I need to read Deep Hot Biosphere/i[1]/a again. I no longer remember his ideas well enough to know how they would mesh with seismic evidence that the Earth’s core is rotating faster than the surface is.[2]/a This, and related research that shows that the mantle is also spinning faster, provides at least some proof for the plate tectonics theory that I dislike. It at very least demonstrates that there are/em three layers to the Earth’s structure, which is a prerequisite of plate tectonics. It does not/em, however, demonstrate that the crust is split into segments that move independently or semi-independently. It would, in fact, seem rather hard to make a categorical statement that the crust is rotating at any/em single speed, if different segments of it are in fact moving in different directions. This would, however, be dismissed as simply an average speed that averages out, necessarily, to a speed in the same direction the Earth rotates. Earthquakes and mid-plate faults remain the strongest flaw in plate tectonics./p [1] Gold, Thomas. Deep Hot Biosphere/i (Springer, 1998 ISBN: 038798546) Some information on this scientist can be found at the Wikipedia entry/a. The Web Archive fortunately preserves his home page here/a.
[2] Than, Ker. “Earth’s Core Rotates Faster than Surface, Study Confirms” Live Science (online). 2005-08-25 http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/050825_earthcore.html /font