- Dynamic Conditions of Faulting.- General Factors Affecting the Position of Faults.- General Fracturing of Rocks (Joint Systems).- Section C Patterns of the Evolution of Continents.- 15. Endogenous Continental Regimes/General Features and Geosynclinal Regimes.- A General Characteristic of Endogenous Continental Regimes.- Classification of Endogenous Continental Regimes.- Geosynclinal Regimes.- 16. Platform and Orogenic Regimes.- Platform Regimes.- Orogenic Regimes.- Some Terminological Problems.- 17. Rift, Magmatic Activization, and Continental Margin Regimes.- The Rift Regime.- Regimes of Magmatic Activization of Platforms.- Regimes of Continental Margins.- 18. Principal Patterns of the Endogenous Development of Continents.- General Evolution of Endogenous Regimes.- Endogenous Processes in the Stable Geosynclinal-Platform Stage.- The Rhythm of Endogenous Processes.- 19. Principles of the Zoning of Continents by Endogenous Regimes.- Tectonic Zoning.- Zoning by Types of Endogenous Regime.- II Tectonics of Oceans.- 20. Relief, Sediments, and Rocks of the Ocean Floor.- The Relief of the Ocean Floor.- Sediments and Rocks of the Ocean Floor.- 21. Tectonics of the Ocean Floor.- Structures of the Ocean Floor.- General Palaeogeographic Data.- Some Conclusions About the Geological History of Oceans.- III The Earth’s Internal Structure, Composition, and Deep Processes.- 22. General Data on the Earth’s Shape, Rotation, and Structure.- The Size and Shape of the Earth.- The Earth’s Rotation.- The Earth’s Inner Structure from the Data of General Seismology. The Earth’s Seismicity.- Gravimetric Data.- The Earth’s Heat Regime.- The Earth’s Magnetic Field.- The Composition of the Earth.- The Age of the Earth.- 23. The Crust and Upper Mantle (Tectonosphere).- The Structure and Composition of the Crust.- The Structure and Composition of the Upper Mantle.- The Heat Regime of the Tectonosphere.- Certain Conclusions About the Tectonosphere’s Structure and Evolution.- 24. The Main Stages in the Development of Geotectonics.- Geotectonics Before the Eighteenth Century.- Geotectonics in the Eighteenth Century.- Geotectonics in the Nineteenth Century.- Geotectonics in the First Half of the Twentieth Century.- 25. Recent Views on Geotectonics.- “The New Global Tectonics”.- Critique of the “New Global Tectonics”.- 26. The Search for a Synthesis.- A General Scheme of Deep Processes.- Conditions for the Development of Continental Endogenous Regimes.- The Interrelation of Continental Endogenous Regimes.- Conditions for Differentiation of the Tectonosphere into Continental and Oceanic.- Differentiation and the General Evolution of the Earth.- Literature.