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Science 24 March 1972:
Vol. 175. no. 4028, pp. 1355 - 1357
DOI: 10.1126/science.175.4028.1355
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Articles

Rotational Inerfia of Continents: A Proposed Link between Polar Wandering and Plate Tectonics

Martin F. Kane 1

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543

A mechanism is proposed whereby displacement between continents and the earth's pole of rotation (polar wandering) gives rise to latitudinal transport of continental plates (continental drift) because of their relatively greater rotational inertia. When extended to short-term polar wobble, the hypothesis predicts an energy change nearly equivalent to the seismic energy rate.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)