1967–1968 (synthesis) / Americas
Plate tectonics unites oceans, earthquakes and moving continents
McKenzie, Parker, Morgan, Le Pichon and others modeled moving plates on a sphere, connecting seafloor spreading, earthquakes and fault systems in a global framework.
The story
Several teams described Earth’s surface as relatively moving plates in 1967–1968. Their models connected boundaries with earthquakes, ocean ridges and trenches. Continental drift, magnetic anomalies, seafloor spreading and transform faults supplied earlier evidence and concepts. This milestone marks a synthesis, not a single experiment proving everything on one day, or a theory attributable to only one scientist.
Connections and context
Ocean surveys, seismic networks and mathematics provided independent lines of evidence. Continental outlines alone were insufficient to establish a testable account of a dynamic Earth.
Dates and precision
1967–1968 (synthesis) Ongoing process
The dates describe a span of activity; the timeline uses its starting point.
Representative map location
San Diego and global geophysical networks
The marker represents McKenzie and Parker’s Scripps collaboration; other teams and worldwide observations were equally important.
Representative coordinates · 32.868°, -117.251°
A marker identifies one representative place, such as a manuscript collection, laboratory or observing site. It does not mean the work happened only there, or assign a shared discovery to one country.
Bibliography
- Dan McKenzie Archive, University of Cambridge, and USGS: plate models
- The North Pacific: An Example of Tectonics on a Sphere (1967)
- US Geological Survey: Developing the theory
- US Geological Survey: The plate-tectonic model (1970)
References are listed as plain bibliography titles. They support particular facts or context; a reference does not certify every interpretation in a story.