The fit of the continents around the Atlantic
The geometrical fit of the continents now separated by oceans has long been discussed in relation to continental drift. This paper describes fits made by numerical methods, with a ‘least squares’ criterion of fit, for the continents around the Atlantic ocean. The best fit is found to be at the 500 f...
Published in: | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
1965
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 |
id |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 2024-06-02T08:07:20+00:00 The fit of the continents around the Atlantic 1965 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences volume 258, issue 1088, page 41-51 ISSN 0080-4614 2054-0272 journal-article 1965 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 2024-05-07T14:16:50Z The geometrical fit of the continents now separated by oceans has long been discussed in relation to continental drift. This paper describes fits made by numerical methods, with a ‘least squares’ criterion of fit, for the continents around the Atlantic ocean. The best fit is found to be at the 500 fm. contour which lies on the steep part of the continental edge. The root-mean-square errors for fitting Africa to South America, Greenland to Europe and North America to Greenland and Europe are 30 to 90 km. These fits are thought not to be due to chance, though no reliable statistical criteria are available. The fit of the block assembled from South America and Africa to that formed from Europe, North America and Greenland is much poorer. The root-mean-square misfit is about 130 km. These geometrical fits are regarded as a preliminary to a comparison of the stratigraphy, structures, ages and palaeomagnetic results across the joins. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland The Royal Society Greenland Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 258 1088 41 51 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
The geometrical fit of the continents now separated by oceans has long been discussed in relation to continental drift. This paper describes fits made by numerical methods, with a ‘least squares’ criterion of fit, for the continents around the Atlantic ocean. The best fit is found to be at the 500 fm. contour which lies on the steep part of the continental edge. The root-mean-square errors for fitting Africa to South America, Greenland to Europe and North America to Greenland and Europe are 30 to 90 km. These fits are thought not to be due to chance, though no reliable statistical criteria are available. The fit of the block assembled from South America and Africa to that formed from Europe, North America and Greenland is much poorer. The root-mean-square misfit is about 130 km. These geometrical fits are regarded as a preliminary to a comparison of the stratigraphy, structures, ages and palaeomagnetic results across the joins. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
The fit of the continents around the Atlantic |
spellingShingle |
The fit of the continents around the Atlantic |
title_short |
The fit of the continents around the Atlantic |
title_full |
The fit of the continents around the Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
The fit of the continents around the Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
The fit of the continents around the Atlantic |
title_sort |
fit of the continents around the atlantic |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
1965 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences volume 258, issue 1088, page 41-51 ISSN 0080-4614 2054-0272 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1965.0020 |
container_title |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
container_volume |
258 |
container_issue |
1088 |
container_start_page |
41 |
op_container_end_page |
51 |
_version_ |
1800752410886406144 |